Victories over the Barbarians and the Britons

As soon as he was established on the throne, then, he began to look after the interests of his inheritance from his father, and visited with much thoughtful kindness all the provinces that had previously been under his father’s government. Some tribes of the barbarians who lived along the banks of the Rhine and the shores of the Western Ocean had dared to revolt. He brought them all back to obedience and led them from their savage state to one of gentleness. Others he was content simply to keep from raiding, and those he saw to be altogether incapable of the settled order of civilized life he drove out of his territories like untamed and savage beasts. When he had settled these affairs to his satisfaction, he turned his attention to other parts of the world, and first crossed over to the British nations, which lie in the very heart of the ocean. These he brought into submission. Then he went on to consider the state of the rest of the empire, so as to be ready to give his help wherever circumstances might call for it. [a]