Many Romans too went to Lucca to visit the victorious general, and at one time he entertained 200 senators. Among his visitors in 56 B.C. came Pompey and Crassus, to renew the Triumvirate. It was agreed that Pompey and Crassus should be Consuls the following year, while Cæsar should hold Gaul as his province for five years longer, from 53 B.C. to 48 B.C. Toward the end of that time he was to stand for the consulship and be permitted to do so, without, in the usual way, first entering the city. CHAPTER CIX CÆSAR INVADES BRITAIN In 55 B.C. Cæsar resolved to invade our own island home. He knew little about Britain, save that she was on good terms with the Gauls, and carried on trade with them. When he questioned the traders, they told him that he would find tin and lead in the ground, as well as precious stones scattered over the land. Curiosity, the desire for booty, as well as the wish to punish all who aided the Gauls, drove Cæsar to the adventure, and he ordered a fleet to be prepared for the great enterprise. It was autumn when he set sail for Britain, with eighty vessels and an army of 12,000 men. He had not taken a larger fleet, as he thought that he would have little trouble in conquering the barbarians of the island. Rumours had reached Britain of the coming of the great Roman general with a fleet, and the natives crowded to the shore, eager to keep the strangers from landing in their country. As he drew near to Deal, where he hoped to land, Cæsar saw that his ships were too big to sail close in to shore, so he ordered his soldiers to jump into the sea and make their way to land as well as they could. The Romans looked at the sea and their hearts misgave them, brave soldiers as they were, for they were not used to the sea, nor did they love it as the Britons seemed to do. They were already in the water, some on foot, some on horses, and they seemed to the astonished Romans as undisturbed as though they were on land. And Cæsar had bidden them jump into the sea. Still they hesitated. Then the officer who carried the eagle of the tenth legion jumped into the water, crying, ‘Leap, soldiers, unless you wish to betray your eagle to the enemy.’ The soldiers could not risk their standard being captured by the barbarians, so now they hastily leaped into the water and followed their officer. Then a fierce struggle began, many of the Romans falling before the battle axes of the Britains, many others slipping on the treacherous sand and being drowned. But at length the Romans reached the shore, and the Briton chiefs were soon forced to submit to Cæsar. The Roman general was disappointed to find little booty on the island which he had taken so much trouble to invade, and to see nothing of the precious stones which he had been told were strewn in plenty on the ground. And so he soon sailed back to Gaul.