204 -A. D. 285. 



comprehending the Roman part of Britain, with a confiderable diftri^t 

 Dn the o])pofite coaft of Gaul. 



Caraufius knew, that a naval force, which had conferred the fove- 

 reignty upon him, could alone maintain him in it againft the power of 

 the Roman emperors. He therefor beftowed the greateft attention on 

 that mofl important objed : and he encouraged foreign feamen and art- 

 ifts of every defcription to refort to his dominions. A fleet, which 

 Maximian, after long preparation, had fitted out againfl him, was com- 

 pletely defeated by his experienced feamen ; and the joint emperors of 

 Rome found themfelves under the neceflity of acknowleging the inde- 

 pendent fovereignty of the Britifh emperor (a". 289). 



Britain feems to have flourifhed under the government of Caraufius. 

 The general opulence, and the flourifhing fl.ate of the arts are atteft:ed 

 by the number and elegance of his coins, three hundred of which, all 

 different, have been publiflied by his biographer, Dodlor Stukely. He 

 firfl: repelled, and then lived in friendfhip with, the Caledonians. His 

 fleets for feveral years rode triumphant in the narrow feas, and even 

 gave laws to the Atlantic ocean as far as the African fliore : and now 

 for the firfl time Britannia ruixd the waves. 



The Roman emperors could not fit down contented with the depriva- 

 tion of Britain, the value of which they feem to have been more fen- 

 fible of from the vyant of it. In order to depofe Caraufius, a great naval 

 and military force was colleciled under the command of Conftantius 

 Csefar, whofe firfl attempt was againil Gefl!briacum, which after an ob- 

 flinate defence fell into his hands, together with a part of the fleet 

 (a". 292). 



294 — While the Romans were carrying on their preparations for in- 

 vading the Britifli emperor, he was treacheroufly murdered by Aledlus, 

 one of his officers, who immediately ufurped the dangerous pre-emin- 

 ence, and, with very inferior talents, expofed himfelf to be the firfl ob- 

 ject of the vengeance of the Roman empire. 



296 — At length Conftantius put to fea with the fleet, which he had 

 been about four years * employed in getting ready ; and the w^onderful 

 courage of the Romans, who ventured out with a fide wind, and in 

 weather fomewhat boiflerous, was thought worthy of panegyrical cele- 

 bration. They furely had no Phoenician or Alexandrian navigators in 

 their fleet. Conftantius effeded his landing in two divifions ; and Alec- 

 tus, hated and deferted by his involuntary fubjeds, who were moreover 

 harafl!ed with a long march from London, was flain in battle on the 

 fouth coaft near the ifle of Wight. » 



* Thefc feveral Roman fleets, and the time cm- of tlieir navnl undertakings, and without the af- 



ploycd ill prtparinf; them, may he compared with fiftance of any people experienced in maritime af- 



thofe, wliicli the Romans, when mailers of only fairs. See the judicious remark of 'Gibbon, /W. 



ihc pcninftilar part of Italy, are faid to liavc fitted vi, p. I 79. AW, ed. 1792. 

 out completely in a few days, ia the very infancy 4 



