7. Excerpt from "The Tragedy of Nennius," The First Part of the Mirror for Magistrates, by John Higgins (1574)

[This speech, from The First Part of the Mirror for Magistrates, attributed to John Higgins (1574), exemplifies the longer narratives based on England's distant past that provided a strong and consistent literary strain in the early modern period. While this speech by Nennius has little direct connection to Shakespeare's play except inasmuch as it dramatizes at greater length some of the historical material referred to as background for the political conflict in Cymbeline, it also demonstrates the proud, nationalistic rhetoric whose validity seems to be in question in 3.1.]

NENNIUS
[...]
His eldest son and heir was after king,
A noble prince, and he was named Lud,
Full politic and wise in every thing,
And one that willed his country always good;
Such uses, customs, statutes he withstood
As seemed to bring the public weal's decay,
And them abolished, brake, repealed away.So he the walls of Troy the New{Troynovant, or London} renewed,
Enlarged them made, with forty towers about,
And at the west side of the wall he viewed
A place for gates to keep the enemies out.
There made he prisons for the poor bankrout{bankrupt}
Named Ludgate yet for free men debtors, free
From hurt, till with their creditors they gree{come to terms}.Some say the city also took the name
Of Lud my brother, for he it repaired,
And I must needs as true confess the same
Forwhy{Because} that time no cost on it he spared
He still{always} increased and peopled every ward
And bade them aye{always} Caer Lud the city call,
Or Ludstone; now you name it London all.At length he died, his children under age
(The elder named was Androgeus),
Committing both unto my brother's charge;
The younger of them hight{was called} Tenantius.
The Britons, wanting aged rulers, thus
Chose for that time Cassibelan their king.
My brother justice meant in every thing.The Roman then, the mighty Caesar, fought
Against the Gauls and conquered them by might,
Which done, he stood on shores where see he mought{could}
The ocean seas, and Britain cliffs full bright.
Quoth he, "What region lies there in my sight?
Methinks some island in the seas I see
Not yet subdued, nor vanquished yet by me."With that they told him, we the Britons were,
A people stout{brave}, and fierce in feats of war.
Quoth he, "The Romans never yet with fear
Of nation rude were daunted of so far:
We therefore mind to prove them what they are."
And therewithal{along with that}, he letters hither sent,
By those embasssage brought, and thus they went:

C. Julius Caesar, Dictator of Rome, to Cassibelan, King of Britain, sendeth greeting.Sith that the gods have given us all the West
As subjects to our Roman empire high,
By war, or as it seemed Jove the best,
Of whom we Romans came, and chiefly I.Therefore, to you which in the ocean dwell
As yet not underneath subjection due,
We send our letters greeting, wit{know} ye well;
In warlike cases, thus we deal with you:First, that you, as the other regions, pay
Us tribute yearly, Romans, we require;
Then, that you will with all the force you may
Withstand our foes, as yours with sword and fire;And thirdly that, by these{ambassadors}, you pledges{hostages} send
T'assure the covenants once agreed by you--
So, with your danger less, our wars may end,
Else bid we war, Cassibelan, adieu.Caesar

No sooner were these Caesar's letters seen
But straight the king for all his nobles sent;
He showed them what their ancestors had been
And prayed them tell in this their whole intent{will}.
He told them whereabout{about what} the Romans went
And what subjection was, how servile they
Should be if Caesar bare their pomp away.And all the Britons even as set on fire
(Myself not least enflamed was to fight)
Did humbly him in joyful wise require
That he his letters would to Caesar write
And tell him plain we passed not of{didn't care about} his spite.
We passed{cared} as little of the Romans, we,
And less than they of us, if less might be,Wherefore the joyful king again replied,
Through counsel wise of all the nobles had,
By letters he the Romans' hests denied
Which made the Britons' haughty hearts full glad,
No doubt the Romans more than half were mad,
To hear his letters written, thus they went,
Which he again to mighty Caesar sent:

Cassibelan, King of Britain, to C. Julius Caesar, Dictator, sendeth answer:As thou, O Caesar, writest, the gods have given to thee
The West: so I reply, they gave this island me.
Thou sayst you Romans and thyself of gods descend;
And darst thou then to spoil our Trojan blood pretend{intend}?
Again, though gods have given thee all the world as thine,
That's parted from the world; thou gettest no land of mine.
And sith likewise of gods we came, a nation free,
We owe no tribute, aid, or pledge to Rome or thee.Retract thy will or wage thy war, as likes thee best;
We are to fight, and rather than to friendship, pressed.
To save our country from the force of foreign strife,
Each Briton here is well content to venture life.
We fear not of the end or dangers thou dost tell,
But use thy pleasure if thou mayest; thus fare thou well.Cassibelan

When Caesar had received his answer so,
It vexed him much. He fully straight decreed
To wage us war and work us Britons woe;
Therefore, he hasted hitherward with speed.
We Britons eke prepared ourselves with heed
To meet the Romans all in warlike wise
With all the force and speed we might devise.We Britons then far deemed it meeter much
To meet him first at th'entry on this land
Than for to give an entry here to such
Might with our victuals here ourselves withstand.
'Tis better far thy enemy to aband{banish}
Quite from thy borders to a stranger soil
Than he at home thee and thy country spoil,Wherefore we met him at his entry in
And pitch our camps directly in his way.
We minded sure to lose or else to win
The praise before we passed from thence away,
So when that both the armies were in ray{order for battle}
And trumpet's blast on every side was blown,
Our minds to either each were quickly known.We joined battle; fiercely, both we fought,
The Romans to enlarge their Empire's fame,
And we with all the force and might we mought{might}
To save our country and to keep our name.
O worthy Britons, learn to do the same!
We brake the rays{lines} of all the Roman host
And made the mighty Caesar leave his boast.Yet he, the worthiest captain ever was,
Brought all in ray{order} and fought again anew:
His skillful soldiers he could bring to pass
At once, forwhy{because} his trainings all they knew.
No sooner I his noble corps{body} did view
But in I ­brake amongst the captain's band,
And there I fought with Caesar hand to hand.O god, thou mightst have given a Britain grace
T'have slain the Roman Caesar, noble then
Which sought his blood, the Britons to deface
And bring in bondage valiant worthy men.
He never should have gone to Rome again,
To fight with Pompey, or his peers to slay,
Or else to bring his country in decay.It joyed my heart to strike on Caesar's crest.
O Caesar, that there had been none but we!
I often made my sword to try thy breast,
But Lady Fortune did not look on me.
I able was, methought, with Caesars three,
To try the case: I made thy heart to quake
When on thy crest with mighty stroke I strake{struck}.The strokes thou strokest{struck} me hurt me nought at all
Forwhy{because} thy strength was nothing in respect{comparison},
But thou hadst bathed thy sword in poison all,
Which did my wound, not deadly else, infect.
Yet was I, or{ere} I parted thence, bewreaked{revenged};
I got thy sword from thee for all thy fame
And made thee fly for fear to eat the same,For when thy sword was in my target{shield} fast{stuck},
I made thee fly and quickly leave thy hold.
Thou never wast in all thy life so ghast{pale},
Nor durst again be ever half so bold.
I made a number Romans' hearts full cold.
"Fight, fight, you noble Britons now," quoth I,
"We never all will unrevenged die!"What, Caesar, though thy praise and mine be odd{unequal}?
Pardie{certainly}, the stories scarce remember me,
Though poets all of thee do make a god,
Such simple fools in making gods they be.
Yet if I might my case have tried with thee,
Thou never hadst returned to Rome again,
Nor of thy faithful friends been beastly slain.A number Britons mightst thou there have seen
Death-wounded fight and spoil their spiteful foes;
Myself, maimed, slew and mangled mo[re], I ween{believe},
When I was hurt than twenty more of those.
I made the Romans' hearts to take their hose;
In all the camp no Roman scarce I spied
Durst half a combat gainst a Briton bide.At length I met a noble man--they called
Him Labienus, one of Caesar's friends--
A tribune erst{previously} had many Britons thralled{captured};
Was one of Caesar's legates forth he sends.
"Well met," quod I. "I mind to make thee mends{recompense}
For all thy friendship to our country crew."
And so, with Caesar's sword, his friend I slew.What need I name you every Briton here,
As first the king, the nobles all beside,
Full stout{brave} and worthy wights in war that were,
As ever erst{before} the stately Romans tried?
We fought so long they durst no longer bide.
Proud Caesar, he, for all his brags and boast,
Flew back to ships with half his scattered host.If he had been a god as sots him named,
He could not of us Britons taken foil{been repulsed}.
The monarch Caesar might have been ashamed
From such an island with his ships recoil,
Or else to fly and leave behind the spoil.
But life is sweet; he thought it better fly
Than bide amongst us Britons for to die.I had his sword, was named Crocea mors{"Yellow Death"},
With which he gave me in the head a stroke,
The venom of the which had such a force
It able was to pierce the heart of oak.
No medicines might the poison out revoke;
Wherefore, though scarce he pierced had the skin,
In fifteen days my brains it rankled in.And then too soon, alas, therefor I died.
I would to God he had returned again
So that I might but once the dastard spied
Before he went: I had the serpent slain.
He played the coward cutthroat all too plain,
A beastly serpent's heart that beast detects{reveals},
Which or{ere} he fight, his sword with bane{poison} infects.Well then my death brought Caesar no renown,
For both I got thereby eternal fame
And eke his sword to strike his friends adown:
I slew therewith his, Labiene by name.
With prince against my country foes I came;
Was wounded, yet did never faint nor yield
Till Caesar with his soldiers fled the field.Who would not venture life in such a case?
Who would not fight at country's whole request?
Who would not, meeting Caesar in the place,
Fight for life, prince, and country with the best?
The greatest courage is by facts expressed.
Then for thy prince, with fortitude as I,
And realm's behoof{benefit} is praise to live or die.Now write my life when thou hast leisure, and
Will all thy countrymen to learn by me,
Both for their prince and for their native land,
As valiant, bold, and fearless for to be.
A pattern plain of fortitude they see,
To which directly, if themselves they frame,
They shall preserve their country, faith and fame.