n.

30. =Christianity in Britain.=--When the Romans put down the Druids
and their bloody sacrifices, they called the old Celtic gods by Roman
names, but made no further alteration in religious usages. Gradually,
however, Christianity spread amongst the Romans on the Continent, and
merchants or soldiers who came from the Continent introduced it into
Britain. Scarcely anything is known of its progress in the island.
Alban is said to have been martyred at Verulamium, and Julius and
Aaron at Isca Silurum. In =314= three British bishops attended a
council held at Arles in Gaul. Little more than these few facts have
been handed down, but there is no doubt that there was a settled
Church established in the island. The Emperor Constantine acknowledged
Christianity as the religion of the whole Empire. The remains of a
church of this period have recently been discovered at Silchester.

31. =Weakness of the Empire.=--The Roman Empire in the time of
Constantine had the appearance rather than the reality of strength.
Its taxation was very heavy, and there was no national enthusiasm to
lead men to sacrifice themselves in its defence. Roman citizens became
more and more unwilling to become soldiers at all, and the Roman
armies were now mostly composed of barbarians. At the same time the
barbarians outside the Empire were growing stronger, as the tribes
often coalesced into wide confederacies for the purpose of attacking
the Empire.

32. =The Picts and Scots.=--The assailants of Britain on the north and
the west were the Picts and Scots. The Picts were the same as the
Caledonians of the time of Agricola. We do not know why they had
ceased to be called Caledonians. The usual derivation of their name
from the Latin _Pictus_, said to have been given them because they
painted their bodies, is inaccurate. Opinions differ whether they were
Goidels with a strong Iberian strain, or Iberians with a Goidelic
admixture. They were probably Iberians, and at all events they were
more savage than the Britons had been before they were influenced by
Roman civilisation. The Scots, who afterwards settled in what is now
known as Scotland, at that time dwelt in Ireland. Whilst the Picts,
therefore, assailed the Roman province by land, and strove, not always
unsuccessfully, to break through the walls which defended its northern
frontier, the Scots crossed the Irish Sea in light boats to plunder
and slay before armed assistance could arrive.

33. =The S