Upon a stream, whose largeness and rapidity must have rendered it formidable to passing armies; upon a shore, peculiarly exposed to the depredations of lawless pirates; and upon the boundary of a country possessed by a brave and hardy people, Garianonum must have been a station of the utmost importance to the Romans; it gave them weight and consequence in the eyes of the Britons, who were destitute of every idea respecting mural fortifications; it established their influence, extended their territories, and afforded them a secure retreat, and an impregnable defence against the warlike Iceni, who, animated with the spirit of our immortal Boadicea, frequently rose in arms against the invaders of their native soil. In each of these views did the politic Romans consider their new-erected camp; in every respect it answered their designs, and in every particular corresponded with their wishes. From hence they commanded the estuary of the Yare, the German Ocean, and the interior country; and from hence they derived a power and consequence sufficient to awe and intimidate the Britons, and to prevent their making any military attempt against them. Being destitute of express records, and unable to penetrate the clouds which ignorance and inattention have fabled over our Anglo-Roman antiquities, it is from the tenor of general history alone that we are enabled to fix a time for the building of this fortress: without such a consultation our utmost researches would fail us, and we should have only the miserable alternative of either guessing at the period or passing it by unnoticed. That portion of Anglo-Roman history which more immediately respects Garianonum is short and limited; it commences with the reign of Claudius, and it extends no further. This emperor, who assumed the purple at fifty years old, had neither the spirit, courage, nor perseverance of his great predecessor; yet, ambitious of following the steps of Julius, he formed the design of completing what Cæsar had begun, and of reducing Britain to a Roman province. In pursuance of this plan, he arrived here about the year of Christ, 45, having previously sent Aulus Plautius with troops sufficient to effect his intention. After the emperor had continued here six months he returned to Rome, and triumphed for conquests never obtained and for victories never won. {18} After the emperor’s departure, Plautius remained here near four years, and carried on the Britannic war with spirit and success. Next in command was the proprætor, Publius Ostorius Scapula, an experienced officer, in whom conduct and courage were equally united. To him the Romans were indebted for the subjection of the Iceni, to him they were obliged for the retention of their conquests, and to him we owe the foundation of Garianonum.