AD340 England

[Crispvs]

Interesting to hear about the villas. Most of the villas I have visited show evidence of the nicer parts of the houses (and bathhouses sometimes as well) being used for industrial purposes in the fourth century, which has led people to conclude that the moneyed class had moved into safe walled towns and turned their nice rural houses over to activities like smithing and brewing (or 'corn drying' if you like), which has often left great burnt holes full of slag right in the centres of formerly beautiful mosaics. As has been said above, there were many times of crisis in the fourth century, which may be the reason for there being so many buried hoards of fourth century AD coins and fine precious metal objects. Am I being old fashioned in my thinking here?

Crispvs