Lower
Britain in the early days of the Roman conquest had been in no special
need of military protection. In the fourth century it was exposed more
than the rest of the island to the attacks of the Saxon pirates.
Fortresses were erected between the Wash and Beachy Head at every
point at which an inlet of the sea afforded an opening to an invader.
The whole of this part of the coast became known as the Saxon Shore,
because it was subjected to attacks from the Saxons, and a special
officer known as the Count of the Saxon Shore was appointed to take
charge of it. An officer known as the Duke of the Britains (_Dux
Britanniarum_) commanded the armies of Upper Britain; whilst a third,
who was a civilian, and superior in rank over the other two, was the
Count of Britain, and had a general supervision of the whole country.

[Footnote 1: There were also four smaller divisions, ultimately
increased to five. All that is known about their position is that
they were not where they are placed in our atlases.]

36. =End of the Roman Government.= =383--410.=--In =383= Maximus, who
was probably the Duke of the Britains, was proclaimed Emperor by his
soldiers. If he could have contented himself with defending Britain,
it would have mattered little whether he chose to call himself an
Emperor or a Duke. Unhappily for the inhabitants of the island, not
only did every successful soldier want to be an Emperor, but every
Emperor wanted to govern the whole Empire. Maximus, therefore, instead
of remaining in Britain, carried a great part of his army across the
sea to attempt a conquest of Gaul and Spain. Neither he nor his
soldiers ever returned, and in consequence the Roman garrison in the
island was deplorably weakened. Early in the fifth century an
irruption of barbarians gave full employment to the army which
defended Gaul, so that it was impossible to replace the forces which
had followed Maximus by fresh troops from the Continent. The Roman
Empire was in fact breaking up. The defence of Britain was left to the
soldiers who remained in the island, and in =409= they proclaimed a
certain Constantine Emperor. Constantine, like Maximus, carried his
soldiers across the Channel in pursuit of a wider empire than he could
find in Britain. He was himself murdered, and his soldiers, like those
of Maximus, did not return. In =410= the Britons implored the Emperor
Honorius to send them help. Honorius had enough to do to ward off the
atta