DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22272#0040
22
GLASGOW ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
a phrase clearly indicating that in Bede's opinion the vallum of
Severus was not our northern vallum, but the vallum which,
running parallel with the murus from Tyne to Solway, constitutes
the main puzzle of the great North English barrier. Such then
was Bede's attempt to reconcile his literary historical knowledge
gained from Eusebius or Orosius, and Gildas, with the facts
gleaned from his own observation and inquiries concerning the
actual remains.
In the chapter of the " Ecclesiastical History " relative to the
vallum of Severus, Bede adopts as his direct guide the work, not
of Eutropius, but of Paulus Orosius, and supplements the state-
ment he had formerly made in the " Chronicon " by a distinction
—not occurring in the author he was following—between a
murus and a vallum. This distinction has been much discussed
as if it were only Bede's opinion, but, in fact, it is borrowed almost
word for word1 from Vegetius, a Roman author of the fourth
century. Another noteworthy change evident in the History as
distinguished from the previous edition of the same statement in
the " Chronicon " is that, while the latter rave the length of the
vallum as 132 miles, the History suppresses all reference to its
length, thus quietly setting aside what Bede's local inquiries may
have by this time satisfied him was a mistake.2 It is rather odd
1 See citation at end of next note.
2Bede, Historiae Ecclesiasticae Gentis
Anglorum, I., cap. 5 (ed. Stevenson,
1841, corrected by Mr. Charles Hum-
mer's classic edition for the Clarendon
Press, 1896). Mon. Hist. Brit,, I., 112.
Ut Severus keoeptam Brittaniae
partem vallo a caetera dis-
tinxerit.
Anno ab Incarnatione Domini cen-
tesimo octogesimo nono Severus genere
Afer Tripolitanus ab oppido Lepti
decimus septimus ab Augusto impermm
adeptus decern et septem annis tenuit.
Hie natura saevus multis semper bellis
lacessitus, fortissime quidem rempubli-
cam sed laboriosissimo rexit, Victor
ergo civilium bellorum quae ei gravis-
sima occurrerant, in Brittanias defectu
pene omnium sociorum trahitur. Ubi
magnis gravibusque proeliis saepe gestis
receptam partem insulae a caeteris in-
domitis gentibus non muro ut quidam
How Severus separated by a Vallum
the annexed part of britain
from the rest of the island.
In the lS9th year from the Incar-
nation of our Lord, Severus, an African,
by race a Tripolitan from the city of
Leptos, the seventeenth after Augustus,
obtained the empire and held it for
17 years. Being naturally stern, he
waged many wars and ruled the state
vigorously, but with great labour. Vic-
torious in the very grievous civil wars
which had happened under him, he was
drawn into Britain by the revolt of
almost all his allies. Then after
fighting many great and grievous
battles he thought fit to separate the
annexed part of the island from the
other unsubdued tribes, not with a wall
as some think, but with a vallum. For
a wall is made of stones, but a vallum,
with which camps are fortified to repel
GLASGOW ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
a phrase clearly indicating that in Bede's opinion the vallum of
Severus was not our northern vallum, but the vallum which,
running parallel with the murus from Tyne to Solway, constitutes
the main puzzle of the great North English barrier. Such then
was Bede's attempt to reconcile his literary historical knowledge
gained from Eusebius or Orosius, and Gildas, with the facts
gleaned from his own observation and inquiries concerning the
actual remains.
In the chapter of the " Ecclesiastical History " relative to the
vallum of Severus, Bede adopts as his direct guide the work, not
of Eutropius, but of Paulus Orosius, and supplements the state-
ment he had formerly made in the " Chronicon " by a distinction
—not occurring in the author he was following—between a
murus and a vallum. This distinction has been much discussed
as if it were only Bede's opinion, but, in fact, it is borrowed almost
word for word1 from Vegetius, a Roman author of the fourth
century. Another noteworthy change evident in the History as
distinguished from the previous edition of the same statement in
the " Chronicon " is that, while the latter rave the length of the
vallum as 132 miles, the History suppresses all reference to its
length, thus quietly setting aside what Bede's local inquiries may
have by this time satisfied him was a mistake.2 It is rather odd
1 See citation at end of next note.
2Bede, Historiae Ecclesiasticae Gentis
Anglorum, I., cap. 5 (ed. Stevenson,
1841, corrected by Mr. Charles Hum-
mer's classic edition for the Clarendon
Press, 1896). Mon. Hist. Brit,, I., 112.
Ut Severus keoeptam Brittaniae
partem vallo a caetera dis-
tinxerit.
Anno ab Incarnatione Domini cen-
tesimo octogesimo nono Severus genere
Afer Tripolitanus ab oppido Lepti
decimus septimus ab Augusto impermm
adeptus decern et septem annis tenuit.
Hie natura saevus multis semper bellis
lacessitus, fortissime quidem rempubli-
cam sed laboriosissimo rexit, Victor
ergo civilium bellorum quae ei gravis-
sima occurrerant, in Brittanias defectu
pene omnium sociorum trahitur. Ubi
magnis gravibusque proeliis saepe gestis
receptam partem insulae a caeteris in-
domitis gentibus non muro ut quidam
How Severus separated by a Vallum
the annexed part of britain
from the rest of the island.
In the lS9th year from the Incar-
nation of our Lord, Severus, an African,
by race a Tripolitan from the city of
Leptos, the seventeenth after Augustus,
obtained the empire and held it for
17 years. Being naturally stern, he
waged many wars and ruled the state
vigorously, but with great labour. Vic-
torious in the very grievous civil wars
which had happened under him, he was
drawn into Britain by the revolt of
almost all his allies. Then after
fighting many great and grievous
battles he thought fit to separate the
annexed part of the island from the
other unsubdued tribes, not with a wall
as some think, but with a vallum. For
a wall is made of stones, but a vallum,
with which camps are fortified to repel