Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/32

18 name being derived from the Gaelic word pict-ich, which signifies "plunderers."

The Scots had a widely different origin: they originally came over from Ireland, where they inhabited the eastern coasts, settled in the neighbourhood of Loch Lomond, and made an alliance with the nearest tribes, for the purpose of ravaging the possessions of the Britons.

They were severely chastised by Theodosius, who visited Britain in 343. He succeeded in expelling them from the Roman provinces and driving them back to their wild retreats.

Maximus, who afterwards assumed the title of Augustus, while in Britain, carried on the war against the Picts and Scots with unrelenting severity; his ambition, however, led him to attempt the conquest of the whole western empire, in which he failed, and was beheaded at Aquileia. His army, composed in a great majority of Britons, never returned to their native country, which consequently was left in a great measure defenceless. So favourable an occasion did not escape the vigilance of the Picts and Scots, who made successive inroads in the island, and returned to their mountain fastnesses laden with plunder.

The power of Rome was now shaken by the irruption of barbarians of various denominations, who, issuing from the east and north, depopulated her fairest provinces. Assailed at so many points at once, it seemed as if the nations of the earth had been let loose to uproot her supremacy, and break the shackles which for so many ages had fettered the greater part of the world. The Goths, Vandals, and Alans, led by Alaric, crossing the Julian Alps, swept like a torrent over the fertile plains of Italy. The German tribes devastated Gaul, and the Roman legions in Britain, deprived of all communication with the Emperor Honorius, determined on electing an emperor for themselves.

The first whom they selected for the purple was Marcus, whom his soldiers, very soon after elevating him to the imperial dignity, put to death: after him an adventurer named Constantine, who paid for his short-lived dignity with his life.

The island had for some time been in this distracted state, when the Britons, who had not ceased to regret the loss of their freedom, deeming the occasion favourable, rose in arms, deposed the Roman magistrates, and proclaimed their independence; and afterwards succeeded in driving the Picts and Scots back to their own country.

When the Emperor Honorius heard of this revolution, he wrote to the states of Britain, to say that they must provide for their safety, and govern themselves; by which concession the rule of Rome in the island was looked on as at an end.

The Britons, at various periods afterwards, demanded the assistance of the empire against their terrible enemies, the Picts, who still continued to harass them; but no aid of any consequence was accorded.

How frequently do we read, in the history of the world, of a nation urged by an irresistible, though unknown principle, to pursue the path of conquest, not for their own advantage, but for the ultimate benefit of the people whom they subject. Such was the result of the Roman invasion of Britain, which proved neither profitable nor advantageous to the conquerors.

Appianus of Alexandria, who flourished A.D. 123, wrote a history of all the nations which Rome had subdued, in twenty-four books; he says: "The Romans have penetrated into Britain, and taken possession of the greater and better part of the island; but they do not desire the rest, because that which they already possess is not of the slightest benefit to them."

The historian was right, for, despite the taxes, the produce of the mines, and the exportation of corn, the island could never have been a source of great profit to the victors; notwithstanding which we trace them, urged by a resistless combination of events, progressing step by step, till the greater part of the country was subdued. Fortunately, they sowed the seeds of a civilisation more endurable than their dominion.

For nearly a century, the portion of Britain which had submitted to their yoke formed but a single province; it was first separated into two during the reign of the Emperor Severus. This division was afterwards extended to five:—

1st. Flavia Cæsariensis, which consisted of the western portion of the island.

2nd. Britannia Prima, the country between the Thames and the Humber.

3rd. Britannia Secunda, lying between the Severn and the sea, now known by the name of Wales.

4th. Maxima Cæsariensis, lying to the north of the two preceding ones, extending to the Wall of Severus, between the Tyne and the Solway.

5th. Valentia, comprising the lands from the Wall of Severus to the Forth and Clyde.

The conquests of Agricola, which extended to the Grampians, although dignified by the rank of a province under the name of Vespasiana, remained but a short time in the possession of the Romans.

The limits of the Roman provinces in the island have given rise to many discussions amongst the learned. We have taken them as laid down by Richard of Cirencester, De Situ Britain. Each of these provinces had a separate ruler, subject to the governor-general of Britain, who was named by the emperor under the title of prefect. He exercised all but sovereign authority, and united in his hands both the military and judicial power. Under him was a procurator, or questor, who levied the taxes, and administered the revenues of the island.

The principal sources of revenue were a poll tax, a tax on funerals and inheritances, on slaves, on all public sales, and an impost upon cattle and agricultural produce.

The tax upon cattle, which was called scriptura, from the collectors visiting the pastures and writing down lists of the number and kind which each estate nourished, was particularly oppressive to the Britons, and one of the most frequent causes of revolt.

In addition to these burdens, the Romans levied imposts upon merchandise, either imported or exported, which formed a considerable item in their revenue, the commerce between the empire and Britain having been greatly extended. Agriculture also made immense progress in the island, in which cities of considerable importance were built.

Of these the most important, in a commercial point of view, were Clausentum and London.

In the second century, Britain contained upwards of a