Roman \"Abandonment\" of Britain: Fact or Fiction?

[Caballo]

...there seems to have been a grand-scale symposium on that topic in March 2010 :
http://heritage-key.com/exhibition/ad-41...nniversary
If I understood the conference programme/timetable right:
http://heritage-key.com/blogs/ann/ad-410...ish-museum
>>it says under "Session 2":
Anthony Birley (The Vindolanda Trust) - Honorius’ letter to the cities of Britain: a phantom
It seems that this topic is at least under "serious" discussion.
If I got the other topics right -- and just in case there's a publication about that conference, this surely must be an interesting (if not an essential) read.:
Someone here to give more informations about it ?!
There must have been more recent researches and findings.

Yes, I was at the conference- the key point of the lecture on Honorius' letter was that the quote is often taken out of context. In context, it could equally refer to Bruttium (sp?) in Italy as Britain. I haven't seen a conference publication yet-

Matt makes the very good point about the lack of 5th century coinage. Last summer, digging in Dorchester on Thames in a 4th/5th century context in a town where a strong argument can be made for some kind of continuity post 400 AD, there was a prize of a bottle of champagne for anyone finding 5th century coinage. It remains unclaimed...

I think it is unrealistic to ascribe a specific date such as 410AD- the old picture of the Roman soldiers trooping onto a boat and turning out the lights in a specific year is not right.



What we seem to see is a systemic collapse - the theory I favour us that of a collapse of central power (both from Rome/ Ravenna/ Milan and from London) leaving a patchwork of individual towns/ proto states/ civitates.

Each found themselves in a different situation and did as best as they could within the context of a rapidly collapsing economy and trade (well worth reading Bryan Ward- Perkins' short book on the economic change). One example is the sudden disappearance of wheel thrown pottery in 5th century Britain. A potter's wheel allows multiple pots to be thrown efficiently. But there is little point if the market where you used to sell them no longer exists. Imagine you are the town council/ ruler in Dorchester-on-Thames, Richborough, or Birdoswald on the Wall. Your strategy for survival or prosperity will be very, very different as you face a very different series of challenges.

I would therefore expect a different reaction in (for example) East Anglia to the Upper Thames,and in Wales from Carlisle. In South Wales, there was a perverse upsurgence in Latin (well, sort of Latin) inscriptions on stones as shown in Margam Abbey museum (a great collection btw). Elsewhere, Germanus' visit shows that there were still officials- as Gildas also confirms e.g. "they have judges, but impious ones". On the wall, there is evidence for the garrisons remaining for a long period and slowly transmuting (e.g. Birdoswald).

Romanitas, the physical structures of towns , fountains, officials, literacy etc. slowly decayed. In some places, it seems to have disappeared quickly (sometimes under pressure from incomers) - in others , it remained for longer.

And this - in my opinion- is why no "grand theory" of transition from Roman rule (whatever that meant in 4th century Britain) to Saxon/ Romano British/ post Roman rule works. The transition is best understood area by area, town by town, even village by village.

Which is also why you can't put a specific date on it.