The geography and inhabitants of
Britain, already described by many writers, I will speak
of, not that my research and ability may be compared with theirs, but
because the country was then for the first time thoroughly subdued. And so
matters, which as being still not accurately known my predecessors
embellished with their eloquence, shall now be related on the evidence of
facts.
Britain, the largest of the islands which
Roman geography includes, is so situated that it faces Germany on the east, Spain on
the west; on the south it is even within sight of Gaul; its northern extremities, which have no shores
opposite to them, are beaten by the waves of a vast open sea. The form of
the entire country has been compared by Livy and Fabius Rusticus, the most
graphic among ancient and modern historians, to an oblong shield or
battle-axe. And this no doubt is its shape without Caledonia, so that it has become the popular description
of the whole island. There
GEOGRAPHY AND
ETHNOLOGY OF BRITAIN |
is, however, a large and
irregular tract of land which juts out from its furthest shores, tapering
off in a wedge-like form. Round these coasts of remotest ocean the Roman
fleet then for the first time sailed, ascertained that
Britain is an island, and simultaneously discovered and
conquered what are called the
Orcades, islands
hitherto unknown.
Thule too was descried in the
distance, which as yet had been hidden by the snows of winter. Those waters,
they say, are sluggish, and yield with difficulty to the oar, and are not
even raised by the wind as other seas. The reason, I suppose, is that lands
and mountains, which are the cause and origin of storms, are here
comparatively rare, and also that the vast depths of that unbroken expanse
are more slowly set in motion. But to investigate the nature of the ocean
and the tides is no part of the present work, and many writers have
discussed the subject. I would simply add, that nowhere has the sea a wider
dominion, that it has many currents running in every direction, that it does
not merely flow and ebb within the limits of the shore, but penetrates and
winds far inland, and finds a home among hills and mountains as though in
its own domain.
