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From Readings in English History Drawn From The Original Sources by Edward P. Cheyney, Ginn and Company; Boston; 1908; pp. 10-12.

Elf. Editor comments in brackets

10

YEAR 55 B. C.

The First Contact of the Romans with the Britons1

Cæsar, himself gives the following account of his two famous invasions of Britain, in the years 55 B. C. and 54 B. C., and with this account the written history of the country begins.



7. Cæsar’s
first inva-
sion, 55 B.C.
No one had had any communication with the Britons except the merchants, and even they knew nothing except the coast region and those parts which lie opposite Gaul. Cæsar therefore summoned the merchants from all sides, but was unable to find out the size of the island, or what nations inhabited it, how large these nations were, what skill they possessed in war, what customs they followed, or what harbors were suitable for a number of large ships.

He thought it best to obtain information before he should incur any risk, and sent Caius Volusenus ahead with a war galley, commanding him to ascertain the truth and return to him as soon as possible. . . . Volusenus inspected all those regions as carefully as any one could who did not dare to leave his ship or join battle with the barbarians. On the fifth day he returned to Cæsar and announced to him what he had seen there. . . .

When Cæsar had collected and furnished about eighty transports, as many as he judged necessary to carry two legions, he gave the war galleys which he had to the quæstor, the lieutenants, and the prefects. Added to these were eighteen transports which were detained eight miles away by the wind; these he assigned to the cavalry. After he had arranged these matters, meeting with a favorable wind he set sail about the third watch; 11 he ordered the cavalry to go to the farther port, set sail, and follow him. While these orders were being executed by them rather slowly, Cæsar himself reached Britain about the third hour of the day with the first of the ships, and there saw the forces of the enemy ready armed and drawn up in line of battle on all the hills. The nature of this place was such, and so closely bounded was the sea by the cliffs, that a weapon could be hurled from the heights to the beach. Since he considered this place by no means suitable for disembarking, he waited at anchor up to the ninth hour, until the rest of the boats should arrive. . . . When he obtained a suitable wind and tide at the same time, at a given signal he weighed anchor and advanced about seven miles from this place, where he drew up his ships on a low-lying open coast. But the barbarians, as soon as they recognized the plans of the Romans, sent forward their cavalry and charioteers, which they were accustomed to use in battle. First contests
between the
Britons and
the Romans
They themselves following prevented our soldiers from disembarking. Serious difficulties arose, for several reasons; on account of their size the ships could not be moored except in deep water, the soldiers were depressed by their ignorance of the place, and their hands were encumbered by the heavy weight of their arms. At one time they were obliged to leap from the boats, stand in the waves, and fight with their opponents, while the enemy, either on dry ground or standing only in shallow water, with free hands, in a locality well known to them were boldly hurling weapons and spurring forward their horses trained to this kind of battle. Our men, terrified by all this and entirely unaccustomed to this method of warfare, did not show their customary quickness and zeal.

When Cæsar noticed this he ordered the war galleys, whose appearance was rather strange to the barbarians and whose motion was swifter, to be removed a little from the transports and rowed forward, in order that they might be brought up on the open flank of the enemy and the latter be driven away by the slings, arrows, and missiles. This was of great assistance to our soldiers. The barbarians, greatly disturbed by the form of the boats, by the speed of the rowers, by the unusual kind of missiles, stopped their advance and even retreated a little. . . .

12

Difficult
position of
the Romans
The battle was fiercely contested on each side. Our men were thrown into much disorder, as they were unable to preserve their ranks, to stand firmly, or to keep near their standards, so that men from the various ships gathered under whatever standards they happened to be near; since the enemy knew the shallow places, whenever from the shore they saw separate soldiers coming from the ships they spurred on their horses and attacked them while they were in difficulty; several kept surrounding a few; some on the unprotected side were hurling weapons against all of our soldiers. When Cæsar noticed this he ordered the skiffs from the war galleys, and likewise the reconnoitering boats to be filled with soldiers, and sent them to help those whom he saw in difficulty. As soon as our men stood on dry ground and their comrades had joined them, they made an attack upon the enemy, putting them to flight; but they were not able to follow very far, since the cavalrymen had been unable to hold to their course and to make the island. Cæsar’s usual fortune failed him in this point alone. Since the enemy were overcome in this battle, as soon as they recovered from their flight they immediately sent ambassadors to Cæsar concerning peace.



NOTES

1.   From De Bello Gallico, Lib. iv, cc. 20-27 [translated by Cheney].





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