Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/451

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 427 dition proved fortunate, his heroic conduct was uni- CHAP. - VTTT versally admired. The usurper had posted himself L_ near London, to expect the formidable attack of Con- stantius, who commanded in person the fleet of Bou- logne; but the descent of a new enemy required his immediate presence in the west. He performed this long march in so precipitate a manner, that he encoun- tered the whole force of the prefect with a small body of harassed and disheartened troops. The engagement was soon terminated by the total defeat and death of Allectus; a single battle, as it has often happened, decided the fate of this great island ; and when Con- stantius landed on the shores of Kent, he found them covered with obedient subjects. Their acclamations were loud and unanimous ; and the virtues of the con- queror may induce us to believe, that they sincerely re- joiced in a revolution, which, after a separation of ten years, restored Britain to the body of the Roman empire ^. Britain had none but domestic enemies to dread; Defence of and as long as the governors preserved their fidelity, Jje^rs'"" and the troops their discipline, the incursions of the naked savages of Scotland or Ireland could never ma- , tei'ially affect the safety of the province. The peace of the continent, and the defence of the principal rivers which bounded the empire, were objects of far greater difficulty and importance. The policy of Diocletian, which inspired the councils of his associates, provided for the public tranquillity, by encouraging a spirit of dissension among the barbarians, and by strengthening the fortifications of the Roman limit. In the east he Fortifica- fixed a line of camps from Egypt to the Persian domi- *'°"^* nions ; and, for every camp, he instituted an adequate number of stationary troops, commanded by their re- spective officers, and supplied with every kind of arms, from the new arsenals which he had formed at Antioch, Emesa, and Damascus'. Nor was the precaution of '• With regard to the recovery of Britain, we obtain a few hints from Aurelius Victor and Eutropius. ' John Malela, in Chron. Antiochen. torn. i. p. 408, 409.