Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Robert Vermaat]

Yes, a united nation with a decent social and agricultural infrastructure is able to field and support armed forces with a ratio of 25:1. However, a fragemented nation, where no one area controls sufficient quantities of all the resources needed to equip and support a large number of dedicated warriors, would have trouble getting to, let alone sustaining anything like that level.

Indeed! Look at the Germanic warlords who inherited Gaul and Spain, areas in much better condition and closer to the Mediterranean. Even there trade plummeted, roof tiles being replced by straw, and North African pottery imports being limited to just a few ecclesiastical sites. Britain was far below their level, and far more fragmented for decades before the later 5th century. I just cannot see the possibilities for a ruler to gather the wealth of maintaining such an army. The first time we really hear of such a force in Britain it's by the end of the 6th century (the Gododdin - Mynydawg's failed attempt to raid Bernicia). And that force is described as a rarity - gathered for just that purpose.