ation of his
authority wholly upon their favor. Such was the dignity and extent of
the Roman policy, that they could number even royalty itself amongst
their instruments of servitude.

Ostorius did not confine himself within the boundaries of these rivers.
He observed that the Silures, inhabitants of South Wales, one of the
most martial tribes in Britain, were yet unhurt and almost untouched by
the war. He could expect to make no progress to the northward, whilst an
enemy of such importance hung upon his rear,--especially as they were
now commanded by Caractacus, who preserved the spirit of a prince,
though he had lost his dominions, and fled from nation to nation,
wherever he could find a banner erected against the Romans. His
character obtained him reception and command.

[Sidenote: A.D. 51]

Though the Silures, thus headed, did everything that became their
martial reputation, both in the choice and defence of their posts, the
Romans, by their discipline and the weight and excellence of their arms,
prevailed over the naked bravery of this gallant people, and defeated
them in a great battle. Caractacus was soon after betrayed into their
hands, and conveyed to Rome. The merit of the prisoner was the sole
ornament of a triumph celebrated over an indigent people headed by a
gallant chief. The Romans crowded eagerly to behold the man who, with
inferior forces, and in an obscure corner of the world, had so many
years stood up against the weight of their empire.

As the arts of adulation improved in proportion as the real grandeur of
Rome declined, this advantage was compared to the greatest conquests in
the most flourishing times of the Republic: and so far as regarded the
personal merit of Caractacus, it could not be too highly rated. Being
brought before the emperor, he behaved with such manly fortitude, and
spoke of his former actions and his present condition with so much plain
sense and unaffected dignity, that he moved the compassion of the
emperor, who remitted much of that severity which the Romans formerly
exercised upon their captives. Rome was now a monarchy, and that fierce
republican spirit was abated which had neither feeling nor respect for
the character of unfortunate sovereigns.

The Silures were not reduced by the loss of Caractacus, and the great
defeat they had suffered. They resisted every measure of force or
artifice that could be employed against them, with the most generous
obstinacy: a resolut