are
inconsiderable: they are nearly all in the museum of the Guildhall,
where they should be visited and examined.

The history of Roman London is meagre. Seventeen years after the
building of the Citadel, on the rebellion of Boadicea, the Roman general
Suetonius abandoned the place, as unable to defend it. All those who
remained were massacred by the insurgents. After this, so far as we
know, for history is silent, there was peace in London for 200 years.
Then one Carausius, an officer in command of the fleet stationed in the
Channel for the suppression of piracies, assumed the title of emperor.
He continued undisturbed for some years, his soldiers remaining faithful
to him on account of his wealth: he established a Mint at London and
struck a large amount of money there. He was murdered by one of his
officers, Allectus, who called himself emperor in turn and continued to
rule in Britain for three years. Then the end came for him as well. The
Roman general landing with a large force marched upon London where
Allectus lay. A battle fought in the south of London resulted in the
overthrow and death of the usurper. His soldiers taking advantage of the
confusion began to plunder and murder in the town, but were stopped and
killed by the victors.

Constantine, who became emperor in 306, was then in Britain, but his
name is not connected with London except by coins bearing his name.

Tradition connects the name of Helena, Constantine's mother, with
London, but there is nothing to prove that she was ever in the island at
all.

Late in the fourth century troubles began to fall thick upon the
country. The Picts and the Scots overran the northern parts and
penetrated to the very walls of London. The general Theodosius, whose
son became the emperor of that name, drove them back. About this time
the wall of London was built; not the wall of the Roman fort, but that
of the whole City. From the year 369, when Theodosius the general landed
in Britain, to the year 609 we see nothing of London except one brief
glimpse of fugitives flying for their lives across London Bridge. Of
this interval we shall speak in the next chapter. Meanwhile it is
sufficient to say that the decay of the Roman power made it necessary to
withdraw the legions from the outlying and distant portions of the
Empire. Britain had to be abandoned. It was as if England were to give
up Hong Kong and Singapore and the West Indies because she could no
longer spare t