- 16 Nov 2010 16:04
#13553145
I've been doing some serious reading on the end of Roman Britain and the beginning of the various successor states, and it is quite interesting, because it knocks on the head an awful lot of what we were taught. 'The Romans', for instance, did not 'withdraw the legions to defend Rome' or whatever - the British claimant for the Principate (would-be Emperor) Constantine 111 pulled out some troops - as had many before - and the British authorities got so fed up they kicked out his - and the Empire's only - bureaucrats and set up on their own, as four independent, though still essentially Roman - provinces. The population was MUCH bigger than we've been led to believe - estimates based on archaeology are now getting up to figures as high as six million, which it was going to take a very long time to get back to. What caused the major problem was over-exploitation of the land (to pay taxes for a Roman army that didn't do much good) which, when there was a disastrous change in the climate after 410, caused disaster. As to the Anglo-Saxon hordes, studies of boats, cemeteries and the like suggest there were as few of them as 10,000, and certainly nothing like 100,000. I'd be glad to share material from the books I've been reading if people doubt this: they have certainly interested me.
Last edited by Kynaston+1 on 17 Nov 2010 13:48, edited 1 time in total.
Gobeithiaw y ddaw ydd wyf.