he meant to fix the scat of war; but reflecting on the scanty numbers of his little army, and the fatal rashness of Cerealis, he resolved to quit this station, and, by giving up one post, secure the rest of the province. Neither supplications nor the tears of the inhabitants, could induce him to change his plan. The signal for the march was given. All who chose to follow his banners were taken under his protection. Of all who, on account of their ad vanced age, the weakness of their sex, or the attractions of the situation, thought proper to remain behind, not one escaped the fury of the barbarians. The inhabitants of Verulamium (St. Alban's) were, in like manner, put to the sword. The genius of a savage people leads them always in quest of plunder; and accordingly, the Britons left behind them all places of streng h. Wherever they expected feeble resistance and considerable booty, they were sure to attack with the fiercest rage. Military skill was not the talent of barbarians. The number massacred in the places which have been mentioned, amounted to no less than seventy thousand, all citizens or allies of Rome. To make prisoners and reserve them for slavery, or to exchange them, was not the idea of a people, who despised all the laws of war. The halter and the gibbet, slaughter and desolation, fire and sword, were the marks of savage valour. Aware that vengeance would overtake them, they were resolved to make sure of their revenge, and glut themselves with the blood of their enemies.

"The fourteenth legion, with the veterans of the twentieth, and the auxiliaries from the adjacent stations, having joined Suetonius, his army amounted to little less than ten thousand men. Thus reinforced, he resolved, without loss of time, to bring on a decisive action. For this purpose, he chose a spot encircled with woods, narrow at the entrance, and sheltered in the rear by a thick forest. In that situation he had no fear of an ambuscade. The enemy, he knew, had no approach but in front. An open plain lay before him. He drew up his men in the following order: the legions in close array formed the centre; the light armed troops were stationed at hand, to serve as occasion might require; the cavalry took post in the wings. The Britons brought into the field an incredible multitude. They formed no regular line of battle. Detached parties and loose battalions displayed their numbers in frantic transport, bounding with exultation; and so sure of victory, that they placed their wives in waggons at the extremity of the plain, where they might survey the scene of action, and behold the wonders of British valour.

meatuum maxime celebre. Ibi ambiguus an illam sedem bello deligeret, circumspecta in frequentia militis, satisque magnis documentis temeritatim. Petilii cæcitam unius oppidi damno servare universa statuit. Neque fletu

ni lachrimis auxiliam ejus orantium, flexus est, quin daret profectionis signum, et commitantes in partem agminis acciperet. Si quos imbellis sexus ant fessa ætas, vel loci dulcedo altinuerat ab hoste oppressi sun

"Boadicea, in a warlike car, with her two daughters before her, drove through the ranks; she harangued the different tribes in their turn: This,' said she, is not the first time that the Britons have been led to battle by a woman. But now she did not come to boast the pride of a long line of ancestry, nor even to recover her kingdom, and the plundered wealth of her family. She took the field like the meanest among them, to assert the cause of public liberty, and to seek revenge for her body seamed with ignominious stripes, and her two daughters infamously ra vished. From the pride and arrogance of the Romans, nothing is sacred; all are subject to violation; the old endure the scourge and the virgins are deflowered. But the vindictive gods are now at hand. A Roman legion dared to face the warlike Britons; with their lives they paid for their rashness; those who survived the carnage of that day, lie poorly hid behind their entrench ments, meditating nothing but how to save themselves by an ig. nominious flight. From the din of preparation, and the shouts of the British army, the Romans, even now, shrink back with terror. What will be their case when the assault begins? Look round, and view your numbers. Behold the proud display of warlike spirits, and consider the motives for which we draw the avenging sword. On this spot we must either conquer or die with glory. There is no alternative. Though a woman, my resolution is fixed; the men, if they please, may survive with. infamy, and live in bondage.'

silent.

Suetonius, in a moment of such importance, did not remain He expected every thing from the valour of his men, and yet urged every topic that could inspire and animate them to the attack. Despise,' said he, the savage uproar, the yells and shouts undisciplined barbarians. In that mixed multitude, the women outnumbered the men. Void of spirit, unprovided with arms, they are not soldiers who come to offer battle; they are dastards, runaways, the refuse of your swords, who have often fled before you, and will again betake themselves to flight, when they see the conqueror flaming in the ranks of war. In all engagements, it is the valour of a few that turns the fortune of the day. It will be your immortal glory, that with a scanty number, you can equal the exploits of a great and powerful army. Keep your ranks; discharge your javelins; rush forward to a close attack; bear down all with your bucklers, and hew a passage with your swords. Pursue the vanquished, and never think of spoil and plunder. Conquer, and all is yours.' This speech was received with warlike acclamations. The soldiers burned with impatience for the onset, the veterans brandished their javelins, and the ranks displayed such an intrepid countenance, that Suetonius, anticipating the victory, gave the signal for the charge

"The engagement began. The Roman legion presented a

close embodied line. The narrow defile gave them the shelter of a rampar. The Britons advanced with ferocity, and discharged their darts at random. In that instant, the Romans rushed forward in the form of a wedge. The auxiliaries followed with equal ardour. The cavalry, at the same time, bore down upon the enemy, and, with their pikes, overpowered all who dared to make a stand. The Britons betook themselves to flight, but the waggons in their rear obstructed their passage. A dreadful slaughter followed. Neither sex nor age was spared. The cattle; falling in one promiscuous carnage, added to the heaps of slain. The glory of the day was equal to the most splendid victory of ancient times. According to some writers, not less than eighty thousand Britons were put to the sword. The Romans lost about four hundred men, and the wounded did not exceed that number. Boadicea, by a dose of poison, put a period to her life. Pænius Posthumus, præfect in the camp of the second legion, as soon as he heard of the brave exploits of the fourteenth and twentieth legions, felt the disgrace of having, in disobedience to the orders of his general, robbed the soldiers under his command of their share in so complete a victory. Stung with remorse, he fell upon his sword, and expired on the spot.'

This was the most terrible overthrow the Britons ever received; but though defeated, they were not entirely dispersed. Suetonins obtained a reinforcement, and the country round, whereever the people had declared open hostility, or even suspected of treachery, was laid waste with fire and sword. Famine was the greatest calamity which the unfortunate Britons had to encounter, for, when employed in preparations for the revolt, they had neglected the cultivation of their lands, depending altogether on the success of their arms, and the booty which they expected to seize from the Romans. Suetonius, however, was recalled soon after, and as his successor did not press hostilities, a state of tranquillity ensued.

In contemplating a scene like that of this dreadful conflict, as described by Tacitus, we are naturally led to enquire on what spot it took place. The prevailing opinion has long been, that the battle was fought at Islington, in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis. Mr. Nelson, the historian of Islington, who appears to have given the most attention to the subject, states, that "Battle Bridge* is supposed to have been so called, from its contiguity to the spot where the celebrated battle was fought between the Romans and the Britons, A. D. 61. The operations of the Roman General were, it is probable, confined to the north and north-western vicinity of London. It will be readily admitted, that no situation in the neighbourhood of the capital could afford a more advantageous position, than the high ground in the

Small Pox Hospital, St. Pancras

vicinity of Islington, both in regard to security, and as a post of observation for an army apprehensive of an immediate attack from an immense superiority of force.

*

"The opinion that the scene of this dreadful conflict was not far distant from this spot, is further strengthened by some considerable remains of an encampment, which may yet be seen in the neighbourhood, and which exhibit sufficient evidence that the situation was an important military post, upon some occasion in the early part of our history. In a field, called the Reed Moat Field, a little to the northward of the workhouse, are the remains of a camp, evidently Roman, and which is generally supposed to have been the position occupied by Suetonius, previous to his engagement with the Britons. These remains consist of a prætorium, which, in situation, form, and size, exactly corresponds with the description of the general's tent, as given by Polybius in his account of the Roman method of castrametation. The site of the prætorium is a square of about 200 feet; the area within the entrenchment being a quadrangle of about 45 yards. The surrounding fosse varies in breadth from 20 to 30 feet, which irregularity has been occasioned by encroachments on the embankments. The fosse, which is about 10 or 12 feet deep, is for the most part filled with water, and overgrown with sedge.

"In the encampment of a Roman army, the general's tent always occupied the most convenient place for prospect or command, so this prætorium is seated on an elevated spot, embracing an extensive view over the adjacent country on all sides. To make it more convenient in this respect, that wall from whence the view was least commanding has been raised by art, and presents a bolder embankment; and there is a visible ridge across the middle of the area where this elevated part begins. There is also a raised breast-work or rampart, extending for a considerable length on the western side of the prætorium, and another on the south. The positions occupied by this camp (supposing it to have been that of Paulinus), will be found strikingly advantageous, when it is considered that the enemy was expected to make the first attack from the circle nearest the metropolis.

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It is probable that this was the first place of security to which Paulinus retired, to unite his scattered forces, and upon which occasion the camp was formed; for it was customary with the Romans to entrench themselves, though they remained but a single night in the place. The description Tacitus gives of the scene of his operations is very narrow and confined: Deligitque locum artis faucibus et a tergo silva clausam; satis cognito, nihil hostium nisi in fronte et apertum planitiem esse sine metu

The name of the district, which in fortified enclosure, as most of the names the Doomsday Book is spelt Isendone, with similar terminations have. appears to have reference to a don, or

66

nisidiarum.' But the great scene of carnage appears to have been a couple of eminences. Angustias loci pro munimento." "It is not unlikely that the Roman general abandoned the Above encampment on finding the disparity of his forces compared with that of the Britons, with which he had to contend, and fixed upon the narrow spot of ground, as best calculated for his little army to act with advantage. The situation of the valley that lies between the acclivities of Pentonville, and the high ground about Gray's Inn Lane, and where the river Fleet has its course though now, for the most part, obscured by buildings, will not, on inspection, be found any thing at variance with the above des cription of Tacitus; and an opinion nay be fairly hazarded, that the scene of this action was confined to this place, in the immediate vicinity of Battle Bridge."*

The vestiges of the encampment alluded to, have recently been much defaced by digging carried on to make bricks. In 1826, a survey was made of the prætorium and fosse, an engraving of which is annexed.

Nelson's Islington, p. 69. Bagford, in his letter to Hearne, speaking of a friend, Mr. John Conyers, an apothecary, who formerly lived in Fleet Street, says, "It was this very gentleman that discovered the body of an elephant, as he was digging for gravel in a field, near to the sign of Sir John Oldcastle in the Fields, not far from Battle Bridge, and near to the river of Wells, Fleet Ditch, which, though now dried up, was a considerable river in the time of the Romans! How this elephant came there is the question. I know some will have it to have lain there ever since the Univeral Deluge For my own part, I take

it to have been brought over, with many others, by the Romans, in the reign of Claudius the emperor. and conjecture, (for a liberty of guessing may be indulged to me, as well as to others that maintain different hypothesis) that it was killed in some fight by a Briton. For not far from the place where it was found, a British weapon, made of a flint lance, like unto the head of a spear, fastened into a shaft of a good length, which was a weapon very common amongst the ancient Britons, was also dug up; they having not, at that time, the use of iron or brass, as the Romans had."