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 probably at the beginning of their reign in 284. The first holder of the office was Caius Carausius, a man whose naval prowess had already been proved, and who was given the title of Comes Littoris Saxonici, Count of the Saxon Shore. He is generally said to have been Menapian, or, as we should say, a Fleming of mean birth; but some Scots writers claim him as a Scotsman.

Frankish as well as Saxon pirates scoured the North Sea and the Channel, and extraordinary powers were conferred upon Carausius to enable him to cope with them. He appears to have himself been half pirate at heart, and he may possibly have been selected in pursuance of the principle of setting a thief to catch a thief. He probably did his work well; but he did it in his own way, partly by sheer might, much more, as was declared in Rome, by subtleties of no very honourable kind; and he applied most of the spoils for his own aggrandisement.

By those methods he accumulated so much wealth and power that in 286 Maximian grew jealous of him, and employed a man to assassinate him.

The project failed, and Carausius, driven into open hostility to the Emperor, and finding a bold stroke necessary for the preservation of his liberty, determined to be an Emperor himself. He was gladly acclaimed by the local forces, both military and naval, and, acting with the energy which characterised all he did, he not only secured the whole Roman fleet of which he had held command, but also built a large number of new ships, and seized the important naval arsenal of Gesoriacum, now Boulogne, which he held as a continental outwork of his British dominions. So vigorously did he harass the empire with his squadrons, that presently, according to some writers, Maximian was glad to purchase peace at the price of formal recognition of Carausius as Emperor in Britain. There is some doubt as to the recognition; and if it was ever conceded, it was conceded only to give time to the Empire to concentrate its resources, and to create new fleets.

In the interim Britain achieved, and for a time retained, a position as a naval power of some serious importance. Carausius not only kept, but also extended, his influence, chiefly by the wise employment of his maritime strength; but, having concluded a treaty of confederation with certain rovers on the Mediterranean