ed to
strike terror into the Britons. In the following year he started in
July, so as to have many weeks of fine weather before him, taking with
him as many as 25,000 foot and 2,000 horse. After effecting a landing
he pushed inland to the Kentish Stour, where he defeated the natives
and captured one of their stockades. Good soldiers as the Romans were,
they were never quite at home on the sea, and Caesar was recalled to
the coast by the news that the waves had dashed to pieces a large
number of his ships. As soon as he had repaired the damage he resumed
his march. His principal opponent was Cassivelaunus, the chief of the
tribe of the Catuvellauni, who had subdued many of the neighbouring
tribes, and whose stronghold was a stockade near the modern St.
Albans. This chief and his followers harassed the march of the Romans
with the rush of their chariots. If Cassivelaunus could have counted
upon the continued support of all his warriors, he might perhaps have
succeeded in forcing Caesar to retreat, as the country was covered with
wood and difficult to penetrate. Many of the tribes, however, which
now served under him longed to free themselves from his rule. First,
the Trinobantes and then four other tribes broke away from him and
sought the protection of Caesar. Caesar, thus encouraged, dashed at his
stockade and carried it by storm. Cassivelaunus abandoned the
struggle, gave hostages to Caesar, and promised to pay a yearly
tribute. On this Caesar returned to Gaul. Though the tribute was never
paid, he had gained his object. He had sufficiently frightened the
British tribes to make it unlikely that they would give him any
annoyance in Gaul.

14. =South-eastern Britain after Caesar's Departure.= B.C. =54=--A.D.
=43=.--For nearly a century after Caesar's departure Britain was left
to itself. The Catuvellauni recovered the predominance which they had
lost. Their chieftain, Cunobelin, the original of Shakspere's
Cymbeline, is thought to have been a grandson of Cassivelaunus. He
established his power over the Trinobantes as well as over his own
people, and made Camulodunum, the modern Colchester, his headquarters.
Other tribes submitted to him as they had submitted to his
grandfather. The prosperity of the inhabitants of south-eastern
Britain increased more rapidly than the prosperity of their ancestors
had increased before Caesar's invasion. Traders continued to flock over
from Gaul, bringing with them a knowledge of the arts