07-31-2009, 12:07 PM
Because with the disintegration of the villa culture--the Roman equivalent of big-acreage land barons--Britain no longer produced enough grain to export. That is hardly the same as starving, but it indicates a slide away from agricultural plenty, which--along with a highly-structured society--is necessary to support large, well-equipped militaries.
I certainly don't argue that Britannia ever had large numbers of heavy cavalry, but the question we were exploring was whether sub-Roman Britain might have supported some sort of mounted force in the face of the Saxon invasion, and what that force might have looked like: equipment, organization and tactics. :?
I think we unanimously agree that such a force could not possibly have looked like the heavy chivalry Malory depicts in Morte d'Arthur. Beyond that, we don't seem to agree to much of anything. :roll:
I certainly don't argue that Britannia ever had large numbers of heavy cavalry, but the question we were exploring was whether sub-Roman Britain might have supported some sort of mounted force in the face of the Saxon invasion, and what that force might have looked like: equipment, organization and tactics. :?
I think we unanimously agree that such a force could not possibly have looked like the heavy chivalry Malory depicts in Morte d'Arthur. Beyond that, we don't seem to agree to much of anything. :roll:
"Fugit irreparabile tempus" (Irrecoverable time glides away) Virgil
Ron Andrea
Ron Andrea