visited Britain in 343. Constans was assassinated in 350; this left
Constantius II. alone. His policy of toleration towards the Arians led
to a great Church Council in 359. The eastern bishops met at Seleucia,
the western at Ariminum, where Britain was represented. By a certain
amount of coercion Constantius forced his views on the Western
Council. At this time the prosperity of Britain was great and corn was
exported in large quantities.

(24) In 367 Valentinian I. made his son Gratian, Augustus. Gratian was
later married to Constantia, daughter of Constantius II. Roman power
was now asserted once more against the Picts and Scots, and also
against the Saxon raiders by Theodosius, whose son became Augustus in
379. Gratian himself was occupied on the Continent. In 383 Magnus
Maximus was proclaimed emperor in Britain, and Gratian was murdered on
August 25.

The coins were not a hoard; they were found all over the Roman area I
have described, but especially in Blackbanks, and they became visible
generally when the surface was fallow and had broken down into fine
mould from the action of the weather. Their scattered occurrence, and
the period they cover, suggest continuous habitation throughout the
most important part of the Roman occupation of Britain, and, with
their related history, they occupy a distinguished place in a record
of the harvest of Grain and Chaff from an English Manor.




NOTES