in
great haste, received the disastrous intelligence that Britain was
reduced by the ravages of the united barbarians to the lowest extremity
of distress; that Nectaridus, the count of the sea-coast, had been slain
in battle, and the duke Fullofaudes had been taken prisoner by the enemy
in an ambuscade.

2. This news struck him with great consternation, and he immediately
sent Severus, the count of the domestic guards, to put an end to all
these disasters if he could find a desirable opportunity. Severus was
soon recalled, and Jovinus, who then went to that country, sent forward
Provertuides with great expedition to ask for the aid of a powerful
army; for they both affirmed that the imminence of the danger required
such a reinforcement.

3. Last of all, on account of the many formidable reports which a
continual stream of messengers brought from that island, Theodosius was
appointed to proceed thither, and ordered to make great haste. He was an
officer already distinguished for his prowess in war, and having
collected a numerous force of cavalry and infantry, he proceeded to
assume the command in full confidence.

4. And since when I was compiling my account of the acts of the emperor
Constantine, I explained as well as I could the movement of the sea in
those parts at its ebb and flow, and the situation of Britain, I look
upon it as superfluous to return to what has been once described; as the
Ulysses of Homer when among the Phaeacians hesitated to repeat his
adventures by reason of the sufferings they brought to mind.

5. It will be sufficient here to mention that at that time the Picts,
who were divided into two nations, the Dicalidones and the Vecturiones,
and likewise the Attacotti, a very warlike people, and the Scots were
all roving over different parts of the country and committing great
ravages. While the Franks and the Saxons who are on the frontiers of the
Gauls were ravaging their country wherever they could effect an entrance
by sea or land, plundering and burning, and murdering all the prisoners
they could take.

6. To put a stop to these evils, if a favourable fortune should afford
an opportunity, the new and energetic general repaired to that island
situated at the extreme corner of the earth; and when he had reached the
coast of Boulogne, which is separated from the opposite coast by a very
narrow strait of the sea, which there rises and falls in a strange
manner, being raised by violent tides, a