"The manners of the two nations are described as the same, and they are viewed by the historians in these respects as if they were but one people. They are said to have neither walls nor cities, as the Romans regarded such, and to have neglected the cultivation of the ground. They lived by pasturage, the chase, and the natural fruits of the earth. The great characteristics of the tribes believed to be indigenous were found to exist among them. They fought in chariots, and to their arms of the sword and shield, as described by Tacitus, they had now added a short spear of peculiar construction, having a brazen knob at the end of the shaft, which they shook to terrify their enemies, and likewise a dagger. They are said to have had community of women, and the whole of their progeny were reared as the joint offspring of each small community. And the third great characteristic, the custom of painting the body, attracted particular notice. They are described as puncturing their bodies, so as, by a process of tattooing, to produce the representation of animals, and to have refrained from clothing, in order that what they considered an ornament should not be hidden."--(Skene, _Celtic Scotland_, vol. i. p. 83.) Severus opened up the country by cutting down woods, throwing bridges across the rivers, clearing the jungles, and making roads in various directions, and in this manner, after great loss of human life, but without fighting a single battle, he penetrated as far north as the shores of the Moray Firth. Returning through the heart of the Highlands he concluded a peace with the Caledonians, from whom he received hostages. He then rebuilt the wall between the Clyde and the Forth and returned to York. Soon afterwards the Mæatæ and Caledonii again revolted, and thus a second time drew forth the ire of the aged Emperor, but, while he was preparing a severe revenge, death overtook him. Little is known of the subsequent relative positions of the Romans and Caledonians till A.D. 306, when Constantius Chlorus is said to have penetrated into the low country beyond the wall, and defeated the Picts. For upwards of fifty years there is again a complete silence as to the conduct of the natives beyond the Roman boundary, and it is not till A.D. 360 that they reappear on the historic field. Then the comparative security and prosperity enjoyed by the provincial Britons during the last 150 years was broken, and the inroads of the barbarians into the province became so formidable that they appeared to be deliberate attempts to drive the Romans entirely out of Britain. The Picts were now joined by a new nation which emerged from Ireland, and became known to the Romans under the name Scoti. The effect of this combination of hostile tribes is thus described by Mr. Skene:--