St. Paul in Britain; Or, the Origin of British as Opposed to Papal Christianity. Or, the Origin of British as Opposed to Papal Christianity (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. Historic Positions Op Britain And The Roman Empire At The Commencement or The Christian Eea. TULITJS dZESAR, in justification of his invasion of Britain, alleges the Britons to have been the aggressors, British levies taking the field against him in every Gallic campaign. Those singular collections of cardinal events known as the Triads of the Isle of Britain, corroborate the statement. Prior to Caesar's campaigns in Northern Gaul, a British army of 50,000 men, termed in these Triads the second silver host, under the command of the two nephews of Cassibelaunus, or Caswallon, invaded Aquitania, routed the Roman proconsul, Lucius Valerius Preeconinus, at Tolosa, and compelled Lucius Manilius, the consul, to fly with the loss of all his commissariat. On receiving intelligence of these reverses, Caesar turned his arms against the Veneti, (Vendeans, ) who carried on a flourishing commerce with Britain, and whose navy supplied the transport for these auxiliaries. As long as the Venetine fleet, which from Caesar's description of it would do no discredit to our present state of nautical architecture, remained mistress of the narrow seas, invasion was impracticable. Upon its destruction, Caesar advanced by slow inarches to Portius Iccius, (Witsand, ) near Calais, and on the 5th of August, B.c. 55, the Roman fleet crossed the Channel in two divisions. This first campaign lasted fifty-five days, during which Caesar failed to advance beyond seven miles from the spot of disembarkation, lost one battle, and had his camp attempted by the victorious enemy, a thing unprecedented in his continental careera. The second expedition embarked in above a thousand ships, and carrying the army which afterwards completed the conquest of the world on the fields of Pharsalia and Mun...