"Aut vaga quum Thetis Rhutupinaque littora fervent."
From hence oysters of a large size and superior flavour were sent to Rome, as Juvenal observes,
"Circæis nata forent, an
Lucrinum ad saxum, Rhutupinove edita fundo
Ostrea, callebat primo deprendere morsu."
It was the station of the second Augustan legion, under the count of the Saxon coast, a person of high distinction.
6. The kingdom of Cantium is watered by many rivers. The principal are Madus[418], Sturius,[419] Dubris,[420] and Lemanus,[421] which last separates the Cantii from the Bibroci.
7. Among the three principal promontories of Britain, that which derives its name from Cantium[422] is most distinguished. There the ocean, being confined in an angle, according to the tradition of the ancients, gradually forced its way, and formed the strait which renders Britain an island.
8. The vast forest called by some the Anderidan, and by others the Caledonian, stretches from Cantium a hundred and fifty miles, through the countries of the Bibroci and the Segontiaci, to the confines of the Hedui. It is thus mentioned by the poet Lucan:—
"Unde Caledoniis fallit turbata Britannos."
9. The Bibroci[423] were situated next to the Cantii, and, as some imagine, were subject to them. They were also called Rhemi, and are not unknown in record. They inhabited Bibrocum,[424] Regentium,[425] and Noviomagus,[426] which was their metropolis. The Romans held Anderida.[427]
10. On their confines, and bordering on the Thames, dwelt the Atrebates,[428] whose primary city was Calleba.[429]