- The Celtic Britons under Rome -
skilfully disguised behind the glory of victories for Rome with the extra lustre of
their being achieved in a far-off land beyond the stormy seas and any horizon
familiar to Rome.
In this first season in Britain, Caesar had to rely on the tribal leader Commius to
win over those Atrebates who had settled in Britain from Gaul but, in accomplish-
ing this task, Commius had been captured by other Britons (IV.27). He was later
returned to Caesar, but the net result was that only two of the British tribes sent
hostages (Iv.38). In 54, Caesar was better prepared since he now had a new ally in
Mandubracius, a prince of the Trinovantes (V.20), whose father had been killed by
Cassivellaunus. This information is only given by Caesar during the course of the
campaign, almost as an afterthought, whereas his whole strategy was clearly based
on the ability of this tribe to supply his army and for their territory to be used as a
base for his operations on the north bank of the Thames.
The campaign had in fact been carefully planned when Mandubracius had visited
Caesar at his winter quarters in Gaul. The tribal affiliation of the British Commander,
Cassivellaunus, was not stated, only the information that the tribes hostile to Caesar
had appointed him as their leader. It is stated that this tribe occupied a territory north
of the Thames and it appears later in Caesar's narrative that it bordered that of the
Trinovantes (V.21). His stronghold would therefore most probably have been in
Epping Forest and would fit Caesar's phrase cum silvas impeditas.
Caesar lists the British tribes which had become his allies, i.e. the Cenimagni,
Segontiaci, Ancalites, Bibroci and Cassi. Unfortunately, only one of these, the
Cenimagni (the great !ceni), is known at a later date. There is a coin of Tasciovanus
with the word SEGO (van Arsdell 1989: 385-7), which, if it refers to a tribe, may
have been a shortened form of Segontiaci. If so, this tribe was later absorbed into one
of the larger units. It must be assumed that the others also later became sub-units of
the Catuvellauni or the Trinovantes.
To secure success in Britain, as in Gaul, it was Caesar's continued practice to form
alliances. This enabled him to pursue a further aim, which was the deliberate break-
ing of the Gallic trading monopoly with the Britons, mainly in wine. He was then
able to sell this valuable right to the Italian traders. Trading posts were set up in the
territories of the friendly tribes for the sale and distribution of wine and fine silver
utensils associated with its use. The evidence for this is quite positive since not only
has one of the trading posts been discovered at Skeleton Green (Partridge 198 I)
on the river Lea but there are also the amphorae and other objects found in the rich
burials of tribal notables found in the Welwyn area (Stead 1967: 1-62). This has
enabled Barry Cunliffe to publish a map of their distribution, which clearly indicates
a sudden shift in the direction of trade from the coast of northern Gaul to the shorter
crossings to the east and even to the Rhine (Cunliffe 1984: fig. 9). The wine and the
metal drinking utensils were now coming from Italy.
Although Caesar's immediate objective was personal financial gain, he must have
been aware that this trade, once established, would be highly advantageous to Rome
through the heavy export duty charged on goods leaving the empire. There was also a
long-term effect of Britons becoming accustomed to Roman goods and with it the
establishment of a currency and the more extensive use of it for commercial exchange.
To that extent it could be seen as a 'softening-up' process towards eventual conquest.