he History of Normandy

The early inhabitants of Normandy submitted to the Roman legions under
Titurus Sabinus in B.C. 58, only a few years before Caesar's first attempt
upon Britain. By their repeated attacks upon Roman territory the Gaulish
tribes had brought upon themselves the invasion which, after some stubborn
fighting, made their country a province of the Roman Empire. Inter-tribal
strife having now ceased, the civilisation of Rome made its way all over
the country including that northern portion known as Neustria, much of
which from the days of Rollo came to be called Normandy. Traces of the
Roman occupation are scattered all over the province, the most remarkable
being the finely preserved theatre at Lillebonne, a corruption of
Juliabona, mentioned in another chapter.

In the second century Rouen, under its Roman name Rotomagos, is mentioned
by Ptolemy. It was then merely the capital of the tribe of Velocasses, but
in Diocletian's reign it had become not only the port of Roman Paris, but
also the most important town in the province. In time the position occupied
by Rotomagos became recognised as one having greater strategical advantages
than Juliabona, a little further down the river, and this Gallo-Roman
precursor of the modern Rouen became the headquarters of the provincial
governor. The site of Rotomagos would appear to include the Palais de
Justice and the Cathedral of the present day.

After the four centuries of Roman rule came the incursions of the savage
hordes of northern Europe, and of the great army of Huns, under Attila, who
marched through Gaul in A.D. 451. The Romans with their auxiliaries engaged
Attila at Chalons--the battle in which fabulous numbers of men are said to
have fallen on both sides.

The Roman power was soon completely withdrawn from Gaul, and the Franks
under Clovis, after the battle of Soissons, made themselves complete
masters of the country. In 511 Clovis died. He had embraced Christianity
fifteen years before, having been baptised at Rheims, probably through
the influence of his wife Clothilda. Then for two hundred and fifty
years France was under the Merovingian kings, and throughout much of
this period there was very little settled government, Neustria, together
with the rest of France, suffering from the lawlessness that prevailed
under these "sluggard" kings. Rouen was still the centre of many of the
events connected with the history of Neustria. We know something of the