22. After the birth of Christ, one hundred and sixty-seven years, king
Lucius, with all the chiefs of the British people, received baptism,
in consequence of a legation sent by the Roman emperors and pope
Evaristus.*
* V.R. Eucharistus. A marginal note in the Arundel MS.
adds, "He is wrong, because the first year of Evaristus was
A.D. 79, whereas the first year of Eleutherius, whom he
ought to have named, was A.D. 161." Usher says, that in one
MS. of Nennius he found the name of Eleutherius.
23. Severus was the third emperor who passed the sea to Britain, where,
to protect the provinces recovered from barbaric incursions, he ordered
a wall and a rampart to be made between the Britons, the Scots, and
the Picts, extending across the island from sea to sea, in length one
hundred and thirty-three miles: and it is called in the British language
Gwal.* Moreover, he ordered it to be made between the Britons, and the
Picts and Scots; for the Scots from the west, and the Picts from the
north, unanimously made war against the Britons; but were at peace among
themselves. Not long after Severus dies in Britain.
*Or, the Wall. One MS. here adds, "The above-mentioned
Severus constructed it of rude workmanship in length 132
miles; i.
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