Beric the Briton

A. Henty G.

Description

Take a trip back in time to witness the turmoil that gripped ancient Rome when the great civilization was rent asunder by slave rebellions and regional conflicts between warring villages. This thrill-a-minute historical adventure focuses on the central character of Beric, a young Briton boy whose tribe has recently been brought under the power of the Roman Empire.

Sujets

• Historical fiction

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 août 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781775454267
• Langue: English

Extrait

BERIC THE BRITON
A STORY OF THE ROMAN INVASION
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G. A. HENTY
 
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Beric the Briton A Story of the Roman Invasion First published in 1893 ISBN 978-1-775454-26-7 © 2011 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Preface Chapter I - A Hostage Chapter II - City and Forest Chapter III - A Wolf Hunt Chapter IV - An Infuriated People Chapter V - The Sack of Camalodunum Chapter VI - First Successes Chapter VII - Defeat of the Britons Chapter VIII - The Great Swamps Chapter IX - The Struggle in the Swamp Chapter X - Betrayed Chapter XI - A Prisoner Chapter XII - A School for Gladiators Chapter XIII - A Christian Chapter XIV - Rome in Flames Chapter XV - The Christians to the Lions Chapter XVI - In Nero's Palace Chapter XVII - Betrothal Chapter XVIII - The Outbreak Chapter XIX - Outlaws Chapter XX - Mountain Warfare Chapter XXI - Old Friends
Preface
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MY DEAR LADS,
My series of stories dealing with the wars of England would bealtogether incomplete did it not include the period when the Romanswere the masters of the country. The valour with which the nativesof this island defended themselves was acknowledged by the Romanhistorians, and it was only the superior discipline of the invadersthat enabled them finally to triumph over the bravery and thesuperior physical strength of the Britons. The Roman conquest forthe time was undoubtedly of immense advantage to the people—whohad previously wasted their energies in perpetual tribal wars—as it introduced among them the civilization of Rome. In the end,however, it proved disastrous to the islanders, who lost all theirmilitary virtues. Having been defended from the savages of thenorth by the soldiers of Rome, the Britons were, when the legionswere recalled, unable to offer any effectual resistance to theSaxons, who, coming under the guise of friendship, speedily becametheir masters, imposing a yoke infinitely more burdensome than thatof Rome, and erasing almost every sign of the civilization that hadbeen engrafted upon them. How far the British population disappearedunder the subsequent invasion and the still more oppressive yoke ofthe Danes is uncertain; but as the invaders would naturally desireto retain the people to cultivate the land for them, it is probablethat the great mass of the Britons were not exterminated. It isat any rate pleasant to believe that with the Saxon, Danish, andNorman blood in our veins, there is still a large admixture of thatof the valiant warriors who fought so bravely against Caesar, andwho rose under Boadicea in a desperate effort to shake off theoppressive rule of Rome.
Yours truly,
G. A. Henty
Chapter I - A Hostage
*
"It is a fair sight."
"It may be a fair sight in a Roman's eyes, Beric, but nought couldbe fouler to those of a Briton. To me every one of those blocks ofbrick and stone weighs down and helps to hold in bondage this landof ours; while that temple they have dared to rear to their gods,in celebration of their having conquered Britain, is an insult anda lie. We are not conquered yet, as they will some day know totheir cost. We are silent, we wait, but we do not admit that weare conquered."
"I agree with you there. We have never fairly tried our strengthagainst them. These wretched divisions have always prevented ourmaking an effort to gather; Cassivelaunus and some of the Kentishtribes alone opposed them at their first landing, and he wasbetrayed and abandoned by the tribes on the north of the Thames. Ithas been the same thing ever since. We fight piecemeal; and whilethe Romans hurl their whole strength against one tribe the otherslook on with folded hands. Who aided the Trinobantes when theRomans defeated them and established themselves on that hill? Noone. They will eat Britain up bit by bit."
"Then you like them no better for having lived among them, Beric?"
"I like them more, but I fear them more. One cannot be four yearsamong them, as I was, without seeing that in many respects we mightcopy them with advantage. They are a great people. Compare theirsplendid mansions and their regular orderly life, their manners andtheir ways, with our rough huts, and our feasts, ending as oftenas not with quarrels and brawls. Look at their arts, their powerof turning stone into lifelike figures, and above all, the way inwhich they can transfer their thoughts to white leaves, so thatothers, many many years hence, can read them and know all that waspassing, and what men thought and did in the long bygone. Truly itis marvellous."
"You are half Romanized, Beric," his companion said roughly.
"I think not," the other said quietly; "I should be worse thana fool had I lived, as I have done, a hostage among them for fouryears without seeing that there is much to admire, much that wecould imitate with advantage, in their life and ways; but thereis no reason because they are wiser and far more polished, and inmany respects a greater people than we, that they should come hereto be our masters. These things are desirable, but they are asnothing to freedom. I have said that I like them more for beingamong them. I like them more for many reasons. They are grave andcourteous in their manner to each other; they obey their own laws;every man has his rights; and while all yield obedience to theirsuperiors, the superiors respect the rights of those below them.The highest among them cannot touch the property or the life ofthe lowest in rank. All this seems to me excellent; but then, onthe other hand, my blood boils in my veins at the contempt in whichthey hold us; at their greed, their rapacity, their brutality, theirdenial to us of all rights. In their eyes we are but savages, butwild men, who may be useful for tilling the ground for them, butwho, if troublesome, should be hunted down and slain like wildbeasts. I admire them for what they can do; I respect them fortheir power and learning; but I hate them as our oppressors."
"That is better, Beric, much better. I had begun to fear that thegrand houses and the splendour of these Romans might have sappedyour patriotism. I hate them all; I hate changes; I would live aswe have always lived."
"But you forget, Boduoc, that we ourselves have not been standingstill. Though our long past forefathers, when they crossed fromGaul wave after wave, were rude warriors, we have been learningever since from Gaul as the Gauls have learned from the Romans,and the Romans themselves admit that we have advanced greatly sincethe days when, under their Caesar, they first landed here. Look atthe town on the hill there. Though 'tis Roman now 'tis not changedso much from what it was under that great king Cunobeline, whilehis people had knowledge of many things of which we and the othertribes of the Iceni knew nothing."
"What good did it do them?" the other asked scornfully; "they lieprostrate under the Roman yoke. It was easy to destroy their townswhile we, who have few towns to destroy, live comparatively free.Look across at Camalodunum, Cunobeline's capital. Where are themen who built the houses, who dressed in soft garments, who apedthe Romans, and who regarded us as well nigh savage men? Goneevery one of them; hewn down on their own hearthstones, or thrustout with their wives and families to wander homeless—is thereone left of them in yonder town? Their houses they were so proudof, their cultivated fields, their wealth of all kinds has beenseized by the Romans. Did they fight any better for their Romanfashions? Not they; the kingdom of Cunobeline, from the Thames tothe western sea, fell to pieces at a touch and it was only among thewild Silures that Caractacus was able to make any great resistance."
"But we did no better, Boduoc; Ostorius crushed us as easily asClaudius crushed the Trinobantes. It is no use our setting ourselvesagainst change. All that you urge against the Trinobantes and thetribes of Kent the Silures might urge with equal force against us.You must remember that we were like them not so many ages back.The intercourse of the Gauls with us on this eastern sea coast, andwith the Kentish tribes, has changed us greatly. We are no longer,like the western tribes, mere hunters living in shelters of boughsand roaming the forests. Our dress, with our long mantles, our loosevests and trousers, differs as widely from that of these westerntribes as it does from the Romans. We live in towns, and if ourhouses are rude they are solid. We no longer depend solely on thechase, but till the ground and have our herds of cattle. I daresaythere were many of our ancestors who set themselves as much againstthe Gaulish customs as you do against those of the Romans; but weadopted them, and benefited by them, and though I would exult inseeing the last Roman driven from our land, I should like aftertheir departure to see us adopt what is good and orderly and decentin their customs and laws."
Beric's companion growled a malediction upon everything Roman.
"There is one thing certain," he said after a pause, "either theymust go altogether, not only here but everywhere—they mustlearn, as our ancestors taught them at their two first invasions,that it is hopeless to conquer Britain—or they will end by beingabsolute masters of the island, and we shall be their servants andslaves."
"That is true enough," Beric agreed; "but to conquer we must beunited, and not only united but steadfast. Of course I have learnedmuch of them while I have been with them. I have come to speaktheir lan