the prime minister and confidential friend of Carausius, emperor of Britain. In order to avoid the punishment due to the several enormous crimes with which he was chargeable, he fell upon the desperate expedient of murdering his master, and usurping the imperial dignity, which he maintained for three years. With a design of recovering Britain, Constantius about this period fitted out a large squadron, which being assembled in the mouth of the Seine, the command was devolved upon the prefect Asclepiodotus. The fleet of Allectus was stationed off the Isle of Wight to receive them; but under the cover of a thick fog, the invaders escaped their notice, and landed in safety on the western coast, and, according to Gibbon, convinced the Britons "that a superiority of naval strength will not always protect their country from a foreign invasion." No sooner had the intrepid commander disembarked his forces, than he set fire to his ships, and marched forward to meet the enemy. In expectation of an attack from Constantius, who commanded the fleet off Boulogne, the usurper had taken his station in the vicinity of London; but informed of the descent of Asclepiodotus, he made forced marches to oppose his progress. Allectus attacked the imperial troops, and his army being reduced to a small number of fatigued and dispirited men, he fell in the field, and his forces received a total defeat. Thus, in one day, and by a single battle, the fate of this great island was decided; and Britain, after a separation of 10 years, was restored to the Roman empire, A. D. 297. Constantius landing on the shores of Kent, was saluted with the loud applause and unanimous acclamation of obedient subjects, and welcomed to the British soil.