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art&aeoloflia Camfcrmsts* No. VIII.—OCTOBER, 1847. SEGONTIACL No. III. The principal argument employed in invalidating the tradi¬ tion of the birth of Constantine in Britain, rests on the assumption that his father Constantius had not visited Britain until after the year 292, and that the first occasion, on which he appeared off* the coasts, was at the head of a naval armament for the recovery of the island from the usurpation of Carausius. This fact, if admitted, would be conclusive against the claim alleged to the honour of having given birth to the first Christian Emperor, though not to his British parentage on his mother's side. In examining, however, in detail, some facts connected with this expedition, as furnished by the panegyric writers, and, in particular, the manner of his reception, we shall find abundant reasons for inferring that this was not his first appearance among the Britons; that his person and character were already familiar to them; and that there was some bond of mutual attachment subsisting between them, which rendered his landing a scene of na¬ tional and enthusiastic exultation. From the birth of his son in 273, until he obtained the rank of Caesar in 291, Constantius appears to have been en¬ tirely separated from his British connexions, and to have been employed either on the Illyrian frontiers, or on other more distant parts of the empire; and it was, probably, during this interval, that Helen and her son spent a great portion °f their time in Palestine. In the meantime Gaul, Britain, and Spain became involved in another Batavian attempt to re-establish the independence of the western provinces. Carausius, by the assistance of the Franks, who had, during ARCH^EOL. CAMB. VOL. II.] P P