Shortly before his arrival in Britain to take up the reins of government, the tribes of the Ordovices, of North-west Wales, had crushed almost to a man the regiment of cavalry encamped amongst them. Such an incident could not be overlooked by the new Governor. Now was the moment to show what spirit he was of! Supplementing Roman troops with native auxiliaries, he marched to the hills where the Ordovices were hid, and almost exterminated the whole tribe. "Horrible!" does some one say? Yes; it was horrible. A soldier's devotion to duty always gives him terrible work to do; and we in this so-called Christian country can take no superior attitude, though 1800 years have passed. Agricola then subdued Mona; and having thus {11} established a reputation for courage and firmness he set himself to the task of making peace more attractive to the Britons than war. His intention was to habituate them to peace and quiet by turning their thoughts to something better than war, and therefore he encouraged them to build temples, houses and market-places. "The rivalry for his compliments took the place of coercion." "He began to train the sons of the chieftains in a liberal education, and to give a preference to the native talents of the Briton as against the plodding Gaul." But he did not neglect military tactics. "Time was found also for the planting of forts. Experts noted that no other general selected more shrewdly the advantages of site; no fort planted by Agricola was carried by storm by the enemy, or abandoned by arrangement and flight; as for a protracted siege, against this they were secured by supplies for twelve months. Accordingly, winter was shorn of its fears, and sallies were frequent; each commander could protect himself, whilst the enemy were helpless, and therefore despaired. They had been accustomed in most places to weigh the 'incidents' of winter against the summer's losses; now they were repelled summer and winter alike." So far, Tacitus. But of all Agricola's notable achievements that which specially concerns us now is his work in the {12} north. Here, in 79 A.D., he constructed for military purposes the famous cross-road, which in Saxon times began to be called the "Stanegate," or "Stone Way." His chief centres, or advanced bases, were Corbridge (Corstopitum) and Carlisle (Luguvallium) between which this road ran. His other forts were on the same road line, but not generally on the line of the Wall, as archæologists formerly thought. It may yet be proved that two or three of the Wall forts were first built by him as outliers of his chain of forts. Later, in 81 A.D., he built a chain of forts from the Forth to the Clyde, "the enemy being pushed back into a separate island, so to speak," says Tacitus; and thus he initiated the barrier of Antoninus Pius.