The English and the Celts - no genocide?

[Robert Vermaat]

Hi Vortigern,
Germanic settlers of the 5th and 6th cents. had little interest in towns. They are only of use where there is production, markets and an economic system. They do make sense in the west where there is continued trade with the roman world.

Hi Harry,

I don't agree. Look at what happened in Gaul, where the Goths, Franks and Burgundians had a very keen interest in towns. Read Bachrach's study: Bachrach, Bernard S. (1994): The Anatomy of a Little War, History and Warfare Series, (Oxford) about the strategic role of the civitates of former Roman Gaul.

The towns in post-Roman Britain were no longer real towns. As Mike pointed out in the case of Viroconium, towns that were defendable functioned more like forts than as towns. In Britain, most towns had ceased to function as towns in the sense of the word already during Roman times - I think I recall it's Neil Faulkner who made that point: Faulkner, Neil (2000): The Decline and Fall of Roman Britain, (Tempus).