Note 119 Horrescit . . . ratibus . . . impervia Thule.
Ille . . . nec falso nomine Pictos
Edomuit. Scotumque vago mucrone secutus
Fregit Hyperboreas remis audacibus undas.
Claudian, in iii. Cons. Honorii, ver. 53, etc.

----- Maduerunt Saxone fuso
Orcades: incaluit Pictorum sanguine Thule.
Scotorum cumulos flevit glacialis Ierne.
In iv. Cons. Hon. ver. 31, etc.

See likewise Pacatus (in Panegyr. Vet. xii. 5). But it is not easy to appreciate the intrinsic value of flattery and metaphor. Compare the British victories of Bolanus (Statius, Silv. v. 2) with his real character (Tacit. in Vit. Agricol. c. 16).

The History Of The Decline and Fall Of The Roman Empire— Chapter 25