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The Fall of The Western Empire and the End of Roman Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

Ian Wood
Ian Wood
Affiliation:
Department of History, University of Leeds
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Extract

Between the usurpation of Constantine III and the death of Aetius there are a handful of dateable events associated with the British Isles. Of these the best recorded are the two visits of Germanus to Britain in 429 and c 435. The narrative account of these visits, however, is contained in Constantius's Vita Germani, a work in which literary and theological concerns may well triumph over factual accuracy. Speculation about sub-Roman Britain on the basis of Constantius's account is a fascinating, but dangerous, pastime. If we wish to stay on relatively firm ground, we must consider the voyages of Germanus, as well as subsequent contacts between Britain and the continent, in the context of events south of the Channel.

Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 18 , November 1987 , pp. 251 - 262
Copyright
Copyright © Ian Wood 1987. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 Constantius, Vita Germani 12-18, 25–7; ed. Borius, R., Constance de Lyon, Vie de saint Germain d'Auxerre, Sources Chretiennes (Paris, 1965) 112.Google Scholar The date for the first visit is supplied by Prosper of Aquitaine, Chronicle 1301, ed. Mommsen, T.Monumenta Germaniae Historka (MGH), Auctores Antiquissimi (AA) IX, (Berlin, 1892).Google Scholar For the date of the second visit see Ian Wood, ‘The End of Roman Britain: continental evidence and parallels’ in Lapidge, M. and Dumville, D. (eds.), Gildas: New Approaches, Studies in Celtic History V (Woodbridge, 1984), 14–16Google Scholar and Thompson, E.A., Saint Germanus and the End of Roman Britain, Studies in Celtic History VI (Woodbridge, 1984), 55–70.Google Scholar

2 Wood, op. cit. (note 1), 9-12.

3 Thompson, Saint Germanus, op. cit. (note 1), is the most sustained attempt to extract information from Constantius. In my view he does not make enough allowance for the nature of the text, but his discussion is nevertheless extremely important.

4 Prosper, Chronicle 1301.

5 Prosper, Contra Collatorem 21, J.P. Migne, Patrologia Latina 51, col. 271; see Thompson, op. cit. (note 1), 29-30.

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9 Migne, Patrologia Latina 48, col. 385; Thompson, op. cit. (note 1), 28-9.

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32 Chronicle of 452, 126.

33 Miller, op. cit. (note 26), 317-8; reiterated by Bartholomew, op. cit. (note 26), 270.

34 Prosper, Contra Collatorem 21; Constantius, Vita Germani 12, 14, 25.

35 The parallels listed in Miller, op. cit. (note 26), 317 are all references to the ‘adventus Saxonum’, but there is nothing in the Chronicle of 452, 126, to suggest that the entry concerns an ‘adventus’;.

36 Chronicle of 412, 32; as a result the two dating systems are out of step by entry 88. For the joint rule of Theodosius and his son, Prosper, Chronicle 1198; Matthews, J.F., Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court AD 364–425 (Oxford, 1975), 239.Google Scholar

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42 Hydatius, Chronicle 90; Prosper, Chronicle 1295; Chronicle of 452, 108.

43 Prosper, Chronicle 1362, 1369.

44 Chronicle of 452, 126 and Mommsen's note, MGH AA IX, p. 660.

45 Chronicle of 412 44, 81, 104; Wood, op. cit. (note 1), 18.

46 Chronicle of 452, 129.

47 Chronicle of 412, 101, 137; compare 1, 10, 32, 94.

48 Even the obit for Galla Piacidia, Chronicle of 452, 136, seems to be preferred to that in Hydatius, Chronicle, 148; Martindale, J.R., Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire II A.D. 395–527 (Cambridge, 1980), 889.Google Scholar

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54 Chronicle of 452, 67–74.

55 Chronicle of 452, 138; in general on arianism 8, 13, 14, 15, 19, 22, 25, 51.

56 Chronicle of 452, 61–5.

57 Chronicle of 452, 123–9; comments on Eastern devastation follow, 130–2.

58 Prosper, Chronicle 1347.

59 Chronicle of 511, 602, ed. T. Mommsen, MGH AA IX.

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61 Chronicle of 511, 598.

62 e.g. Ammianus Marcellinus, XXX 7, 5–11, ed. and trans. J.C. Rolfe (London, 1964).

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71 Wightman, op. cit. (note 65), 301-2.

72 Prosper, Chronicle 1273; Hydatius, Chronicle 75; Chronicle of 452, 88.

73 Prosper, Chronicle 1276; Hydatius, Chronicle 76; Chronicle of 412, 88.

74 Prosper, Chronicle 1282, 1286, 1288; Hydatius, Chronicle 83, 84; Chronicle of 412, 92, 93, 99.

75 Prosper, Chronicle 1290; Hydatius, Chronicle 92.

76 Prosper, Chronicle 1301, 1307.

77 Hydatius, Chronicle 98.

78 Prosper, Chronicle 1324; Hydatius, Chronicle 110.

79 Prosper, Chronicle 1322; Hydatius, Chronicle 108, 110; Chronicle of 452, 118.

80 Prosper, Chronicle 1310; Hydatius, Chronicle 99; Chronicle of 452, 109, 112, 115.

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87 Chronicle of 412, 127; this could refer back to the time of Germanus's intervention in favour of the Armoricans; Constantius, Vita Germani 28.

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100 But see the interesting speculation of Salway, op. cit. (note 99), 476 n. 2.

101 e.g. Salvian, De gubernatione Dei VII II (45); 12 (53).

102 Codex Theodosianus VII 13, 16–17; ed. T. Mommsen and P.M. Meyer (Berlin 1904–5).

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110 Jordanes, Getica XXXVI, 191.

111 Jordanes, Getica XLV, 237-8. Sidonius, ep. I 7 (5).

112 Wallace-Hadrill, J.M., The Long-haired Kings (London, 1962), 160–1Google Scholar; Gregory of Tours, Liber Historiarum II 12, 18.

113 Sidonius, carm, VII 11. 339-53, 489–518.

114 Sidonius, ep. VII 12 (3).

115 Above all Patiens of Lyons; Sidonius, ep. VI 12.

116 For an argument in favour of an early Gildas, Wood, op. cit. (note 1), 22-3.

117 For the difficulties in Constantius's text, Wood, op. cit. (note 1), 9-12.

118 Wood, op. cit. (note 1), 9-12, 16–17; Thompson, op. cit. (note 1), offers a more ambitious reconstruction.

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121 Wermelinger, op. cit. (note 19), 196-209.

122 As in Constantius, Vita Germani 12.

123 Prosper, Contra Collatorem 21 describes Britain as a hideout.

124 Prosper, Contra Collatorem 21; Constantius, Vita Germani 27.

125 Wood, op. cit. (note 1), 6-7.

126 Gildas, De excidio Britanniae I 21(1), 26 (2).

127 Jordanes, Getica XLV, 237-8; Sidonius, epp. I, 7(5); III 9.

128 Jordanes, Getica XLV, 237; Sidonius, ep. I 7 (5).

129 Sidonius, ep. III 9.