ores of Gaul. Nor could anything
move them, till they found this malingering likely to expose them
to the degradation of a quasi-imperial scolding from Narcissus, the
freed-man favourite of Claudius, who came down express from Rome as
the Emperor's mouthpiece.[128] To bear reproof from one who had been
born a slave was too much for Roman soldiers. When Narcissus mounted
the tribune to address them in the Emperor's name, his very first
words were at once drowned by a derisive shout from every mouth
of "_Io Saturnalia_!" the well-known cry with which Roman slaves
inaugurated their annual Yule-tide licence of aping for the day the
characters of their masters. The parade tumultuously broke off, and
the troops hurried down to the beach to carry out the commands of
their General--who was at least free-born.

B, 2.--The passage of the Channel was effected in three separate
fleets, possibly at three separate points, and the landing on our
shores was unopposed. The Britons, doubtless, had been lulled to
security by the tidings of the mutinous temper in the camp of the
invaders, and were quite unprepared for the very unexpected result
of the mission of Narcissus. It seems likely, moreover, that the
disembarkation was made much further to the west than they would have
looked for. The voyage is spoken of as long, and amid its discomforts
the drooping spirits of the soldiery were signally cheered by a
meteor of special brilliance which one night darted westwards as their
harbinger. Moreover we find that when the Romans did land, their first
success was a defeat of the Dobuni, subject allies of the House
of Cymbeline, who, as we gather from Ptolemy, dwelt in what is now
Southern Gloucestershire.[129] This objective rather points to their
landing-place having been in Portsmouth harbour[130] (_the_ Port, as
its name still reminds us, of Roman Britain), where the undoubtedly
Roman site of Portchester may well mark the exact spot where the
expedition first set foot on shore.

B. 3.--Besides an unknown force of Gallic auxiliaries, its strength
comprised four veteran legions, one (the Ninth _Hispanica_)[131] from
the Danube frontier, the rest (Twentieth, Fourteenth, and Second) from
the Rhine. This last, an "Augustan"[132] legion, was commanded by the
future Emperor Vespasian--a connection destined to have an important
influence on the _pronunciamento_ which, twenty-five years later,
placed him on the throne.[133] As yet he was only a ma