ABSTRACT
A very cursory exploration of Caesar's account of his earlier Gallic campaigns suffices to show the close connection of the Britons of the South and their relatives beyond the Straits of Dover—a connection that was both political, commercial and religious. In Caesar's war against the Veneti in 56 B.C. that tribe is said to have sent for aid from Britain, and one need not believe that the Britons sent any fighting ships to Gaul, the succour may have been given in men. Caesar's objective was the territory of the Catuvellauni, whose king was the head of the British confederacy, since he was convinced that if he could break the power of Cassivellaunus the other tribes would sue for peace. The retreat of Cassivellaunus was hasty, and can have been accompanied by little slaughter of his men, yet Caesar had won a great advantage by crossing the Thames.
