The Britons soon discovered that the Romans had retreated, but made
no movement in pursuit. They knew that the legionaries once in open
ground were more than their match, and they were well content with
the success they had gained. They had lost in all but four hundred
men, while they were certain that the Romans had suffered much more
heavily, and that there was but little chance of the attack being
renewed in the same manner, for if their progress was so slow when
they had frost to aid them, what chance would they have when there
was scarce a foot of land that could bear their weight? The winter
passed, indeed, without any further movement. The Britons suffered
to some extent from the damps; but as the whole country was undrained,
and for the most part covered with forest, they were accustomed
to a damp laden atmosphere, and so supported the fogs of the Fens
far better than they would otherwise have done.
In the spring, grain, which had been carefully preserved for
the purpose, was sown in many places where the land was above the
level of the swamps. A number of large boats had been built during
the winter, as Beric and Aska were convinced that the next attack
would be made by water, having learned from the country people to
the west that a vast number of flat bottomed boats had been built
by the Romans.
Early in the spring fighting again began. A great flotilla of
boats descended from Huntingdon, and turning off the side channels
entered the swamp. But the Britons were prepared. They were now well
provided with tools, and numbers of trees had been felled across
the channels, completely blocking the passage. As soon as the boats
left the main river, they were assailed with a storm of javelins
from the bushes, and the Romans, when they attempted to land, found
their movements impeded by the deep swamp in which they often sank
up to the waist, while their foes in their swamp pattens traversed
them easily, and inflicted heavy losses upon them, driving them
back into their boats again. At the points where the channels were
obstructed desperate struggles took place. The Romans, from their
boats, in vain endeavoured, under the storm of missiles from their
invisible foes, to remove the obstacles, and as soon as they landed
to attempt to do so they were attacked with such fury that they
were forced to fall back.
Several times they found their way of retreat blocked by boats
that had come down through side channels, and had to fight their
way back with great loss and difficulty. After maintaining the
struggle for four days, and suffering a loss even greater than that
they had incurred in their first attack, the Romans again drew
off and ascended the river. The Fenmen had joined the Iceni in
repelling the attack. The portion of the swamp they inhabited was
not far away, and they felt that they too were threatened by the
Roman advance. They had therefore rejoined the Iceni, although
for some time they had kept themselves aloof from them, owing to
quarrels that had arisen because, as they asserted, some of the
Iceni had entered their district and carried off the birds from
their traps. Beric had done all in his power to allay this feeling,
recompensing them for the losses they declared they had suffered,
and bestowing many presents upon them. He and Aska often talked
the matter over, and agreed that their greatest danger was from
the Fenmen.
"They view us as intruders in their country," Aska said, "and
doubtless consider that in time we shall become their masters.
Should they turn against us they could lead the Romans direct to
our islands, and if these were lost all would be lost."
"If you fear that, Aska," Boduoc, who was present, said, "we had
better kill the little wretches at once."
"No, no Boduoc," Beric said. "We have nothing against them at
present, and we should be undeserving of the protection of the gods
were we to act towards them as the Romans act towards us. Moreover,
such an attempt would only bring about what we fear. Some of them,
knowing their way as they do through the marshes, would be sure to
make their escape, and these would bring the Romans down upon us.
Even did we slay all this tribe here, the Fenmen in the north would
seek to avenge their kinsmen, and would invite the Romans to their
aid. No, we must speak the Fenmen fair, avoid all cause of quarrel,
do all we can to win their goodwill, and show them that they have
nothing to fear from us. Still, we must always be on guard against
treachery. Night and day a watch must be set at the mouths of all
the channels by which they might penetrate in this direction."
Another month passed. The Romans still remained in their forts round
the Fens. The natives had now been brought round to the western
side, and under the protection of strong bodies of soldiers were
occupied in clearing the swamp on that side. They made but little
progress, however, for the Britons made frequent eruptions among
them, and the depth of the morasses in this direction rendered it
well nigh impossible for them to advance, and progress could only
be made by binding the bush into bundles and forming roads as they
went on. From their kinsmen in the northwest, Beric learned that a
new propraetor had arrived to replace Suetonius, for it was reported
that the wholesale severity of the latter was greatly disapproved
of in Rome, so that his successor had come out with orders to pursue
a milder policy, and to desist from the work of extirpation that
Suetonius was carrying on. It was known that at any rate the newcomer
had issued a proclamation, saying that Rome wished neither to
destroy nor enslave the people of Britain, and that all fugitives
were invited to return to their homes, adding a promise that
no molestation should be offered to them, and that an amnesty was
granted to all for their share in the late troubles.
"What do you think, Aska?" Beric asked when they heard the news.
"It may be true or it may not," Aska said. "For myself, after the
treatment of Boadicea, and the seizure of all her husband's property,
I have no faith in Roman promises. However, all this is but a
rumour. It will be time enough to consider it when they send in a
flag of truce and offer us terms of surrender. Besides, supposing
the proclamation has been rightly reported, the amnesty is promised
only for the past troubles. The new general must have heard of the
heavy losses we inflicted on the Romans as soon as he landed, and
had he meant his proclamation to apply to us he would have said
so. However, I sincerely trust that it is true, even if we are not
included, and are to be hunted down like wild beasts. Rome cannot
wish to conquer a desert, and you have told me she generally treats
the natives of conquered provinces well after all resistance has
ceased. It may well be that the Romans disapprove of the harshness
of Suetonius, although the rising was not due to him so much as to
the villain Decianus. Still he was harsh in the extreme, and his
massacre of the Druids enlisted every Briton against him. Other
measures may now be tried; the ground must be cultivated, or it is
useless to Rome. There are at present many tribes still unsubdued,
and were men like Suetonius and Decianus to continue to scourge
the land by their cruelties, they might provoke another rising as
formidable as ours, and bring fresh disaster upon Rome. But whether
the amnesty applies to us or not, I shall be glad to hear that
Suetonius has left. We know that three days ago at any rate he was
at their camp opposite Huntingdon, and he may well wish to strike
a blow before he leaves, in order that he may return with the credit
of having crushed out the last resistance."
Two nights later, an hour before daybreak, a man covered with wounds,
breathless and exhausted, made his way up to the intrenchment on
the principal island.
"To arms!" he shouted. "The Romans are upon us!" One of the sentries
ran with the news to Beric's hut. Springing from his couch Beric
sounded his horn, and the band, who were at all times kept to the
strength of four hundred, rushed to the line of defences.
"What is it? What is your news?" Beric asked the messenger.
"It is treachery, Beric. With two comrades I was on watch at
the point where the principal channel hence runs into the river.
Suddenly we thought we heard the sound of oars on the river above
us. We could not be sure. It was a faint confused sound, and we
stood at the edge of the bank listening, when suddenly from behind
us sprang out a dozen men, and before we had time to draw a sword
we were cut down. They hewed at us till they thought us dead,
and for a time I knew nothing more. When I came to myself I saw
a procession of Roman boats turning in at the channel. For a time
I was too faint to move; but at last I crawled down a yard or two
to the water and had a drink. Then my strength gradually returned
and I struggled to my feet.
"To proceed by land through the marshes at night was impossible,
but I found my coracle, which we had hidden under the bushes, and
poled up the channel after the Romans, who were now some distance
ahead. The danger gave me strength, and I gained upon them. When I
could hear their oars ahead I turned off by a cross channel so as
to strike another leading direct hither. What was my horror when
I reached it to see another flotilla of Roman boats passing along.
Then I guessed that not only we but the watchers at all the other
channels must have been surprised and killed by the treacherous
Fenmen. I followed the boats till I reached a spot where I knew
there was a track through the marshes to the island.
"For hours I struggled on, often losing the path in the darkness
and falling into swamps, where I was nearly overwhelmed; but at last
I approached the island. The Romans were already near. I tried each
avenue by which our boats approached, but all were held by them.
But at last I made my way through by one of the deepest marshes,
where at any other time I would not have set foot, even in broad
daylight, and so have arrived in time to warn you."
"You have done well. Your warning comes not, I fear, in time to
save us, but it will enable us at least to die like men, with arms
in our hands."
Parties of men were at once sent down to hold the intrenchments
erected to cover the approaches. Some of those who knew the swamps
best were sent out singly, but they found the Romans everywhere.
They had formed a complete circle round the island, all the channels
being occupied by the boats, while parties had been landed upon
planks thrown across the soft ground between the channels to prevent
any from passing on foot.
"They will not attack until broad daylight," Aska said, when all
the men who had been sent out had returned with a similar tale.
"They must fight under the disadvantage of not knowing the ground,
and would fear that in the darkness some of us would slip away."
Contrary to expectation the next day passed without any movement by
the Romans, and Beric and Aska agreed that most likely the greater
portion of the boats had gone back to bring up more troops.
"They will not risk another defeat," Aska said, "and they must be
sure that, hemmed in as we are, we shall fight to the last."
The practicability of throwing the whole force against the Romans
at one point, and of so forcing their way through was discussed;
but in that case the women and children, over a thousand in number,
must be left behind, and the idea was therefore abandoned. Another
day of suspense passed. During the evening loud shouts were heard
in the swamp, and the Britons had no doubt that the boats had
returned with reinforcements. There were three points where boats
could come up to the shore of the island. Aska, Boduoc, and another
chief, each with a hundred men, took their posts in the intrenchments
there, while Beric, with a hundred of the Sarci, remained in the
great intrenchment on the summit, in readiness to bear down upon
any point where aid was required. Soon after daybreak next morning
the battle began, the Romans advancing in their flat bottomed
boats and springing on shore. In spite of a hail of missiles they
advanced against the intrenchments; but these were strongly built
in imitation of the Roman works, having a steep bank of earth
surmounted by a solid palisade breast high, and constructed of
massive timber.
For some hours the conflict raged, fifty of the defenders at each
intrenchment thrusting down with their long spears the assailants
as they strove to scale the bank, while the other fifty rained arrows
and javelins upon them; and whenever they succeeded in getting up
to the palisade through the circle of the spears, threw down their
bows and opposed them sword in hand. Again and again the Romans
were repulsed with great slaughter, the cries of exultation from
the women who lined the upper intrenchment rose loud and shrill.
Beric divided his force into three bodies. The first was to move
down instantly if they saw the defenders of the lower intrenchment
hard pressed; the others were to hold their position until summoned
by Beric to move down and join in the fray. He himself paced round
and round the intrenchment, occupied less with the three desperate
fights going on below than with the edge of the bushes between
those points. He knew that the morasses were so deep that even an
active and unarmed man could scarce make his way through them and
that only by springing from bush to bush. But he feared that the
Romans might form paths by throwing down faggots, and so gain the
island at some undefended point.
Until noon he saw nothing to justify his anxiety; everything seemed
still in the swamp. But he knew that this silence was deceptive,
and the canopy of marsh loving trees completely hid the bushes and
undergrowth from his sight. It was just noon when a Roman trumpet
sounded, and at once at six different points a line of Roman soldiers
issued from the bushes. Beric raised his horn to his lips and blew
the signal for retreat. At its sound the defenders of the three
lower intrenchments instantly left their posts and dashed at full
speed up the hill, gaining it long before the Romans, who, as they
issued out, formed up in order to repel any attack that might be
made upon them.
"So they have made paths across the swamp," Aska said bitterly, as
he joined Beric. "They would never have made their way in by fair
fighting."
"Well," Beric said, "there is one more struggle, and a stout one,
and then we go to join our friends who have gone before us in the
Happy Island in the far west. We need not be ashamed to meet them.
They will welcome us as men who have struggled to the last for
liberty against the oppressor, and who have nobly upheld the honour
of the Iceni. We shall meet with a great welcome."
Not until the Romans had landed the whole of the force they had
brought up, which Beric estimated as exceeding two thousand men,
did they advance to the attack, pressing forward against all points
of the intrenchment. The Iceni were too few for the proper defence
of so long a circuit of intrenchments, but the women and boys took
their places beside them armed with hatchets, clubs, and knives.
The struggle was for a long time uncertain, so desperately did
the defenders fight; and it was not until suffering the loss of a
third of their number, from the missiles and weapons of the British,
that the Romans at last broke through the intrenchment. Even then
the British fought to the last. None thought of asking for quarter,
but each died contented if he could kill but one Roman. The women
flung themselves on the spears of the assailants, preferring death
infinitely to falling into the hands of the Romans; and soon the only
survivors of the Britons were a group of some thirty men gathered
on a little knoll in the centre of the camp.
Beric had successfully defended the chief entrance to the camp
until the Romans burst in at other places, and then, blowing his
horn, he had tried to rally his men in the centre for a final stand.
Aska had already fallen, pierced by a Roman javelin; but Boduoc
and a small body of the Sarci had rallied round Beric, and had
for a time beaten off the assaults of the Romans. But soon they
were reduced to half their number, and were on the point of being
overwhelmed by the crowds surrounding them, when a Roman trumpet
sounded and their assailants fell back. An officer made his way
towards them and addressed Beric.
"Suetonius bids me say that he honours bravery, and that your lives
will be spared if you lay down your arms."
"Tell Suetonius that we scorn his mercy," Beric said, "and will
die as we have lived, free men."
The Roman bade his men stand to their weapons, and not move until
his return. It was a few minutes before he came back again. Behind
him were a number of soldiers, who had laid aside their arms and
provided themselves with billets of wood and long poles. Before
Beric could understand what was intended, he and his companions
were struck to the ground by the discharge of the wooden missiles
or knocked down by the poles. Then the Romans threw themselves upon
them and bound them hand and foot, the camp was plundered, fire
applied to the huts, and the palisades beaten down. Then the captives
were carried down to the boats, and the Romans rowed away through
the marshes. They had little to congratulate themselves upon. They
had captured the leader of the Iceni, had destroyed his stronghold
and slain four hundred of his followers, but it had cost them
double that number of men, and a large portion of the remainder
bore wounds more or less severe.
Boduoc and the other prisoners were furious at their capture. The
Britons had no fear whatever of death, but capture was regarded as
a disgrace; and that they alone should have been preserved when their
comrades had all been killed and the women and children massacred,
was to them a terrible misfortune. They considered that they had
been captured by an unworthy ruse, for had they known what was
intended they would have slain each other, or stabbed themselves,
rather than become captives.
Beric's feelings were more mixed. Although he would have preferred
death to captivity, his ideas had been much modified by his residence
among the Romans, and he saw nothing disgraceful in what he could
not avoid. He would never have surrendered; would never have
voluntarily accepted life; but as he had been taken captive against
his will and in fair fight, he saw no disgrace in it. He wondered
why he and his companions had been spared. It might be that they
were to be put to death publicly, as a warning to their countrymen;
but he thought it more likely that Suetonius had preserved them
to carry them back to Rome as a proof that he had, before giving
up the command, crushed out the last resistance of the Britons to
Roman rule. As the captives had been distributed among the boats,
he had no opportunity of speaking to his companions until, about
midnight, the flotilla arrived at Godmancastra. Then they were
laid on the ground together, a guard of six men taking post beside
them. Boduoc at once broke out in a torrent of execrations against
the Romans.
"They had a right to kill us," he said, "but they had no right to
dishonour us. We had a right to die with the others. We fought them
fairly, and refused to surrender. It is a shameful tyranny thus to
disgrace us by making us captives. I would not have refused death
to my most hated foe; but they shall not exult over us long. If
they will not give me a weapon with which to put an end to my life,
I will starve myself."
There was an exclamation of fierce assent from the other captives.
"They have not meant to dishonour us, Boduoc, but to do us honour,"
Beric said. "The Romans do not view these things in the same light
that we do. It is because, in their opinion, we are brave men, whom
it was an honour to them to subdue, that they have thus taken us.
You see they slew all others, even the women and children. We were
captured not from pity, not because they wished to inflict disgrace
upon us, but simply as trophies of their own valour; just as they
would take a standard. We may deem ourselves aggrieved because we
have not, like the rest, died fighting to the last, and so departed
for the Happy Island; but it is the will of the gods that we should
not make the journey for a time. It is really an honour to us that
they have deemed us worthy of the trouble of capture, instead of
slaying us. Like you, I would rather a thousand times have died;
but since the gods have decreed it otherwise, it is for us to show
that not even captivity can break our spirit, but that we are able
to bear ourselves as brave men who, having done all that men could
do against vastly superior force, still preserve their own esteem,
and give way neither to unmanly repinings nor to a sullen struggle
against fate.
"Nothing would please the Romans better than for us to act like
wild beasts caught in a snare, gnashing our teeth vainly when we
can no longer strike, and either sulkily protesting against our
lot, or seeking to escape the pains of death or servitude by flying
from life. Let us preserve a front haughty and unabashed. We have
inflicted heavy defeats upon Rome, and are proud of it. Let them see
that the chains on our bodies have not bound our spirit, and that,
though captives, we still hold ourselves as free men, fearless of
what they can do to us. In such a way we shall win at least their
respect, and they will say these are men whom we are proud of having
overcome."
"By the sacred oak, Beric, you speak rightly," Boduoc exclaimed.
"Such was the bearing of Caractacus, as I have heard, when he fell
into their hands, and no one can say that Caractacus was dishonoured.
No man can control his fate; but, as you say, we may show that we
are above fate. What say you, my friends, has Beric spoken well?"
A murmur of hearty assent came from the other captives, and then
the Roman sergeant of the guard, uneasy at this animated colloquy
among the captives, gruffly ordered silence.
Beric translated the order. "Best sleep, if we can," he added. "We
shall be stronger tomorrow."
Few, however, slept, for all were suffering from wounds more or
less severe. The following morning their bonds were unloosed, and
their wounds carefully attended to by a leech. Then water and food
were offered to them, and of these, following Beric's example, they
partook heartily. An hour later they were placed in the centre of
a strong guard, and then fell in with the troops who were formed
up to escort Suetonius to Camalodunum.
"What are they going to do to us, think you?" Boduoc asked Beric.
"They are either going to put us to death publicly at Camalodunum,
as a warning against resistance, or they are going to take us to
Rome. I think the latter. Had Suetonius been going to remain here,
he might be taking us to public execution; but as he has, as we
have heard, been ordered home, he would not, I think, have troubled
himself to have made us prisoners simply that his successor might
benefit by the example of our execution. It is far more likely, I
think, that he will carry us to Rome in order to show us as proofs
that he has, before leaving Britain, succeeded in crushing out all
resistance here."
"And what will they do with us at Rome?"
"That I know not, Boduoc; possibly they will put us to death there,
but that is not their usual custom. Suetonius has gained no triumph.
A terrible disaster has fallen upon the Romans during his command
here; and though he may have avenged their defeat, he certainly
does not return home in triumph. After a triumph the chief of the
captives is always put to death, sacrificed to their gods. But
as this will be no triumph, we shall, I should say, be treated as
ordinary prisoners of war. Some of these are sold as slaves; some
are employed on public works. Of some they make gladiators--men
who fight and kill each other in the arena for the amusement of
the people of Rome, who gather to see these struggles just as we
do when two warriors who have quarrelled decide their differences
by combat."
"The choice does not appear a pleasing one," Boduoc said, "to be a
private or public slave, or to be killed for the amusement of the
Romans."
"Well, the latter is the shortest way out of it, anyhow, and the
one I should choose; but it must be terrible to have to fight with
a man with whom one has had no quarrel," Beric said.
"Well, I don't know, Beric. If he is a captive like yourself, he
must be just as tired of life as you are. So, if he kills you he
is doing you a service; if you kill him, you have greatly obliged
him. So, looking at it in that way, it does not much matter which
way it goes; for if you do him this service one day, someone else
may do you a like good turn the next."
"I had not looked at it in that way, Boduoc," Beric said, laughing.
"Well, there is one thing, I do not suppose the choice will be given
us. At any rate I shall be glad to see Rome. I have always wished
to do so, though I never thought that it would be as a captive.
Still, it will be something even in this evil that has befallen us
to see so great a city with all its wonders. Camalodunum was but
as a little hamlet beside it."
On the evening of the second day after leaving Godmancastra they
arrived at Camalodunum, which in the year that had passed since
its destruction, had already been partially rebuilt and settled
by Gaulish traders from the mainland, Roman officials with their
families and attendants, officers engaged in the civil service and
the army, friends and associates of the procurator, who had been
sent out to succeed Catus Decianus, priests and servants of the
temples. Suetonius had already sent to inform the new propraetor,
Petronius Turpillianus, of the success which he had gained, and a
crowd assembled as the procession was seen approaching, while all
eyes were directed upon the little party of British captives who
followed the chariot of Suetonius.
Many of the newcomers had as yet scarcely seen a native, so complete
had been the destruction of the Trinobantes, and they looked with
surprise and admiration at these men, towering a full head above
their guards, and carrying themselves, in spite of their bonds, with
an air of fearless dignity. Most of all they were surprised when
they learned that the youth--for Beric was as yet but eighteen--who
walked at their head was the noted chief, who had during
the past year inflicted such heavy losses upon the troops of Rome,
and who had now only been captured by treachery. As yet he lacked
some inches of the height of his companions, but he bade fair
in another two or three years to rival the tallest among them
in strength and vigour. The procession halted before the building
which had been erected from the ruins of the old city as a residence
for the propraetor. Petronius, surrounded by a number of officials,
came out to meet Suetonius.
"I congratulate you on your success, Suetonius," he said. "It will
make my task all the easier in carrying out my orders to deal mildly
with the people."
"And it will make my return to Rome all the more pleasant, Petronius,
and I thank you again for having permitted me to continue in command
of my troops until I had revenged the losses we have suffered at
the hands of these barbarians. It is, of course, for you to decide
upon the fate of Beric and his companions; assuredly they deserve
death, but I should like to take them with me as captives to Rome."
"I should prefer your doing so, Suetonius. I could hardly pardon
men who have so withstood us, but, upon the other hand, I should
grieve to commence my rule by an act of severity; besides, I hope
through them to persuade the others--for, as you told me in your
letter, it is but a fraction of these outlaws that you have
subdued--to lay down their arms. It is well, indeed, that you have taken
their chief, and that he, as I hear, has partly been brought up
among us and speaks our language."
"Yes, he lived here for some five years as a hostage for his tribe.
He was under the charge of Caius Muro, who returned to Rome after
our defeat of the Britons. I made inquiries about him, when I
learned that he was chief of the insurgents, and heard that he was
tractable and studious when among us, and that Caius thought very
highly of his intelligence."
"They are noble looking men," Petronius said, surveying the group
of captives; "it is an honour to conquer such men. I will speak
with their chief presently."
"I shall make no longer delay," Suetonius said. "Ships have been
lying at the port in readiness for my departure for the last two
weeks, and I would fain sail tomorrow or next day. Glad I shall
be to leave this island, where I have had nothing but fighting and
hardships since I landed."
"And you have done well," Petronius said courteously. "It was but
half conquered when you landed, it is wholly subdued now. It is
for me only to gather the fruit of your victories."
"Never was there such an obstinate race," Suetonius replied angrily.
"Look at those men, they bear themselves as if they were conquerors
instead of conquered."
"They are good for something better than to be killed, Suetonius;
if we could mate all our Roman women with these fair giants, what
a race we should raise!"
"You would admire them less if you saw them pouring down on you
shouting like demons," Suetonius said sullenly.
"Perhaps so, Suetonius; but I will endeavour to utilize their
strength in our service, and not to call it into the field against
us. Now, let us enter the house. Varo," he said to one of his
officers, "take charge of the captives until Suetonius sails. Guard
them strongly, but treat them well. Place them in the house, where
they will not be stared at by the crowd. If their chief will give
you his word that they will not attempt to escape, their bonds can
be removed; if not, they must remain bound."
Varo at once called a centurion of the legion in garrison
at Camalodunum, and bade him bring up his company. These on their
arrival surrounded the captives and marched with them to a guardhouse
near. When they entered Varo said to Beric:
"The orders of the propraetor are, that you shall all be released
from your bonds if you will give your oath that you will not try
to escape."
Beric turned to the others and asked if they were willing to give
the promise. "In no case could we escape," he said, "you may be sure
we shall be guarded too strictly for that. It were better that we
should remain bound by our own promise than by fetters." As they
all consented, Beric, in their name, took an oath that they would
not attempt to escape, so that the ropes that bound their arms were
at once taken off, and in a short time a meal was sent to them from
the house of Petronius.
Soon after they had finished an officer came in and requested Beric
to accompany him to the propraetor.
"I will bring two of my followers with me," Beric said. "I would
not say aught to the Roman governor that my tribesmen should not
hear."
The officer assented, and Beric with Boduoc and another subchief
followed him to the house of the propraetor. Petronius was seated
with Suetonius at his side, while a number of officers and officials
stood behind him.
"How is it, Beric," he asked, "that, as I hear, you, who speak our
language and have lived for years amongst us, come to be a leader
of those who have warred against us?"
"It is, perhaps, because I studied Roman books, and learned how
you value freedom and independence," Beric replied, "and how you
revolt against tyranny. Had Rome been conquered by a more powerful
nation, every Roman would have risen in arms had one tenth of the
tyranny been practised against them which Catus Decianus exercised
against us. We have been treated worse than the beasts of the
field; our lives, our properties, and the honour of our women were
sacrificed at his will. Death was a thousand times better than such
treatment. I read that Rome has elsewhere been a worthy conqueror,
respecting the religion of the tribes it subdued, and treating them
leniently and well. Had we been so treated we should have been, if
not contented, patient under our lot, but being men we rose against
the infamous treatment to which we were subject; and although we
have been conquered and well nigh exterminated, there are Britons
still remaining, and if such be the treatment to which they are
subjected it is not till the last Briton is exterminated that you
will rule this island."
A murmur of surprise at the boldness with which the young captive
spoke ran round the circle.
"Have you inquired since you arrived," Beric went on, "of the
infamous deeds of Decianus? How he seized, without the shadow of
excuse, the property of Boadicea? and how, when she came here for
justice for herself and her insulted daughters, he ordered her
to be scourged? Should we, a free born people, submit to such an
indignity to our queen? I knew from the first that our enterprise
was hopeless, and that without order or discipline we must in the
end be conquered; but it was better a thousand times to die than
to live subject to treatment worse than that which you give to your
slaves."
"I believe that there is justice in your complaints, Beric," Petronius
said calmly, "and it is to lessen these grievances that Rome has
sent me hither. Vengeance has been fully taken for your rebellion,
it is time that the sword was laid aside. I have already issued a
proclamation granting an amnesty to all who then rose against us.
Your case was different, you have still continued in arms and have
resisted our power, but I trust that with your capture this will
end. You and your companions will go to Rome with Suetonius; but
there are many of your followers still in arms, with these I would
treat, not as a conqueror with the conquered, but as a soldier with
brave foes. If they will lay down their arms they shall share the
amnesty, and be free to return every man to his own land, to dwell
there and cultivate it free from all penalty or interruption. Their
surrender would benefit not only themselves but all the Britons.
So long as they stand in arms and defy our power we must rule the
land with the sword, but when they surrender there will be peace
throughout the island, and I trust that the Britons in time will
come to look upon us as friends."
"If Rome had so acted before," Beric said, "no troubles would have
arisen, and she might now be ruling over a contented people instead
of over a desert."
"There are still many of your tribesmen in the Fens?"
"There is an army," Beric replied. "You have taken one stronghold,
and that by surprise, but the lesson will not be lost upon them.
There will be no traitors to guide your next expedition; by this
time the last Fenman in the southern swamps will have been killed.
There will be a heavy vengeance taken by my countrymen."
"I would fain put a stop to it all," Petronius said. "Upon what
terms, think you, would your countrymen surrender?"
"They will not surrender at all," Beric said; "there is not a man
there but will die rather than yield. But if you will solemnly take
oath that those who leave the Fens and return to their villages
shall live unmolested, save that they shall--when their homes are
rebuilt and their herds again grazing around them--pay a tribute
such as they are able to bear, they will, I believe, gladly leave
the Fens and return to their villages, and the fugitives who have
fled north will also come back again."
"I am ready to take such an oath at the altar," Petronius said. "I
have come to bring peace to the land. I am ready to do all in my
power to bring it about; but how are they to know what I have done?"
"I would say, Petronius, let us, your captives, be present when you
take the oath. Release four of my band; choose those most sorely
wounded, and who are the least able to support the journey to Rome.
I will send them with my bracelet to the Fens. I will tell them
what you have said, and they will testify to having seen you swear
before your gods; and I will send my last injunctions to them to
return again to their land, to send for the fugitives to return
from the north, and to say from me that they will return as free
men, not as slaves, and that there is no dishonour in accepting
such terms as you offer."
"I will do as you say," the Roman agreed. "Suetonius, you can spare
four of your captives, especially as there are assuredly some among
them who could ill support the fatigues of the journey. Return now
to your friends, Beric; tomorrow morning you shall meet me at the
temple, and there I will take an oath of peace with Britain."