Beric the Briton
A Story of the Roman Invasion
by G. A. Henty


PREFACE.

MY DEAR LADS,

My series of stories dealing with the wars of England would be
altogether incomplete did it not include the period when the Romans
were the masters of the country. The valour with which the natives
of this island defended themselves was acknowledged by the Roman
historians, and it was only the superior discipline of the invaders
that enabled them finally to triumph over the bravery and the
superior physical strength of the Britons. The Roman conquest for
the time was undoubtedly of immense advantage to the people--who
had previously wasted their energies in perpetual tribal wars--
as it introduced among them the civilization of Rome. In the end,
however, it proved disastrous to the islanders, who lost all their
military virtues. Having been defended from the savages of the
north by the soldiers of Rome, the Britons were, when the legions
were recalled, unable to offer any effectual resistance to the
Saxons, who, coming under the guise of friendship, speedily became
their masters, imposing a yoke infinitely more burdensome than that
of Rome, and erasing almost every sign of the civilization that had
been engrafted upon them. How far the British population disappeared
under the subsequent invasion and the still more oppressive yoke of
the Danes is uncertain; but as the invaders would naturally desire
to retain the people to cultivate the land for them, it is probable