B. 5.--And traces of his rule still existed in the occupation of
British districts by colonists from two tribes, which, as his nearest
neighbours, must certainly have formed part of any North Gallic
confederacy under him--the Atrebates and the Parisii. The former had
their continental seat in Picardy; the latter, as their name tells us,
on the Seine. Their insular settlements were along the southern bank
of the Thames and the northern bank of the Humber respectively. How
far the two sets of Parisians held together politically does not
appear; but the Atrebates, whether in Britain or Gaul, acknowledged
the claim of a single magnate, named Commius, to be their paramount
Chieftain.[73] In this capacity he had led his followers against
Caesar in the great Belgic confederacy of B.C. 58, and on its
collapse, instead of holding out to the last like the Nervii, had
made a timely submission. If convenient, this submission might be
represented as including that of his British dominions; especially
as we gather that a contingent from over-sea may have actually fought
under his banner against the Roman eagles. Nay, it is possible that
the old claims of the ruler of Soissons over Britain may have been
revived, now that that ruler was Julius Caesar. It is even conceivable
that his complaint of British assistance having been given to the
enemy "in all our Gallic wars" may point to his having heard some form
of the legend, whose echoes we meet with in Welsh Triads, that the
Gauls who sacked Rome three centuries earlier numbered Britons amongst
their ranks.



SECTION C.