Having set out then from Amiens and hastening367–8 A.D. to Treves,In order to make war on the Alamanni; cf. 10. Valentinian was alarmed by serious news which showed that Britain was brought into a state of extreme need by a conspiracy of the savages, that Nectaridus, the commanding general of the seacoast region, had been killed, and that another general, Fullofaudes, had been ambushed by the enemy and taken prisoner.

This report aroused great horror, and the emperor sent Severus, who at that time was still commander of the household troops, to set right the disasters, if chance should offer the desired opportunity. But he was recalled a little later, and Jovinus . . . having set out for the same regions, allowed them to return at quick step, intending to seek the support of a strong army; for he declared that this was demanded by the pressing necessities of the situation.Text and meaning are very uncertain; see crit. notes.

Finally, because of the many alarming things which constant rumours reported about that same island, Theodosius, a man most favourably known for his services in war, was chosen to be sent there with all speed, and having enrolled legions and cohorts of courageous young men, he hastened to depart, preceded by brilliant expectations.

And, since in giving an account of the history of the emperor Constans I described the ebb and flow of the oceanIn a lost book; the same expressions are used by Gellius, xiv. 1, 3, but in the order usual in English, senescit adolescitque. and the situation of Britain, as well as my powers permitted, I have thought it superfluous to unfold again what has once been set forth, just as Homer’s Ulysses among the Phaeacians xii. 452 f. shrinks from repeating the details of his adventures because of the excessive difficulty of the task.

It will, however, be in place to say, that at368 A.D. that time the Picts, divided into two tribes, called DicalydonesCalled Caledonians by Tacitus, Dio, and others. and Verturiones, as well as the Attacotti, a warlike race of men, and the Scots, were ranging widely and causing great devastation; while the Gallic regions,The coast of Gaul opposite Britain. wherever anyone could break in by land or by sea, were harassed by the Franks and their neighbours, the Saxons, with cruel robbery, fire, and the murder of all who were taken prisoners.

In order to prevent these outrages, if favourable fortune gave an opportunity, that most energetic leader hastened to the world’s end, and reached the coast of Bononia,Boulogne. which from the spacious lands opposite is separated only by a narrow space of a sea wont in turn to swell with dreadful surges, and again, without any danger for sailors, to sink to the form of a level plain. From there he quietly crossed the strait and landed at Rutupiae,Modern Richborough, cf. xx. 1, 3. a quiet haven on the opposite coast.