Slaves of Fear: A Land Unconquered (27 page)

“Please, the honour is mine,” Claudius said.

It surprised Caratacus that the emperor had ordered his guardsmen to stay within the garden and to leave the two alone. They walked together along the balcony that looked towards Capitoline Hill and the magnificent temples that dominated the city landscape.

“It is a splendid city,” Caratacus said approvingly. “Far more magnificent than any I have ever seen.”

“You had your own forms of wealth,” Claudius replied. “I have seen your old kingdom, and it is beautiful in its own right.”

“And I am sorry I will never see it again. But from what I have seen, Rome is truly blessed by the divines.” He paused and clutched the stone rail, unsure how he should word his next question. “Can I ask you something?”

“You are my guest, and a friend of Caesar,” Claudius reassured him. “You can ask me anything.”

Caratacus took a deep breath. “Why did you come to Britannia? What was there in our land that Caesar so desired? How can you, who lords over the world with an empire of splendour worthy of the gods, covet our poor tents?”

Historical Afterward

Caratacus
and his family remained in Rome, where they lived out their days as guests of the Caesars. His date of death is unrecorded, though as he is not mentioned at all during the reign of Vespasian, one can assume he died prior to 69 A.D. Whatever his status or eventual fate, Caratacus and his family were certainly not treated as slaves. The villa given to them by Emperor Claudius became known as the
Palatium Britannicum
. The 4
th
century Church of Santa Pudenziana is thought to be built upon the same site. Caratacus’ daughter would go on to marry a Roman senator named Rufus, adopting the name Claudia Rufina and becoming a Roman citizen herself.

A 17
th
century image of Caratacus

Amminus
returned to Britannia, where he was treated as a prince of the peoples under Roman dominion and also became a Roman citizen. He was likely made a member of the equites or senatorial class; a not uncommon status given to wealthy allied nobility who became citizens. He married a Roman woman of noble origins, further strengthening alliances between the empire and indigenous nobles. Amminus’ son, Sallustius Lucullus, would serve as Governor of Britannia from 84 to 89 A.D. An inscription was found in Chichester, England, not far from the Roman Palace at Fishbourne, which is dedicated to
‘Lucullus, son of Amminus’
. Through his Roman nephew, the bloodline of Caratacus lorded over more of Britannia than even the greatest Catuvellauni kings.

Ostorius Scapula
was awarded
Triumphal Ornaments
for his defeat of Caratacus, even though resistance to Roman rule continued in Wales. His health continued to decline, and he died just two years after his decisive victory at Caer Caradoc. His final resting place is thought to be in the Vale of Glamorgan, the southernmost county in Wales. A statue in his honour was erected on the terrace of the Roman Baths located in Bath, England, in the 19
th
century.

Statue of Ostorius Scapula

The Roman Baths, Bath, England

The isle of Britannia proved to be a very difficult province for the Romans to subdue. Scapula’s immediate successors, Didius Gallus (52 to 57 A.D.), Quintus Veranius (57 A.D. died soon after taking office) and Suetonius Paulinus (57 to 61 A.D.) fought a series of wars, both against rebellious provincials, as well as the still-unconquered regions of Wales. While arable land was the true measure of any province’s wealth, the plethora of valuable metals made Wales one of the foremost regions for mining within the Roman Empire. Vast complexes were built to harvest copper, tin, lead, silver, zinc, and iron. Though perhaps greatest of all, in terms of wealth-producing, were the gold mines at Dolaucothi. Scholars and archaeologists had attempted, unsuccessfully, to ascertain the volume of gold extracted. Given that Dolaucothi was still in use through Victorian times, the amount of gold mined by the Romans is thought to be considerable. Today, one can still tour the old Roman mining tunnels, and see first-hand the marks left by tens-of-thousands of pickaxes over the near-four centuries of Roman rule.

The Deceangli
continued for some time to resist the rule of Rome, namely due to the strong influence of the local druids. They made their stronghold on the Isle of Anglesey, where they were destroyed by the armies of Suetonius Paulinus in 61 A.D., just prior to the Iceni rebellion under Queen Boudicca. After which, the Deceangli disappeared from historical record.

Due to the horrific losses suffered at Caer Caradoc, the
Ordovices
were subdued and remained docile for twenty years. In the 70s A.D., they rose in rebellion, nearly wiping out a regiment of Roman cavalry that was garrisoned in their territory. The Roman governor at the time, Julius Agricola, unleashed a merciless campaign of annihilation against the Ordovices. According to Tacitus, Agricola succeeded in exterminating the entire tribe. While it is highly unlikely that the entire population was wiped out, they disappeared from all historical records. Survivors were likely either enslaved or scattered and assimilated into other tribes.

The peace made between Rome and the
Demetae
would, surprisingly, endure. Their territory was one of the few regions where imperial troops were never stationed. And yet their volatile neighbours, the Silures, made no concerted attempt to conquer their lands. Around 75 A.D. they were elevated to a Roman
civitas
, or ‘Romanized state’. Their capital was founded at Moridunum, in what is now Carmathen, just north of the River Towy. Of all the ancient tribal kingdoms in Wales, the Demetae were the only ones allowed to maintain both their name, as well as at least some semblance of their indigenous culture. Villas that have been excavated have shown most settlements to be decidedly pre-Roman, albeit with some upgrades in masonry and plumbing that came after the conquest. This suggests that, unlike eastern Britannia, the Demetae maintained a measure of independence and were never fully integrated into Roman culture.

The ever-warlike
Silures
proved to be among the hardest peoples for the Romans to subdue. Subsequent Roman governors tried both diplomacy and force to bring them to heel. Tacitus praises the Silures for their ‘natural ferocity’, further stating that ‘neither severity nor clemency converted them’. Agricola’s predecessor, Sextus Julius Frontinus, fought a long, bitter campaign against the Silures from 75 to 78 A.D. During this time, he established the permanent legionary fortress for Legio II, Augusta, at a place called Isca, in what is now Caerleon in Wales. Other Roman forts were established near Chepstow and Caerwent. It was only with such an overwhelming and permanent presence of imperial troops within their lands that the Silures were finally tamed. The town of Venta Silurum, now known as Caerwent, was established as the civilian administrative capital of the newly-conquered tribe.

Though Ostorius Scapula’s decisive victory shattered Caratacus’ alliance, it is still a tribute to the tenacity of the resistance fighters that Wales was not fully conquered and assimilated into the Roman Empire until twenty-seven years after Caer Caradoc.

The Roman amphitheatre in Caerleon, established around 78 A.D. Located just outside the fortress, it served as both an entertainment venue as well as a drill field for legionaries.