 The Fall of the Roman Empire : A New History of Rome and the Barbarians by Peter Heather. The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Rome generated its own nemesis. Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors it called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling the Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. Heather is a leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians. In The Fall of the Roman Empire, he explores the extraordinary success story that was the Roman Empire and uses a new understanding of its continued strength and enduring limitations to show how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled it apart. Available from: Amazon.co.uk - UK Pounds
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The End of Roman Rule
Richborough (Rutupiae) Kent
Documented Accounts
In 383 the British garrison proclaimed the Spaniard Magnus Maximus, known in Welsh legend as Macsen Wledig, as Emperor in Britain. He took his army to the continent to advance his claim and conquered Gaul, Spain and Italy. He occupied Rome itself in 388 only to be defeated in battle by Theodosius, the eastern Augustus. Maximus was beheaded in July of that year. Legend has it that many of his surviving troops settled in Armorica (Brittany). The consequence to Britain was the loss of much of its defensive force. Gildas, writing in the 6th century, a slightly garbled version:
'Thereafter Britain was robbed of all her armed forces, her military supplies, her rulers, cruel as they were, her sturdy youth. They followed in the steps of the usurper mentioned above (Maximus), and never afterwards returned. Totally ignorant of all the usages of war, Britain remained for many years groaning in a state of shock, exposed for the first time to two foreign tribes of extreme cruelty, the Scots from the north-west, the Picts from the north. As a result of their attacks and terrible depredations Britain sent envoys to Rome with letters, making tearful appeals for an armed force to give protection, and promising unwavering and wholehearted submission to Roman rule, if only the enemy could be kept at a greater distance. Forgetting previous ills, Rome soon prepared a legion, soundly equipped with arms. Crossing over Ocean to Britain in ships it engaged the fierce enemy, and killing a great number drove them all from the place, freeing from imminent slavery a people that had been subjected to such dreadful mangling. The Britons were instructed to build a wall across the island from sea to sea so that when manned it might be a deterrent to keep away the enemy and a means of protection for the people. The wall, however, being built not of stone but of turf, proved useless to the unthinking and leaderless masses.' ( Gildas, De Excidio Britanniae, 14-15).
In 396, general Stilicho - regent of the western empire during the minority of the Augustus Honorius - reorganized Britains remaining defences. This involved the transfer of military authority from the Roman army to local British rulers. In the following year he came to Britain to repel another attack by an alliance of Picts, Irish and Saxons.
However, in 402 events in mainland Europe forced Stilicho to recall the Sixth Victrix, one of the two remaining British legions. They were needed for the defence of Italy against Alarics Visigoths. In "Gothic War" (416-18) Claudian describes the Sixth Victrix as "the legion set to guard the furthest Britons, the legion that curbs the savage Scot and scans the lifeless patterns tattooed on dying Picts". The Sixth Victrix did not return to Britain as Alaric's incursion was followed by a further, more serious penetration by Radagaisus in 405.
Books Dark Age  Britain and the End of the Roman Empire by Ken Dark. One of the most authoritative works on the period. It makes use of the latest archaeological knowledge and takes a sceptical approach to conventional views on the subject. Available from: Amazon.co.uk - UK Pounds Amazon.com - US Dollars Amazon.ca - Canadian dollars Amazon.de - Euros  The End of the Western Roman Empire by Ellen Swift. Based on a range of new archaeological research (most of it carried out by the author herself), this book breaks new ground. It examines changes in the Western provinces in the fourth and early fifth centuries, which ultimately resulted in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Available from: Amazon.co.uk - UK Pounds
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