24. The fourth was the emperor and tyrant, Carausius, who, incensed at the murder of Severus, passed into Britain, and attended by the leaders of the Roman people, severely avenged upon the chiefs and rulers of the Britons, the cause of Severus.*
* This passage is corrupt, the meaning is briefly given in
the translation.
25. The fifth was Constantius the father of Constantine the Great. He died in Britain; his sepulchre, as it appears by the inscription on his tomb, is still seen near the city named Cair segont (near Carnarvon). Upon the pavement of the above-mentioned city he sowed three seeds of gold, silver and brass, that no poor person might ever be found in it. It is also called Minmanton.*
* V.R. Mirmantum, Mirmantun, Minmanto, Minimantone. The
Segontium of Antoninus, situated on a small river named
Seiont, near Carnarvon.
26. Maximianus(1) was the sixth emperor that ruled in Britain. It was in his time that consuls(2) began, and that the appellation of Caesar was discontinued: at this period also, St. Martin became celebrated for his virtues and miracles, and held a conversation with him.
(1) This is an inaccuracy of Nennius; Maximus and Maximianus
were one and the same person; or rather no such person as
Maximianus ever reigned in Britain. (2) Geoffrey of Monmouth
gives the title of consul to several British generals who
lived after this time. It is not unlikely that the town,
name, and dignity, still lingered in the provinces after the
Romans were gone, particularly as the cities of Britain
maintained for a time a species of independence.
27. The seventh emperor was Maximus. He withdrew from Britain with all his military force, slew Gratian, the king of the Romans, and obtained the sovereignty of all Europe. Unwilling to send back his warlike companions to their wives, children, and possessions in Britain, he conferred upon them numerous districts from the lake on the summit of Mons Jovis, to the city called Cant Guic, and to the western Tumulus, that is, to Cruc Occident.* These are the Armoric Britons, and they remain there to the present day. In consequence of their absence, Britain being overcome by foreign nations, the lawful heirs were cast out, till God interposed with his assistance. We are informed by the tradition of our ancestors that seven emperors went into Britain, though the Romans affirm there were nine.
* This district, in modern language, extended from the great
St. Bernard in Piedmont to Cantavic in Picardy, and from
Picardy to the western coast of France.
28. Thus, aggreeably to the account given by the Britons, the Romans governed them four hundred and nine years.
After this, the Britons despised the authority of the Romans, equally refusing to pay them tribute, or to receive their kings; nor durst the Romans any longer attempt the government of a country, the natives of which massacred their deputies.