Cassivellaunus

“ Cassivellaunus was once more compelled to retreat, though never so far but that he was always in readiness to fall upon any detached29 cohorts, and with his five thousand war-chariots to hang upon and harass any party of foragers: Cæsar was at last compelled to send out his legions to protect the horsemen while they gathered in provisions. Even then the island prince drove and carried off all the cattle and corn which was pastured or garnered in the neighbourhood of the Roman encampment. The invaders were never safe except when within their own entrenchments ”

“ In the battle which ensued the Romans were victorious, and when Cassivellaunus heard of this disaster he sent ambassadors to Cæsar to treat about a surrender. Cæsar, since he had resolved to pass the winter on the continent, on account of sudden revolts in Gaul, demanded hostages and prescribed what tribute Britain should pay each year to the Roman people. ”

“ Vogel’s suspicion is possibly not groundless. Caesar may have sent Commius to Cassivellaunus with an offer of terms; and if so, his narrative is so far misleading. On the other hand, Cassivellaunus may first have signified his willingness to submit; and Caesar may then have employed Commius as his agent.
Dr. Vogel’s general conclusion is that, although Caesar’s narrative is not expressly contradicted by Cicero’s letters, yet it was, from first to last, written for effect. Always literally true, it is often substantially false. ”

“ The account by Dion Cassius seems to distrust a large part of Caesar’s narrative. The advance across the Thames, and the capture of the town of Cassivellaunus, are not mentioned, and in this the British account agrees. Yet this latter is not derived from Dion, as it differs in the interval between the two invasions (two years for one) , in the return to Gaul after the second storm, and in Caesar staying the winter in London. Dion, therefore, is not the source of Tysilio, though both agree in disregarding Caesar’s attack on Cassivellaunus. ”

“ Vogel reminds us that Caesar’s words have led Mommsen to believe that Cassivellaunus promised to pay tribute and to give hostages. But, says Dr. Vogel, Caesar nowhere says this: he only leads the reader to imagine it. What he says is this:—‘On receiving news of the action [namely, the repulse of the four kings] , Cassivellaunus, who was greatly alarmed by the defection of the tribes, following the numerous disasters which he had sustained and the ravaging of his country, availed himself of the mediation of the Atrebatian, Commius, and sent envoys to Caesar, to propose surrender. ”

“ After a battle at Challock Wood, Cæsar and his men crossed the Thames, as is supposed, at Coway Stakes, an ancient ford a little above Walton and below Weybridge. Cassivellaunus, King of Hertfordshire and Middlesex, had just slain in war Immanuent, King of Essex, and had driven out his son Mandubert. The Trinobantes, Mandubert's subjects, joined the Roman spearmen against the 4,000 scythed chariots of Cassivellaunus and the Catyeuchlani. ”

“ Caesar demands from his readers not only attention and intelligence, but also expert knowledge; but from those who possess these qualifications he rarely withholds necessary information: when he baffles their curiosity, his silence does not prevent them from understanding what is essential.
whose chariots harass his cavalry.
During a great part of the march Cassivellaunus dogged the Roman column. Caesars object was to strike terror; and despoil the inhabitants of their chief source of wealth,—their flocks and herds. But Cassivellaunus soon taught him 345 a lesson of caution. ”

“ Cassivellaunus, who is himself but a usurper, and therefore has many enemies at home, endeavours to make himself secure in a strong place or town, which is supposed to have been on or near the site of our St Albans. Cæsar, however, explains that the poor Britons give the name of a town,—“oppidum,”—to a spot in which they have merely surrounded some thick woods with a ditch and rampart. Cæsar, of course, drives them out of their woodland fortress, and then there quickly follows another surrender, more hostages, and the demand for tribute. ”

“ Mandubratius, the son of their former king Imanuentius, had fled for refuge to Cæsar, in order to escape the fate of his father, who had been killed by Cassivellaunus in the course of his conquests over his neighbours. The Trinovantes asked Cæsar to send Mandubratius to rule over them and to protect him from Cassivellaunus. Cæsar granted their request, and sent Mandubratius to them, at the same time demanding and obtaining hostages and corn. ”

“ The Celtic infantry of the more warlike tribes were not indeed to be despised. The Helvetii with their allies made a stubborn fight against Caesar: the Parisian confederation under the veteran Camulogenus tested the mettle of Labienus; and the issue of the battle with the Nervii remained long doubtful. But in all these combats the Celts had a great numerical advantage; and in all they were beaten to the verge of annihilation. Cassivellaunus saw that his object was not to be attained by regular warfare. ”

“ From them he learns that the capital town of Cassivellaunus was not far from that place, and was defended by woods and morasses, and a very large number of men and of cattle had been collected in it. (Now the Britons, when they have fortified the intricate woods, in which they are wont to assemble for the purpose of avoiding the incursion of an enemy, with an entrenchment and a rampart, call them a town.) Thither he proceeds with his legions: he finds the place admirably fortified by nature and art ”

“ The story reads very much as if these useful individuals were really deserters, or, as the Britons would call it, traitors. We know that in one British tribe, at least, there was a pro-Roman party. Not long before this there had fled to Caesar in Gaul, Mandubratius, the fugitive prince of the Trinobantes, who dwelt in Essex. His father Immanuentius had been slain in battle by Cassivellaunus, or Caswallon [104] (the king of their westward neighbours the Cateuchlani) , now the most powerful chieftain in Britain, and he himself driven into exile. ”

“ They hastened thither; but the cohorts did not leave them time to attack; they made a sortie, killed a great number of barbarians, captured one of their principal chiefs, Lugotorix, and re-entered their camp without loss. On the news of this defeat, Cassivellaunus, discouraged by so many reverses and the defection of several peoples, employed Commius to offer his submission. [408]
Re-embarkment of the Army. VIII. Summer approached its end (they were in the last days of August) . ”

“ Others point to Cassiobury in Hertfordshire.3520 Cassiobury, they argue, evidently preserves the name of the Cassi,3521 who were as evidently subject to Cassivellaunus.
3. Von Göler3522 remarks that, ‘judging from the configuration and nature of the terrain,’ the oppidium ‘may be the hill lying on the south-western side of Wendover’. May be, or may be not; for Caesar’s vague description of ‘the configuration and nature of the terrain’ would apply to other sites as well. ”

“ It is no easy matter to put Cassibellaun to death while I have life; and if you do not comply with my demand, I shall not be ashamed to give him my assistance." Cæsar, alarmed at these menaces of Androgeus, was forced to comply, and entered into peace with Cassibellaun, on conditon that he should pay a yearly tribute of three thousand pounds of silver. So then Julius and Cassibellaun from this time became friends, and made presents to each other. After this, Cæsar wintered in Britain, and the following spring returned into Gaul. ”

“ As easily ’gainst our rocks; for joy whereof
The fam’d Cassibelan, who was once at point
(O, giglot fortune!) to master Cæsar’s sword,
Made Lud’s Town with rejoicing fires bright
And Britons strut with courage.
CLOTEN.
Come, there’s no more tribute to be paid. Our kingdom is stronger than it was at that time; and, as I said, there is no moe such Cæsars. Other of them may have crook’d noses; but to owe such straight arms, none.
CYMBELINE.
Son, let your mother end.
CLOTEN.
We have yet many among us can gripe as hard as Cassibelan. I do not say I am one; but I have a hand. ”

“ The may be easily forced to become our tributaries, and subjects to the Roman state. Before the Romans offer to invade or assault them, we must send them word that they pay tribute as other nations do, and submit themselves to the senate; for fear we should violate the ancient nobility of our father Priamus, by shedding the blood of our kinsmen." All of which he accordingly took care to signify in writing to Cassibellaun; [3] who in great indignantion returned him an answer in the following letter.
2 "Cassibellaun, king of the Britons, to Caius Julius Caesar. ”

“ The Britons fought with true courage, and for the first time in this land's social history we get glimpses of individual heroes rejoicing in elaborate names, few of which are less than four syllables. Stronger than his fellow's, Cassivelaunus, King of the Catuvelauni, keeps a large tract of country* free from the Roman, while his descendant Cunobelinus—the Cymbeline of Shakspere— defends his stronghold of Camalodunum, on the site of our modern Colchester, as some maintain. ”

“ The stakes are as hard as ebony; and it is evident from the exterior grain that the stakes were the entire bodies of young oak trees. Cæsar places the ford eighty miles from the coast of Kent where he landed, which distance agrees very well with the position of Oatlands, as Camden remarks.
Cassivelaunus had been appointed Commander-in-chief of all the British forces. This is the king whom Plutarch means. He agreed to pay an annual tribute to the Romans (Gallic War, v. 22) , and gave them hostages. Compare Cicero, Ad Attic. ”

“ An eagle is not formidable at the head of an army of daws, nor a lion commanding fawns; and it was not Cassius, but you, that brought to an end the Arabian or the famous Parthian War. Again, even though he is renowned as a result of his achievements against the Parthians, yet you have Verus, who has won more victories than he and has acquired more territory in a not less, but more distinguished manner.--But probably he has already changed his mind, on hearing that I am alive, for surely he has done this on no other assumption than that I was dead. ”

“ Tenantius, the father of Cymbeline, and nephew of Cassibelan. He was the younger son of Lud, king of the southern part of Britain. On the death of Lud, his younger brother, Cassibelan, succeeded, and on the death of Cassibelan, the crown came to Tenantius, who refused to pay the tribute to Rome exacted from Cassibelan, on his defeat by Julius Cæsar. ”

“ LXXI Messala Corvinus, a young man of shining character, who, next to Brutus and Cassius, possessed the greatest influence of any in the camp, and whom some solicited to take the command, chose to be indebted for safety to Cæsar’s kindness, rather than to try any further the chance of arms. Nor did any circumstance attending his victories afford greater joy to Cæsar, than the saving of Corvinus; nor was there ever an instance of greater gratitude, or more affectionate attachment, than Corvinus showed to Cæsar in return. No war was ever more stained with the blood of illustrious men. ”

“ Caswallon (or Cassivelaunus) was elected to the supreme command of the Britons, (as recorded in the Triads,) for the purpose of opposing Cæsar, under the title of Elected Chief of Battle. Whatever impression the disciplined legions of Rome might have made on the Britons in the first instance, the subsequent departure of Cæsar they considered as a cause of triumph ”

“ Caswallon pledged himself, as Lord Paramount, that Britain should pay an annual tribute to the Roman treasury, and, as Chief of the Cateuchlani, that he would leave Mandubratius on the Trinobantian throne. Hostages were given, and the Roman forces returned with all convenient speed to the coast ”

“ In the meantime Cassibellaun had begun to besiege Trinovantum and ravage the country towns; but finding that Caesar was arrived, he raised the siege and hastened to meet him. As soon as he entered a valley near Dorobernia, he saw the Roman army preparing their camp: for Androgeus had conducted them to this place, for the convenience of making a sudden assault upon the city. The Romans, seing the Britons advancing towards them, quickly flew to their arms, and placed themselves in their ranks. ”

“ Yet notwithstanding this taint of enviousness and spite, Cassius is far from being a despicable or even an unattractive character. He may play the Devil’s Advocate in regard to individuals, but he is capable of a high enthusiasm for his cause, such as it is. We must share his calenture of excitement, as he strides about the streets in the tempest that fills Casca with superstitious dread and Cicero with discomfort at the nasty weather. His republicanism may be a narrow creed, but at least he is willing to be a martyr to it ”

“ Among these lower natures, Cassius is undoubtedly the most imposing and most interesting.
The main lines of his character are given in Caesar’s masterly delineation, which follows Plutarch in regard to his spareness, but in the other particulars freely elaborates the impression that Plutarch’s whole narrative produces.
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look:
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous....
He reads much;
He is a great observer, and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men; he loves no plays,
As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music ”

“ Cethegus; seest thou not—seest thou not there? If it be he, he 'scapes us not again!—out with thy weapon, man, and strike at once, if that thou have a chance; but if not, do thou go on with Cassius to the appointed place. Leave him to me! and say, I follow ye! See! he hath slunk into the darkness. Separate ye, and occupy the whole width of the street, while I dislodge him!"
And as he spoke, unsheathing his broad poignard, but holding it concealed beneath his cassock, he strode on boldly, affecting the most perfect indifference, and even insolence of bearing. ”