THE SCENE: When Julius Caesar sent emissaries to demand that the kings of Scotland submit to him, the answer that he got in return was less than favourable… and less than polite.
THE TEXT: Caesar, after having conquered the Britons, wished to subject the kings of the north country to a similar yoke, first send envoys on before. He addressed to them, that is, to the kings of the Scots and Picts, by his ambassadors, two letters, one kindly, and the other harshly, worded; with instructions that, if they should, with knitted brows, stubbornly reject the former, the ambassadors should present the other, breathing war and discord.
Now, when the kings had heard the ambassador, they were exceedingly indignant, and having agreed as to the terms of their answer, they curtly wrote back on this wise – “Think not, O Caesar, that thou canst entice us, like children, by the blandishments of cajolery like this – that thou canst succeed in leading us astray, leaving the pleasant and noble road of freedom, our birthright, a road wherein our fathers were ever wont to walk straight forwards.”
As for the threats which, from thy letter, one might suppose thou hadst just belched forth, we care little, if at all, for them, since they do not flow from the ordinance of the gods, but doubtless rather from the rash arrogance for which thou art notorious. For, the freedom our ancestors have handed down to us, which we must cherish above gold and topaze, and which, in our judgement, far beyond all comparison transcends all worldly wealth – this freedom we shall preserve inviolate for our sons after our death, and transmit to them unspotted by a single jot of slavishness. Farewell.
– John of Fordun, Chronica Gentis Scotorum, 14th Century AD
