ntish
monarch was named Dumnovellanus, and appears as DAMNO BELLA on the
Ancyran Tablet. This wonderful record of the glories of Augustus
mentions, _inter alia_, that certain British kings, of whom this
prince was one, fled to his protection. The tablet is, unhappily,
mutilated at the point where their names occur, but that of another
begins with TIM--probably, as Sir John Evans suggests, Tin-Commius.
Adminius also was afterwards exiled by his own father, Cymbeline, and
in like manner appealed to Caesar--Caligula--in 40 A.D.

A. 6.--Nothing came of either appeal. Augustus did indeed, according
to Dio Cassius, meditate completing his "father's" work, and (in B.C.
34) entered Gaul with a view to invading Britain. But the political
troubles which were to culminate at Actium called him back, and
he contented himself with laying a small duty on the trade between
Britain and Gaul. Tin, as before, formed the staple export of our
island, and other metals seem now to have been added--iron from Sussex
and lead from Somerset. Doubtless also the pearls from our native
oysters (of which Caesar had already dedicated a breastplate to his
ancestral Venus) found their way to Rome, though of far less value
than the Oriental jewel, being of a less pure white.[119] Besides
these we read of "ivory bracelets and necklets, amber and glass
ornaments, and such-like rubbish,"[120] which doubtless found a sale
amongst the _virtuosi_ of Rome, as like products of savage industry
from Africa or Polynesia find a sale amongst our _virtuosi_ nowadays.
Meanwhile, Roman dignity was saved by considering these duties to be
in lieu of the unpaid tribute imposed by Caesar, and the island was
declared by courtly writers to be already in practical subjection.
"Some of the chiefs [Greek: dunastai] have gained the friendship of
Augustus, and dedicated offerings in the Capitol.... The island
would not be worth holding, and could never pay the expenses of a
garrison."[121]

A. 7.--At the same time the Romans of the day evidently took a very
special interest in everything connected with Britain. The leaders of
Roman society, like Maecenas, drove about in British chariots,[122]
smart ladies dyed their hair red in imitation of British
warriors,[123] tapestry inwoven with British figures was all the
fashion,[124] and constant hopes were expressed by the poets that,
before long, so interesting a land might be finally incorporated in
the Roman Empire.[125]

A. 8.--