Caesar’s contemporaries and the Roman writers of succeeding The importance of Caesar’s British expeditions under estimated by his contemporaries and by historians. generations did not over-estimate the results of his British campaigns. The well-known line of Lucan—
Territa quaesitis ostendit terga Britannis1416—
is only worth quoting as an instance of the poet’s animosity; but the impression left by the various passages which refer to Caesar’s expeditions is, that public expectation, having been wrought1 up to a high pitch, had suffered disappointment.1417 Everybody knew that Caesar had not incurred2 the vast expense of his second expedition merely for plunder4 or to deter5 the Britons from aiding the Gauls: they gathered from his own book that he had aimed at conquest; and they could see no more than that he had failed. Tacitus came nearest to the truth when he said that ‘Julius, though by a successful engagement he struck terror into the inhabitants and gained possession of the coast, must be regarded as having indicated rather than transmitted the acquisition to posterity’.1418 But even this judgement was based upon imperfect knowledge; and the tendency of modern historians, including the greatest scholar of them all, has been to underrate the importance of what Caesar had achieved.
For although Caesar had failed to achieve his aim, he had opened a new world to his countrymen; had proved the facility with which it could be conquered; and had done all 356 that opportunity permitted to pave the way for the conquest. He directed the course of British history into a new channel. He forced the most civilized6 peoples of the island to acknowledge the supremacy7 of Rome, and made it clear to those of them who could read the signs of the times that the enforcement of that supremacy would not be long delayed. He impressed upon them such respect for the Roman power that the avowed8 object with which he had invaded the country was effectually gained:—the Britons ceased to abet9 the resistance of their kinsmen10 on the other side of the Channel. He showed that the key to the conquest was to take advantage of the jealousy11 between the family of Cassivellaunus and their rivals. In the presence of these facts, the question whether the tribute which he imposed was ever actually paid is merely academical; but the great scholar who required us to believe that ‘it is certain that the stipulated12 tribute was never paid’1419 made an assertion which is not only improbable but is opposed to such evidence as we possess. Mommsen did not fully13 appreciate the severity of the punishment which had been inflicted14 upon Cassivellaunus, or the hold over him which Caesar could exert through his hostages. It is probable indeed that Diodorus,1420 when he said that Caesar forced the Britons to pay tribute, was only putting his own construction upon Caesar’s words: but what is certain is that the Britons, although in the reign15 of Augustus they were not required to pay tribute, were obliged to pay duties at the Gallic harbours upon the goods which they exported to and imported from Gaul; and it is not unreasonable16 to conjecture17 that these charges may have been imposed as an equivalent for a tribute which could no longer have been collected except by an irresistible18 army.1421 But the influence which Caesar exercised upon the destinies of Britain was communicated chiefly through Gaul. In the three years 357 which followed his departure the Britons saw the conquest of Gaul completed: while the civil war ran its course they saw that Gaul made no effort to throw off the Roman yoke19; and as time passed and the provinces settled down in the grasp of Augustus, they saw that Gaul was incorporated in the Roman Empire. Meanwhile in Britain the history of Gaul was being enacted20 over again. In the earlier half of the first century before our era Roman traders, settled in Gallic towns, had prepared the way for the legions of Julius: in the later half Roman or Romanized traders who found it profitable to deal with Britain prepared the way for the legions of Claudius.
Development of British commerce.
In Strabo’s time the Britons still imported ornaments21 of various kinds from the Continent, vases of amber22 and glass, gold necklets, and ivory for the decoration of horse trappings. Among their exports were slaves, which shows that intertribal warfare23 was still rife24, and, if Strabo’s statement is to be taken literally25, corn, cattle, and iron.1422 Representations of horned cattle, sheep, and pigs are found so often upon British coins1423 that we can easily understand how the graziers should have been able to spare of their abundance; but, although ears of corn are figured on some of Cunobeline’s coins,1424 it requires more faith to believe that the population by whose density26 Caesar was amazed grew enough corn to satisfy not only their own requirements, but those of their continental27 neighbours, and that the Gauls, whose resources were sufficient to enable them to feed Caesar’s army, were obliged to import grain. One would have supposed too that the output of the Gallic iron mines, which Caesar mentions, would not have required to be supplemented from Britain; and that the iron-workers of the Weald had enough to do in supplying the wants of their own countrymen. But, though Britain was not as opulent as Gaul, it would seem that some of the chiefs in the southern and eastern districts amassed28 a considerable amount of wealth. 358 Tacitus1425 tells us that Prasutagus, who was king of the Iceni about 60 A.D., was renowned29 for his riches; and, like Dumnorix the Aeduan, he may have acquired them in part from tolls31. It has been maintained that the tin trade, which had once been so flourishing, and which certainly flourished during the later period of the Roman occupation, ceased about the beginning of the Christian32 era, and was suspended for the next two hundred years: but the mere3 absence of ingots of tin bearing the Roman stamp is hardly sufficient to establish a theory which, intrinsically, is so improbable; and it seems more reasonable to conclude that the mines were continuously worked, but not until the third century under Roman control.1426
The British inscribed33 coinage and its historical value.
But the notices of Britain which appear in the writings of Strabo and Diodorus are the least important sources of our knowledge. More valuable is the systematic34 classification of British coins which has been accomplished35 during the last fifty years. They show how thoroughly36 Roman ideas had permeated37 British civilization before the legions returned to the island, and enable us to trace in outline the course of British political history during the century that elapsed between the departure of Julius and the invasion of Claudius Caesar. Soon after the former event the numismatic art of Britain entered upon its second period. Coins of silver, copper38, bronze, and tin were now coming into use;1427 and the need that was beginning to be felt for small change testifies to an advance in material civilization. On the site of Verulamium have been found gold coins of two values, silver of one, and bronze of three.1428 Perhaps we must also regard as a sign of progress increased ingenuity39 in fraud: at all events besides the authorized40 mints there were forgers, who made a living by passing coins of base metal thinly plated with gold.1429 Uninscribed coins were still struck, especially in the 359 remoter districts,1430 and remained in circulation in the time of Claudius;1431 but from about 30 B.C. the greater number of new coins bore the name either of the prince or of the tribe in whose territories they were minted, and in some cases also the name of the town in which the mint was situated41. This evidence shows that Verulamium and Camulodunum were the chief political centres of Southern Britain;1432 and it is remarkable42 that the name of Londinium, although it may even then have been the chief commercial town, as it certainly was from the very beginning of the Roman occupation,1433 does not appear upon any British coin which has yet come to light.1434 The earliest of the inscribed coins naturally belonged to the south-eastern parts of the country:1435 the northern tribe of the Brigantes were the last to adopt them;1436 and not a single specimen43 has been discovered which can be assigned to the Durotriges.1437 Of the course of events in the northern and western regions history tells us nothing, and coins but little: indeed there is no evidence that the tribes of Scotland, Wales, Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland, Westmorland, Shropshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall even now had coins at all;1438 and it was not until some time after Caesar’s departure that the inhabitants of Gloucestershire, northern Wiltshire, and Somersetshire began to use them.1439 Probably the iron bars which have been already described were still current1440 in the midlands and the west; and Solinus affirmed that in his time the people of the Scilly Islands refused money and traded by barter44.1441 Coins bearing the simple inscription45, 360 CATTI, which has been assumed to be that of a tribe, have been found in Worcestershire, Monmouthshire, Somersetshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall;1442 and it has been hastily concluded that some of the remoter British tribes, like many of those of Gaul, had expelled their kings.1443 But our most experienced numismatist46 thinks that the inscription represents the name of the prince by whom the coins were minted;1444 and one would be inclined to believe that the more backward north and west were then, as they were sixteen centuries later, the strongholds of conservatism.1445 The evidence 361 which relates to Southern Britain is less flimsy; and it points to the conclusion that the course of events in that part of the country was leading inevitably47 to the Roman conquest.
The dynasties of Cassivellaunus and Commius.
The history of Southern Britain in this period, if we disregard Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall, is the history of two dynasties,—that of Caesar’s old antagonist48, Cassivellaunus, and that of his old ally, Commius. Of the later life of Cassivellaunus nothing is known; but it would seem probable that the recollection of the punishment which the legions had inflicted upon him and the knowledge that his hostages were in Caesar’s power were sufficient to induce him to obey Caesar’s last injunction and to leave the Trinovantes Tasciovanus. and their king, Mandubracius, unmolested. About 30 B.C., or perhaps a few years earlier, he was succeeded by his son, Tasciovanus.1446 The earlier coins of this prince were purely49 British in character; but those of later date are adorned50 with the figures of Pegasus and centaurs51, while one of them is imitated from a coin of Augustus, which was first struck in 13 B.C.;1447 and their number and variety are so great that the reign of Tasciovanus must have extended over a long period,—not improbably until about A.D. 5.1448 His dominions53, which were perhaps originally confined to the country of the Catuvellauni, in whose capital, Verulamium, most of his coins were struck, ultimately included, it should seem, not only those of the Trinovantes, but also of the Epaticcus and Cunobeline. Segontiaci and parts of Northamptonshire.1449 He left several sons, among whom were Epaticcus and Cunobeline. The coins of the former, which bear the abbreviated54 Latin inscription TASC. FIL.—‘son of Tasciovanus’—have all been found 362 either in the western part of Surrey or the east of Wiltshire; and it has been inferred that he either succeeded to the western portion of his father’s dominions or conquered territory which had never been subject to him.1450 Epaticcus was, however, completely overshadowed by his brother, who, under the name of Cymbeline, has been immortalized by Shakespeare. There may perhaps be a kernel55 of truth in the statement of Geoffrey of Monmouth, that he was Cunobeline’s coins prove growth of Roman influence in Britain. educated by Augustus:1451 at all events his silver and copper coins bear witness to the growing influence of Roman culture; and many of them must have been designed either by Romans or by artists who had received Roman training. One of his silver coins, in the opinion of the highest authority, is characterized by exquisite56 workmanship, ‘worthy of a Greek artist;’1452 and some of them suggest that not long after the commencement of the Christian era the worship of Hercules had been introduced into Britain.1453 Not one of the coins bearing his name which have so far been discovered was struck at the mint of Verulamium, from which, as we have seen, those of his father had mainly issued: the name of Camulodunum appears upon them all; and the conclusion seems warranted that he inherited the eastern part of his His conquests. father’s dominions, and extended them by subduing57 the Trinovantes,—the hereditary58 enemies of his family.1454 It is not improbable that he had begun to reign about 5 B.C., while his father was still alive; and that he conquered the Trinovantes before his father died.1455 The area which was under his immediate59 rule when he was at the height of his power included perhaps, besides their country and that of the Catuvellauni, a part of that of the Dobuni, who inhabited what is now Gloucestershire;1456 but it would seem 363 that he also exercised a general supremacy over the whole of the south-eastern part of the island.1457 Suetonius was so impressed by the fame of his power that he described him as Britannorum rex,—‘King of the Britons.’1458
Flight of Dubnovellaunus and Tincommius(?), the son of Commius, to Rome.
Cunobeline’s conquest of the Trinovantes appears to have been one of the causes which led to the flight, briefly60 chronicled by Augustus on the monument of Ancyra,1459 of two British princes who sought for Roman aid. Their names, as recorded on the stone, were DVMNOBELLAV[nus], and, if we are to accept the testimony61 of Chishull,1460 an antiquary of a past generation, TIM.... The name of the former, as it is spelled on British coins, was Dubnovellaunos. Those of his coins which appear to have been circulated earliest have been found only in Kent, which he probably at one time ruled.1461 His later coins tend to show that he afterwards annexed62 the territory of the Trinovantes, from which he was in his turn expelled by Cunobeline.1462 But who was the prince who with him undertook the long journey to Rome? The letters TIM, if indeed M was really graven upon the monument, were of course only the first three of another name; and it is possible that Chishull may have mistaken one or perhaps two broken letters for M, or, since M and N were often confused, that the engraver63 may have been misled by his copy.1463 Be this as it may, there is only one known 364 name with which TIM ... can be identified,—that of Tincommius, who called himself on some of his coins TINCOM[mios] COMMI FILI[us] REX1464—‘King Tincommius, son of Commius.’ In order to understand the history of Tincommius, we must trace the later career of the Commius who was, beyond all reasonable doubt, his father,1465—the king of the Atrebates who had accompanied Caesar to Britain.
The later adventures of Commius.
Commius had of course been liberally rewarded for his services: but in the great Gallic insurrection of 52 B.C. he had thrown in his lot with Vercingetorix; and he was one of the four generals to whose joint64 direction was entrusted65 the command of the Pan-Gallic host which marched to relieve the latter when he was beleaguered66 in Alesia. ‘Caesar,’ we read in the seventh Commentary, ‘had found Commius a loyal and serviceable agent in former years in Britain; and, in acknowledgement of these services, he had granted his tribe immunity67 from forced contributions, restored to it its rights and laws, and placed the Morini under his authority. Yet so intense was the unanimous determination of the entire Gallic people to vindicate68 their liberty and recover their ancient military renown30, that no favours, no recollection of former friendship, had any influence with them, but all devoted69 their energies and resources to the prosecution70 of the war.’1466 Patriotism71, however, was not the only motive72 365 of Commius: he had a reason for the bitterness of his hostility73, which Caesar does not mention, but which we learn from Caesar’s friend, Aulus Hirtius, who wrote the last of the Commentaries on the Gallic War. In the winter of 53-52 B.C., while Caesar was absent in Cisalpine Gaul, Commius took an active part in forming the nucleus74 of the coalition75 of which Vercingetorix was destined76 to be the leader; and Labienus, who found out his designs, commissioned the tribune Volusenus to assassinate77 him. Commius escaped with a severe wound; and in the year which followed the overthrow78 of Vercingetorix he formed, in conjunction with a chief of the Bellovaci, a fresh coalition against Caesar, who was obliged to exert all his strength in order to subdue79 it. For some time Commius led the life of a brigand80 chief, and succeeded in capturing several convoys81 which were on their way to Caesar’s winter camp in the country of the Atrebates. He made himself so formidable that Mark Antony sent Volusenus to make a second attempt to kill him; and although he again escaped, he ultimately surrendered on the express condition that he should never again be brought face to face with any Roman.
His conquests in Britain.
When and why Commius took up his abode82 in Britain is not known; but some probability may be claimed for the conjecture that his motive was to check the encroachments of the Catuvellauni.1467 No coins have been found which can with absolute certainty be ascribed to him:1468 but it is admitted that he issued coins before Tasciovanus, who, as we have seen, began to reign at least as early as 30 B.C.;1469 and before his death he became overlord of the maritime83 tribes of South-Eastern Britain on the right bank of the Thames.1470 He Tincommius, Verica, and Eppillus. left three sons, Tincommius, Verica, and Eppillus; and almost all their coins have been found in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, and Hampshire.1471 Each of these sons described himself on his coins as REX, and each of them appears to have had a kingdom of 366 his own, Tincommius ruling the Regni, who inhabited Sussex, Eppillus the Cantii, and Verica the Atrebates.1472 The dominions of Verica cannot, however, be certainly defined. There is some reason to suppose that he held sway over the Atrebates of Belgium as well as over those of Britain; for certain coins found in the north of France, and closely resembling others that are common in the south-eastern counties of England, are inscribed with a monogram84 which appears to denote the abbreviation VE.1473 It should seem that Eppillus, at some time, was king of the Atrebates, for some of his coins have the legend CALLEV,—an abbreviated form of Calleva, the chief town of that tribe.1474 Certain coins, however, exist which apparently85 bear the names of all the three brothers, a fact which can only be explained on the theory that at one time they exercised a joint sovereignty over the dominions which had belonged to their father;1475 while others are inscribed with the names of Verica and Eppillus only.1476 It has been assumed that these coins were not struck until after the death of Tincommius;1477 but another explanation seems possible. Why did Tincommius, alone of the three brothers, solicit86 the protection of Augustus, and why did he undertake the journey to Rome in conjunction with Dubnovellaunus? Numismatic evidence has led to the belief that Dubnovellaunus had once ruled over the Cantii;1478 and if so, Eppillus, who afterwards acquired dominion52 over the same tribe, probably dispossessed him. Dubnovellaunus, as we have already seen, appears to have once ruled over the Trinovantes as well, and to have been expelled from their country by Cunobeline. These successive reverses may have been the motive for the journey which he undertook to Rome; and when we consider that certain coins bear the names of Eppillus and Verica, without that of Tincommius, which on others appears side by side with theirs, it seems possible 367 that Tincommius, finding that his brothers were leagued together against him, threw in his lot with another prince who had been as unfortunate as himself. This conjecture is perhaps somewhat strengthened by the fact that one of the coins of Tincommius bears, along with TIN—the abbreviated form of his name—the inscription DV,1479 which has baffled the acumen87 of numismatists, but which, on the analogy of TC—one of the abbreviations of TINCOMMIOS1480—may possibly stand for DUBNOVELLAUNOS.1481
How the fugitives88 were received we are not told; but it is certain that Augustus did not grant them armed assistance; nor is there any evidence that they ever recovered power. Augustus contemplates89 an invasion of Britain. As early as 34 B.C. Augustus had marched into Gaul with the intention, as was generally believed, of invading Britain; but, owing to an insurrection in Dalmatia, he was compelled to abandon his resolve.1482 For several years, however, it was expected that he would sooner or later complete the work which his adoptive father had begun; and this expectation was voiced in the poetry of the time. About the year 30 B.C. Vergil1483 prayed that ‘far off Thule’ might obey Augustus; and Horace, in odes which seem to have been officially inspired, called upon Fortune to preserve him in his expedition against the Britons, ‘remotest inhabitants of the world,’1484 and foretold90 that when they and the Parthians were brought under the imperial sway he would be hailed a god upon earth.1485 In 27 and again in 26 B.C. Augustus marched into Gaul with the ostensible91 purpose of invading Britain, but again without result.1486 But the latest of these dates was earlier than the flight of Tincommius and Dubnovellaunus; and thenceforward Augustus abandoned all thought of Why he abandoned his intention. invading Britain.1487 The cause of his inaction is discernible 368 in two passages of Strabo’s Geography,1488 which give the official explanation of the imperial policy. The conquest of Britain would be very costly92; and it was unlikely that the revenue would be more than sufficient to defray the expense of the garrison93 and the administration: the duties levied94 at the Gallic harbours on goods imported from and exported to Britain were more productive than any tribute; besides, Britain was too weak to be dangerous, and its conquest was therefore unnecessary. Possibly we may gather from the prominence95 which is given in the monument of Ancyra to the petition of Tincommius and Dubnovellaunus that it was officially interpreted as a sign of the virtual submission96 of the Britons.
Continued growth of Roman influence in Britain.
This confidence indeed is not difficult to understand. The conjecture that at the courts of Commius, of Tasciovanus, and of Cunobeline Latin was the official speech1489 may perhaps be somewhat rash: but at all events Latin was the language of the mint; and perhaps it is not unreasonable to suppose that, as some Pannonian Celts were versed97 in Latin literature,1490 a Briton here and there was equally accomplished. Roman silver coins were already eagerly accepted, on account of their purity, in Southern Britain.1491 And if Rufina, the young British wife of a Roman, whose praises Martial98 sang,1492 could hold her own in Italian society, we may realize that before the Roman conquest Britain had begun to be Romanized.
Cessation of British coinage in certain districts which had belonged to the sons of Commius.
With the sons of Commius the British coinage in the districts which they had ruled, with the sole exception of Kent, came to an end.1493 It may be that the inhabitants had begun, like the Gauls with whom they traded, to use only Roman money; but, as the coinage of Kent continued, the more probable explanation would seem to be that they were 369 no longer able to make head against the King of the Catuvellauni.1494
Tincommius and Dubnovellaunus were not the only British Relations of Cunobeline with Rome. princes who paid their respects to the emperor. ‘In our time,’ says Strabo, ‘various British chieftains gained the friendship of Augustus Caesar by sending embassies and performing services; placed votive offerings in the Capitol; and made almost the whole island familiar to the Romans.’1495 Among them, we can hardly doubt, was Cunobeline, whose coins, like those of his father, testify that Roman mythology99 had already taken root on British soil,1496 and who, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth,1497 voluntarily paid tribute to Rome. If there is any truth in Geoffrey’s statement, the tribute must have been the price paid for moral support. During the reign of Tiberius, who adhered to the conservative and moderate policy of his stepfather, the relations of Cunobeline and of Britain with Rome apparently remained unchanged: history only relates that some soldiers of Germanicus, who had been shipwrecked on the British coast, were sent back by British princes.1498 It can hardly be doubted, however, that the conquest of Britain was contemplated100 by Roman statesmen as inevitable101: to leave independent the Celtic island which was so near the conquered Celtic mainland His exiled son, Adminius, takes refuge with Caligula. was unnatural102, and could not be permanently103 safe.1499 The latter part of Cunobeline’s reign was clouded by domestic quarrels; and in A.D. 40, when he was an old man, his son Adminius,1500 whom he had driven into exile, threw himself on 370 the mercy of Caligula, who was at the time in Gaul, and offered to surrender his father’s kingdom. The feather-pated emperor sent messengers to Rome, who were charged to announce to the Senate in the temple of Mars the submission of the whole island;1501 but the magniloquent and mendacious104 message testifies not only to his vanity but to the fame of Cunobeline.
Death of Cunobeline.
Within the next three years the great king died, leaving, besides Adminius, three other sons who still remained in Britain,—Caratacus, Togodumnus, and, as we may conjecture, one Bericus, who fled over sea. Caratacus, whose name is more familiar under the erroneous form Caractacus, was the prince who in later years opposed a desperate resistance to the Roman conquest of Western Britain. After Cunobeline’s death he and Togodumnus assumed royal power, and perhaps combined to exclude Bericus from any share in the Unpopularity of his dynasty intensified105 on the accession of his sons, Caratacus and Togodumnus. inheritance of their father’s dominions.1502 It is possible that Bericus had some influence with the Iceni, who were bitterly hostile to the dynasty of Cassivellaunus and his successors, and were prepared to join the Romans if they should invade the island. But another explanation has been proposed. There are late coins of the Iceni which bear the name of a prince named Antedrigus, who later still issued coins which have been found in the territory of the Dobuni. It has been suggested that, like the Treveran Indutiomarus and his enemy Cingetorix,1503 Antedrigus and Bericus were the leaders of rival factions106 of the Iceni; that Antedrigus prevailed; that Bericus thereupon determined107 to seek Roman aid; and that Antedrigus, when the Iceni joined the Romans, sought an asylum108 among the Dobuni.1504 Anyhow Bericus 371d to Rome.1505 It would seem that Caratacus and Togodumnus took offence when he and Adminius were not sent back, and even committed, or threatened to commit, some act of violence against the Roman power;1506 and it may be that their attitude, combined with the information which Bericus gave about the internal politics of his country, was Invasion of Britain by Aulus Plautius. among the motives109 that induced Claudius to dispatch the force which, under Aulus Plautius, was to begin the Roman conquest of Britain.1507
Review of British history from 54 B.C. to A.D. 43.
Amid many uncertainties110 the facts of British history which stand out prominently are these. The invasions of Caesar, supported by his conquest of Gaul, stimulated111 trade between the Britons and the Romanized Gauls, and thereby112 brought Britain within the sphere of Roman influence; encouraged those British princes who needed protection or support to turn to Rome, and made them all look up to the Emperor as a patron, who might eventually be their sovereign lord. In the island itself Commius and his sons made themselves supreme113 in the eastern districts south of the Thames; 372 54 B.C.—A.D. 43. their power was overmatched and perhaps finally absorbed by that of the family of Cassivellaunus, who steadily114 augmented115 their dominion by conquest until under Cunobeline it extended from the coast of Essex to the estuary116 of the Severn, and from the Midlands to the English Channel. The Roman conquest and its results. the jealousy and the fear which this ambitious dynasty aroused led directly to the Roman invasion, by which the influences that had already begun were so developed that the upper classes and the townspeople of Britain learned to speak Latin1508 and to adopt Roman customs, and in the end came, like their Gallic neighbours, to regard themselves as Romans; that the Late Celtic art which had flourished for centuries gave way to that of Rome, and even in cottages and remote hamlets Samian pottery117 and rude hypocausts were to be found;1509 that by the fourth century a British church had been fully developed, which continued to flourish after the Roman administration had ceased, while even in the sixth century the forsaken118 Britons gloried in the name of Romani;1510 and that, in a word, Britain, becoming completely Romanized, received an impress which has not yet wholly faded away.1511
Permanence in English history of prehistoric119 and Celtic elements.
But when the Roman had gone, when the Saxon, the Dane, and the Norman had come, the descendants of neolithic120 aboriginals121, of bronze-using immigrants, and of Celts still lived on; and their composite influence has ever since been helping122 to form the British character and to determine the course of British history. The roads on which we travel, the flocks and herds123 that feed us, the corn that grows in our fields, the implements124 which we use,—all our industrial arts are inseparably connected with theirs. Not only do their beliefs still survive, tinging125 the faith which their successors have been taught, but their spirit has lived again in the men who have done the deeds of which our nation may be proud.
And perhaps the story which this book has told may 373 54 B.C.—A.D. 43.d a few to become less self-complacent and to think more of those primitive126 ancestors. In some things we have sunk below their level: in what have we risen? Riches, luxury, the security that tends to make self-reliance weak, the softening127 of manners, rapidity of communication, the development of engines of destruction, medicine, and surgery—all that appertains to material civilization—herein we have made giant strides. But such improvements hardly enable men to bear up under burdens which are ever increasing. The tourist in a Pulman car is not happier than those who travelled in stage-coach or wagon128, and speed deprives him of as much as it bestows129; machinery130 has but substituted fresh evils for those which it destroyed. New superstitions131, less gross but not less false, have been engrafted upon the old; but ‘pure religion and undefiled,’—how far has it strengthened its hold upon the hearts of men? We have professed132 indeed to teach inferior races the gospel of love; but in Australasia our mission has been not so much to evangelize as to exterminate133. Apart from the extirpation134 of the coarser forms of inhumanity and from those other civilizing135 influences which may operate even in a decadent136 society, the progress of which we may not unreasonably137 boast has been in knowledge, which to the vast majority is unattainable, and, in this island, unheeded or contemptuously rejected by most of the few who have it within reach.
The End
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plunder
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civilized
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supremacy
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kinsmen
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jealousy
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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17
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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18
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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22
amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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23
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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24
rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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25
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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26
density
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| n.密集，密度，浓度 | |
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27
continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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28
amassed
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| v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29
renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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30
renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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31
tolls
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| （缓慢而有规律的）钟声( toll的名词复数 )； 通行费； 损耗； （战争、灾难等造成的）毁坏 | |
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32
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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33
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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34
systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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35
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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36
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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37
permeated
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| 弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透 | |
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38
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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39
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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40
authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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41
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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42
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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43
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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44
barter
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| n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易 | |
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45
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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46
numismatist
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| n.钱币收藏家 | |
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47
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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48
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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49
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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50
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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51
centaurs
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| n.（希腊神话中）半人半马怪物( centaur的名词复数 ) | |
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52
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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53
dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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54
abbreviated
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| adj. 简短的，省略的 动词abbreviate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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55
kernel
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| n.(果实的)核，仁；(问题)的中心，核心 | |
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56
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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57
subduing
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| 征服( subdue的现在分词 )； 克制； 制服； 色变暗 | |
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58
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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59
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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60
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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61
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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62
annexed
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| [法] 附加的，附属的 | |
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63
engraver
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| n.雕刻师，雕工 | |
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64
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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65
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66
beleaguered
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| adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰 | |
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67
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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68
vindicate
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| v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确 | |
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69
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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70
prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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71
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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72
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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73
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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74
nucleus
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| n.核，核心，原子核 | |
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75
coalition
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| n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合 | |
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76
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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77
assassinate
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| vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤 | |
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78
overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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79
subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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80
brigand
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| n.土匪，强盗 | |
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81
convoys
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| n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队 | |
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82
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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83
maritime
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| adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的 | |
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84
monogram
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| n.字母组合 | |
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85
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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86
solicit
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| vi.勾引；乞求；vt.请求，乞求；招揽(生意) | |
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87
acumen
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| n.敏锐，聪明 | |
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88
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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89
contemplates
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的第三人称单数 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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90
foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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91
ostensible
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| adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的 | |
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92
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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93
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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94
levied
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| 征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
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95
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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96
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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97
versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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98
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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99
mythology
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| n.神话，神话学，神话集 | |
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100
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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101
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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102
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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103
permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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104
mendacious
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| adj.不真的，撒谎的 | |
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105
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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106
factions
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| 组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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107
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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108
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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109
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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110
uncertainties
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| 无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物 | |
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111
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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112
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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113
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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114
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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115
Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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116
estuary
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| n.河口，江口 | |
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117
pottery
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| n.陶器，陶器场 | |
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118
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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119
prehistoric
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| adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的 | |
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120
neolithic
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| adj.新石器时代的 | |
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121
aboriginals
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| （某国的）公民( aboriginal的名词复数 )； 土著人特征； 土生动物（或植物） | |
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122
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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123
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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124
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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125
tinging
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的现在分词 ) | |
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126
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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127
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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128
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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129
bestows
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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130
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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131
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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132
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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133
exterminate
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| v.扑灭，消灭，根绝 | |
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134
extirpation
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| n.消灭，根除，毁灭；摘除 | |
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135
civilizing
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| v.使文明，使开化( civilize的现在分词 ) | |
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136
decadent
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| adj.颓废的，衰落的，堕落的 | |
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137
unreasonably
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| adv. 不合理地 | |
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