executioner who struck "the wicked stroke | MISSING |
rejoice over the deed, for his eyes dropped | |
together with the blessed martyr's head | |
later the magnificent abbey of St. Albans | |
commemorate him who had fallen there. \________________/

[2] Bede's "Ecclesiastical History of Britain," completed about the
year 731.
[3] St. Albans: twenty miles northwest of London. (See map facing
p. 16.)

26. Agricola builds a Line of Forts (7 [END OF LINE MISSING]

When Agricola, a wise and equitable Roman ruler, became governor of
Britain he explored the coast, and first discovered Britain to be an
island. He gradually extended the limits of the government, and, in
order to prevent invasion from the north, he built a line of forts
(completed by Antoninus) across Scotland, from the mouth of the river
Forth to the Clyde. (See map facing p. 14.)

From this date the power of Rome was finally fixed. During the three
hundred years which followed, the surface of the country underwent a
change. The Romans cut down forests, drained marshes, reclaimed waste
land, and bridged rivers. Furthermore they made the soil so
productive that Britain became known in Rome as the most important
grain-producing and grain-exporting province in the Empire.

27. Roman Cities; London; York.

Where the Britons had once had a humble village enclosed by a ditch