‘Sub-Roman’ Britain?

The term ‘sub-Roman’ Britain is traditionally the name that refers to the period of British history that loosely charts from the end of Imperial Roman rule in AD 410 to the arrival of Saint Augustine and his Christian missionaries in AD 597. However, the date for the definitive end of the period is arbitrary as sub-Roman culture continued to develop in the country that would subsequently be known as Wales and similarly in the west of England in areas such as Cornwall and Cumbria. The term ‘sub-Roman’ has become synonymous with this period due to the classification of pottery from this era by archaeologists as degenerate forms of Roman craftsmanship. However, To say that sub-Roman Britain was simply Roman Britain in decay is to overlook both its achievements (monasticism, penitentials) and the continuity with its Roman (Latin education, Mediterranean trade) and Celtic (La Tène jewelry, the bardic tradition) past. The Focus of this essay shall be to assess the period to understand and consider the legitimacy of the term “Sub-Roman” Britain.

Several terms to describe Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries have had a popular and reinforced usage throughout the history of scholarship. Apart from being known as objectively as two centuries between the end of Roman Imperial rule and the return of christianity, the period may also be considered a part of the early Middle Ages, if continuity with the following periods is stressed. Popular (and occasionally some academic) works use a range of more dramatic names for the period: the Dark Ages, the Brythonic Age, the Age of Tyrants, or the Age of Arthur. The term “Post-Roman” is emerging as the preferred form of classifying this confusing and enigmatic time as it is more sensitive to the...

... middle of paper ...

...lyn. Minnesota, Llewellyn Publications

Moorhead, S.,; Stuttard, D.,

(2012). The Romans who Shaped Britain. London, Thames & Hudson.

Morris, J.

(1973) The Age of Arthur, a history of the British Isles from 350 to 650, London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson

Reece, R.

( Jun. 1980) “Town and Country: The End of Roman Britain” in World Archaeology,

Vol. 12, No. 1, Classical Archaeology, Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

Snyder, C.

(1997) “Sub-Roman Britain, an Introduction” on Vortigern Studies.org.uk http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/artgue/snyder.htm [accessed 02/01/14]

(1996). Sub-Roman Britain (AD 400-600): A Gazetteer of Sites. British Archaeological Reports (BAR) British Series No. 247. Oxford: Tempvs Reparatvm

Stenton, F. M.

(1971). Anglo-Saxon England (Third ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press

Thomas, C.

(1981) Christianity in Roman Britain to AD 500 London: Batsford