been founded by Eurysaces, the son of Ajax. Below Corsica is Sardinia, called by the Greeks Ichnusa*, from its fancied resemblance to the print of a foot. It derived its name from Sardus, the son of Hercules, chief of an African colony planted there. It was taken by the Romans with Corsica. The air of Sardinia was considered very unwholesome, and the quantity of wormwood and bitter herbs it produced, particularly a species of ranunculus, was proverbial f. As the features were contracted by the taste of these, the expression Sardous risus, a Sardonic smile, was used to signify a malevolent grin. The principal towns were Caralis, now Cagliari, in the South, and Olbia, in the North, nearly opposite to which was Tibule. Late events have given celebrity to the little island of Ilva, now Elba, lying between the extreme Northern point of Corsica and Etruria. Its iron mines were celebrated by the antients‡. * The adjacent countries have been generally assimilated to some well-known form. Italy to a boot; Sicily, by the antients, to a triangle, hence called Triquetra; by the moderns, to the less philosophic form of a shoulder of mutton; Corsica to a heart. † Immo ego Sardois videor tibi amarior herbis -Ilva Insula inexhaustis Chalybum generosa metallis. Virg. Ecl. VII. 41. Virg. En. X. 173. CHAPTER IV. BRITANNIA ANTIQUA. A. G. Plate II. As Britain appears to have been peopled by successive migrations from the neighbouring coast of Gaul, it will be our most natural way of proceeding to begin with describing the parts nearest that country. Opposite the coast of Gaul, and divided from it by a narrow strait, were, I. The Cantii, or people of Kent, and part of Middlesex, whose principal harbour was Rutupiæ, or Richborough, where the Romans generally landed. Even in the days of Juvenal the oysters of Richborough were imported into Italy*. Durovernum, or Darvernum, was Canterbury; Durobrivæ, Rochester. * Circæis nata forent, an Lucrinum ad saxum, Rutupinove edita fundo Juv. Sat. IV. 145 A little below Dover was Portus Lemanis, or Lymne, where Cæsar is thought to have landed on his first expedition to Britain, B. C. 55, A.U.C. 699: having set out from the Portus Itius, in Gaul, a little South of Calais. II. South-west of the Cantii were the Regni, or antient inhabitants of Surry, Sussex, and part of Hampshire, whose principal city, Neomagus, or Noviomagus, is placed at Woodcote, near Croydon, in Surrey; Regnum was Chichester. III. Nearly West of the Regni were the Belga, or inhabitants of Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and part of Hampshire. The principal station here was Venta Belgarum, or Winchester. Aquæ Calidæ, or Solis, was Bath; Ischalis, Ilchester; Clausentum, Southampton; the Isle of Wight was called Vectis. South-west of them were, IV. The Durotriges, or the inhabitants of Dorsetshire. The chief towns were Dunium, or Aggerdon Hill, and Dornovaria, now Dorchester. V. West of the Durotriges were the Damnonii, or Dumnonii, who possessed Devonshire and Cornwall. The chief towns were Isca Damnoniorum, or Chiselborough, and Uxela, or Exeter. Tamari Ostia was the mouth of the Tamar, now Plymouth Sound. Ocrinum was the Lizard Point; and Bolerium the Land's End, or Cape Cornwall. VI. North, above the Cantii, were the Trinobantes, or people of Essex and Middlesex. The principal settlements were, Camulodunum, or Maldon; Colonia, probably Colchester; Cæsaromagus, Chelmsford; and Londinium, or London. VII. South-west of the Trinobantes were the Atrebatii, in Berkshire and part of Oxfordshire. Their principal town was Calleva, probably Silchester. VIII. North of the Atrebatii were the Catti, Catieuchlani or Cattevelauni, in the present counties of Hertford, Bedford, Northampton, and Bucks. Their capital was Verulamium, near St. Albans. IX. West of the Cattevelauni and Atrebatii were the Dobuni, who inhabited Oxforshire and Gloucestershire. The two principal stations were Corinium, or Cirencester, and Glevum, or Gloucester. Wales was divided among two principal nations. X. In South Wales the Silures inhabited the counties of Hereford, Monmouth, Radnor, Brecon, and Glamorgan; whose capital was Isca Silurum, now Caerleon, on the river Isca, or Uske, in Monmouthshire. The other principal stations were Bullæum or Burrium Uske, unless the former name belong to Builth; Blestium, or Monmouth; Gobannium, or Abergavenny; Ariconium, or Ross; and Venta Silurum, or Caer Gwent, near Chepstow. The Demeta were a tribe of Silures on the coast in Cardiganshire, Pembrokeshire, aud Carmarthenshire. The great Caractacus, who was defeated by Ostorius Scapula, A. D. 51, was a prince of the Silures. XI. In North Wales were the Ordovices, who occupied the counties of Montgomery, Carnarvon, Denbigh, and Flint. Their capital was Mediolanum, or Myfod, in Montgomeryshire. Among them were also Segontium, or Carnarvon, on the river Seiont, and Conovium, or Conwy, on the river Conwy. The island of Anglesea was called Mona. XII. Returning to the Eastern coast: North of the Trinobantes were the Simeni, Cenimagni, or Iceni, in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Huntingdonshire; whose capital was Venta Icenorum, or Caister, not far from Norwich. The famous Boadicea was queen of the Iceni, who revolted against the Romans, and was defeated by Suetonius Paulinus, A. D. 61. XIII. North-west of the Iceni were the Coritani, who possessed the counties of Leicester, Rutland, Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, and part of Stafford. Among the principal stations were Lindum, on Lincoln, and Ratæ, or Leicester. XIV. West of the Coritani were the Carnavii, who were settled in Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Shorpshire, and Cheshire. The principal stations here were Deva, or Chester; Uriconium*, or Wroxeter, near Shrewsbury, the ancient capital of the Carnavii, Etocetum, or Wall, near Litchfield, and Manduɛssedum, or Manceter, in Warwickshire, though the two last belong more properly to the Coritani. The Huicii, or Jugantes, as they were called by Tacitus, were a tribe of the Cornavii settled in Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. XV. North of the Coritani were the Parisi, but a small nation, situated in that part of Yorkshire called Holderness, and subject to, XVI. The Brigantes, the greatest, most powerful, and most antient of the British nations. They possessed the whole extent of Britian from sea to sea, comprising the counties of York, Durham, Lancaster, Westmoreland, and Cumberland. The famous Cartismandua, with whom Caractacus took refuge, was queen of the Brigantes. The principal towns were, Eboracum, or York, one of the greatest in the island, and Isurium, or Aldborough, near Boroughbridge, which was at one time the capital of the Brigantes. Longovicum was Lancaster; Mancunium, Manchester. These are the principal British nations. The antient inhabitants of Scotland were very little known to the Romans; and it may suffice to mention the Otadeni, who were seated in the counties of Northumberland, Merse, and the Lothians; the Gadeni, West of the Ota *Hence the present name of the Wrekin. |