Page:History of Manchester (1771), Volume 1, by John Whitaker.djvu/87

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60 THE HISTORY :BookL>

  • Britannia Prima comprehended all the country that lies to the

fouth of the Thames and the Severn, and of a line drawn from Creeklade or its vicinity upon the one to Berkeley or its neigh- bourhood upon the other, included eleven nations of the Britons, and contained about thirty-fix ftations fubje& to Rutupae or Richborough the provincial capital. The Cantii generally pof* feffed the exaft compafs of the prelent Kent, being bounded by the Thames on the north 3 and the Lemanus or Rother on the weft % and acknowledging Durovernum, Cantiopolis, or Canter- bury for their capital; but once crofted the boundary of the Thames, and annexed London and all the foutherri regions of Mid- dlefex to their dominions TheRegni refided in Suflex and Surrey; and Regnum, Regentium, or Chichefter mnft have been their metropolis 6 . Immediately to the north of thefe were the Bi- broces or Rhemi ; who originally occupied only the fouth-eaftern ,parts of Befkfhire, from the Lodden or its neighbourhood on the weft to the current of the Thames bn the eaft, and had Bi^ broicum, Bibrafte, or Bray for their capital; but who afterwards fubdued the Regni, and made Noviomagus,'a town of the Regni in Surry, their metropolis '. • Contiguous to thife oh the weft were theAttrebktes, fpreading nearly over all the remainder of Berkfhire ; Were bounded by the Lddden or its heghbourhood on the fouth-eaft, by the ' curving bank of the Thames on the north- weft and weft, and by the hills of "Eaft-Ilfley Lambourne and Afhbury or their vicinity on the fouth ; and acknowledged Calleva or Wallingfprd for their chief city. The Segontiaci in- habited the litde remainder of Berkfhire and the adjoining north of Hampfhire, the Cunetius or Kennet flowing through their dominions in the former, and their principal town being Vindo- mis Vindonum or Silchefter in the latter. The Propfer Belgse enjoyed the reft of Hampfhire, held all Wiltfhire except a fmall diftrift upon the north- weft, and had Winchefter for their Venta or head-town* But the Proper Belgae appear to have attacked the Segontiaci before the Roman arrival, and to have feized their dominions, all the pofleflions of the latter being pretty plainly attributed to the forme r by Ptolemy. The Durotriges or