080 
" Soon efter this, the Emprioure Claudeus 
And Vespacion, as my antha tellis thus, 
Come forth of Flanderis with ane greit armie 
On to Britain quhair that tyme landed he, 
And the Britons made peace," &c.* 
There is also another argument in favour of Northern 
Gaul being the point of embarkation, and that is, that 
Claudius placed a NAVAL crown on his Palatium, in token 
of his having passed, and, as it were, conquered the ocean ! 
Suetonius, c. 17. Now if he had crossed from Boulogne to 
Dover, could this have been construed into having "con- 
quered the ocean"? Why, the voyage from Ostia to Mar- 
seilles was twice as dangerous ! So Gibbon, whenever he 
comes to this transit from Gessoriacum, gets puzzled with 
it. Speaking of Constantine's visit to Britain — " But we may 
form some estimate of his achievements by the language of 
panegyric, which celebrates only his triumphs over the 
elements, or, in other words, the good fortune of a safe and 
easy passage from the port of Boulogne to the harbour of 
Sandwich!" and, again, in writing of Constantino's visit to 
Britain, he expresses himself as unable to comprehend why 
they made so much of the voyage, and draws the conclusion 
what poor sailors the Romans must have been! But to 
return to our camp on Sutton Common. If these were the 
troops of Claudius first entering the country of the Brigantes, 
there would be a reason for thus encamping in a spot where 
they could not be taken by surprise. They were in the 
immediate vicinity of the Britons. Not far from that camp 
is still in existence a large pit village or British town. It 
is situate in the woods at Cusworth. These pits or dwell- 
ings are from twelve to fifteen feet in diameter ; some are in 
* "On les distingue tres souvent par le nom de Flandres cn prenant une partie 
pour le took."— Description GeognqMquc et Historiquc dcs XVII. Provinces BcU 
fjiqucs (vol. i., p. 2). Liege, m.dcc.lxix. 
