and the tribe. Had we joined our whole forces with those of Caractacus
the Brigantes too might have risen. It took all the strength of
the Romans to conquer Caractacus alone. What could they have done
had the Brigantes and we from the north, and the whole of the
southern tribes, then unbroken, closed down upon them? It is but
yesterday since Prasutagus was buried. The grass has not yet begun
to shoot upon his funeral mound and yet his estates have been seized
by the Romans, while his wife and daughters have been insulted
beyond measure.

"The young chief of the Sarci has profited by his sojourn among
the Romans. The Druids have told me that the priest who has visited
the Sarci prophesies great things of him, and for that reason
decided that, young as he was, he should share his mother's power
and take his place as leader of the tribe in battle, and that
he foresaw that, should time be given him to ripen his wisdom and
establish his authority, he might some day become a British champion
as powerful as Cunobeline, as valiant as Caractacus. These were
the words of one of the wisest of the Druids. They have been passed
round among the Druids, and even now throughout Britain there are
many who never so much as heard of the name of the Sarci, who yet
believe that, in this young chief of that tribe, will some day be
found a mighty champion of his country. Prasutagus knew this also,
for as soon as Beric returned from Camalodunum he begged the Druids
to find out whether good or evil was to be looked for from this
youth, who had been brought up among the Romans, and their report
to him tallied with that which I myself heard from them. It was for
that reason that Boadicea sent for him with his mother, although
so much younger than any here, and belonging to a tribe that is
but a small one among the Iceni. I asked these questions of him,