Defining the Dark Ages Part three: The Barbarian Conspiracy

Between 360 and 366 Britain appears to rebuild it’s defences and has five years of relative peace before the Scots and Picts once more band together in 366/7, this time though in a more organized and planned way that may have also involved other Germanic peoples. This event is later called the `barbarian conspiracy’. 

Valentinian I

By this time Valentinian was Emperor of Rome since 364. Valentinian had received reports that a combined force of Picts, Attacotti and Scots had killed Nectaridus (comes maritimi tractus) and overcome the dux Fullofaudes in Britain. As a consequence, Britain was in a state of anarchy. Here Ammianus tells us :

“It will be sufficient here to mention that at that time the Picts, who were divided into two nations, the Dicalidones and the Vecturiones, and likewise the Attacotti, a very warlike people, and the Scots were all roving over different parts of the country and committing great ravages. While the Franks and the Saxons who are on the frontiers of the Gauls were ravaging their country wherever they could effect an entrance by sea or land, plundering and burning, and murdering all the prisoners they could take”

The Dicalidones are obviously the Caledonians. Here we also have mention of the Saxons and Franks raiding the coasts of Gaul and Britain. That these two nations appear closely allied at this time becomes apparent when we examine the early settlements in Britain that show this Frankish influence in the archaeology of Kent.

Valentinian, alarmed by these reports, set out for Britain, sending Severus (comes domesticorum) ahead of him to investigate. Severus was not able to correct the situation and returned to the continent, meeting Valentinian at Amiens. Valentinian then sent Jovinus to Britain and promoted Severus to magister peditum. Jovinus though could not remedy the situation in Britain either so Theodosius (the elder) was sent. 

In 368 Theodosius arrived with the Batavi, Heruli, Jovii and Victores legions, landing at Richborough, and proceeded to London. His initial expeditions restored order to southern Britain. Later he rallied the remaining troops which had originally been stationed in Britain. It was apparent that the units had lost their cohesiveness when Nectaridius and Fullofaudes had been defeated. At this time, Theodosius sent for Civilis to be installed as the new vicarius of the diocese, and Dulcitius, an additional general. Dulcitius was Dux Britanniarum in charge of the frontier troops called Litanei so was most likely based in York. Civilis would most likely have administered from London. Ammianus tells us directly of Theodosius’ campaign in Britain :

“But Theodosius, a general of very famous reputation, departed in high spirits from Augusta, which the ancients used to call Londinium, with an army which he had collected with great energy and skill; bringing a mighty aid to the embarrassed and disturbed fortunes of the Britons. His plan was to seek everywhere favourable situations for laying ambuscades for the barbarians; and to impose no duties on his troops of the performance of which he did not himself cheerfully set the example.

And in this way, while he performed the duties of a gallant soldier, and showed at the same time the prudence of an illustrious general, he routed and vanquished the various tribes in whom their past security had engendered an insolence which led them to attack the Roman territories: and he entirely restored the cities and the fortresses which through the manifold disasters of the time had been injured or destroyed, though they had been originally founded to secure the tranquillity of the country.”

In about 369 Dulcitius had to deal with the minor stirrings of another rebellion. This one had started at the instigation of one Valentinus, a brother in law of Maximinus who would later become Praetorian Prefect of Gaul. Valentinus had been exiled to Britain because of some unknown crime he had committed in Rome. Only the power of the evil Maximinus had saved him. Ammianus again directly tells us of Valentinus :

“A certain man named Valentine, in Valeria of Pannonia, a man of a proud spirit, the brother-in-law of Maximin, that wicked and cruel deputy, who afterwards became prefect, having been banished to Britain for some grave crime, and being a restless and mischievous beast, was eager for any kind of resolution or mischief, began to plot with great insolence against Theodosius, whom he looked upon as the only person with power to resist his wicked enterprise.

But while both openly and privately taking many precautions, as his pride and covetousness increased, he began to tamper with the exiles and the soldiers, promising them rewards sufficient to tempt them as far at least as the circumstances and his enterprise would permit.

But when the time for putting his attempt into execution drew near, the duke, who had received from some trustworthy quarter information of what was going on, being always a man inclined to a bold line of conduct, and resolutely bent on chastising crimes when detected, seized Valentine with a few of his accomplices who were most deeply implicated, and handed them over to the general Dulcitius to be put to death. But at the same time conjecturing the future, through that knowledge of the soldiers in which he surpassed other men, he forbade the institution of any examination into the conspiracy generally, lest if the fear of such an investigation should affect many, fresh troubles might revive in the province.”

These words of Ammianus tell us much more about Britain than meets the eye. We see that Britain is a common place for various exiles to be sent to. Valentinus is said to `tamper’ with the exiles. A better translation would probably be conspiring with them. How many exiles were in Britain? By this account quite a few. As exiles were not exactly the most pleasant of people it is no wonder Britain was a hot bed of rebellion. That Theodosius did not investigate the conspiracy further indicates he did not want the troubles caused by Paulas Catena re-enacted. Ammianus continues relating the work of Theodosius in Britain:

“After this he turned his attention to make many necessary amendments, feeling wholly free from any danger in such attempts, since it was plain that all his enterprises were attended by a propitious fortune. So he restored cities and fortresses, as we have already mentioned, and established stations and outposts on our frontiers; and he so completely recovered the province which had yielded subjection to the enemy, that through his agency it was again brought under the authority of its legitimate ruler, and from that time forth was called Valentia, by desire of the emperor, as a memorial of his success.

The Areans, a class of men instituted in former times, and of whom we have already made some mention in recording the acts of Constans, had now gradually fallen into bad practices, for which he removed them from their stations; in fact they had been undeniably convicted of yielding to the temptation of the great rewards which were given and promised to them, so as to have continually betrayed to the barbarians what was done among us. For their business was to traverse vast districts, and report to our generals the warlike movements of the neighbouring nations.

In this manner the affairs which I have already mentioned, and others like them, having been settled, he was summoned to the court, and leaving the provinces in a state of exultation, like another Furius Camillus or Papirius Cursor, he was celebrated everywhere for his numerous and important victories. He was accompanied by a large crowd of well-wishers to the coast, and crossing over with a fair wind, arrived at the emperor's camp, where he was received with joy and high praise, and appointed to succeed Valens Jovinus, who was commander of the cavalry.”

This part of Ammianus’ writings tell us of the mysterious frontier scouts or spies called Areans or Areani. As Ammianus makes clear, these spies had been bought off by the very barbarians (Picts or Scots) who they were supposed to be reporting on.  They also tell us that Theodosius had left Britain in a fit and secure state. Something must have occurred in the next few years to change all this as within 13 years another revolt had shaken Britain and Europe to its core. 

In 370 Valentinian continues to clean up northern Gaul and massacres one band of Saxon raiders who had stopped their plundering and agreed to go home and lend troops to Valentinian's armies. Unfortunately Valentinian double crossed them and ambushed the Saxons, murdering every last one. It was a lesson the Saxons never forgot as the Britons would eventually find out many years later.

Saint Ambrose

For about four to five years Britain was at relative peace again, but raiding must have re-started around 373/4 as at this time Valentinian sends three armies of Alamanni troops to Britain to reinforce the defences there. At the head of these armies are the kings Froamarius - given the title Tribune, Hortarius and Bitherides. The Irish HB tell us that at this time, ie when `Gratian and Aquitias’ were consuls of Rome, that the Saxons came to Britain in the time of Vortigern. The only time when these consuls were joint rulers was in 474 AD. This Alamannic event appears to be confused with the arrival of Saxons and Vortigern. It is made even more confusing when we find that Maximinus is now the Praetorian Prefect in Gaul, in charge of the administration of both Gaul and Britain, an `Overlord’ or `Super Lord’ in British terms and that in Milan his nemesis is one Sanctus Ambrosius. It remains only to say that these earlier traditions may have been mixed up with the later 5^th Century Vortigern and Ambrosius in the writings of later historians.

These Alamannic armies would have arrived in Kent at Rutupae or Richborough as it was later known. They would then have moved onto the north to re-enforce Hadrians wall. Some may have stayed in Kent to man Saxon shore forts and some may have headed to Wales to help against the Irish Scoti. These reinforcements appear to have had the desired affect as another short period of peace comes to Britain between 370 and 383.

By 375 Gratian was now Emperor of Rome and had many troubles to contend with. The Alamanni had continued to cause problems in Gaul and in 378 a major battle ended with 30,000 Alamanni dead, if Roman records are to be believed. Gratian had caused resentment in Rome by insulting some pagan traditions. The intolerance between Christianity and paganism was starting to grow. Under Gratian and his Bishop Ambrose state subsidies that funded many pagan activities were removed. This angered many Roman senators.. 

Gratian

In around 380 Magnus Maximus is made comes Britanniae, head of the armies in Britain. He then campaigned against the Picts and other tribes north of Hadrians wall. It is most likely that this is when Maximus must have subdued the Votadini once more and decided to move them to North Wales to counter the Irish Pictish threat. Or was it later when Constantine depleted the British Roman armies once more in 410 that the Votadini were sent to north Wales to reinforce the defences there?

Gratian again had to fight the Alammani in 383 and it was at this time that events in Britain once again led to the fall of a Roman emperor. Is it co-incidence that at the very time Gratian is fighting Alamannic armies in Gaul, Britain, recently reinforced with Alamannic armies, suddenly breaks out in revolt? This revolt is led by one Magnus Maximus, raised by his troops as emperor of the west. He then takes the armies from Britain, heads over to Gaul and within a short time kills Gratian and enlists the help of the grateful Alamanni in his attempts to seize power over the whole Roman empire. Maximus’s Magister Equitum Andragathius was a Goth. His  Praetorian Prefect was one Euodius. It is obvious from these events that the Alamannic troops posted to Britain in 374  had assumed some sort of influence, enough to raise Maximus to power to help relieve their brothers in Gaul. 

Next, Maximus and the last instalment before Britain becomes independent of Roman rule and enters the early medieval period otherwise known as the Dark Ages.

Images via Wikipedia Commons.

Defining the Dark Ages Part two - The rebellions

Constantius II

By 350 the emperor Constans was dead and a usurper, the half Briton, half Frankish Magnentius was in power in the Western Provinces. Constantius II was in power in the East. In Britain Flavious Martinus was the Vicarius; a governor in charge of the civil structure of the provinces. He was well respected by Britain’s nobility and was deemed to be fair and honest in his dealing with them. Ammianus[1] a Roman historian of the time tells us of Martinus that he was:

 “..a most just ruler, who had dared to lighten the unhappy lot of many…Martinus, who was governing those provinces as a substitute for the prefects, deeply deplored the woes suffered by innocent men..”

This shows that Martinus, although a nice guy had no real power. He was only a substitute for the role of Praetorian Prefect and this had profound affects for his authority after the revolt of Magnentius was put down.

Magnentius[2], called a barbarian by writers of the time[a], was born in Samarobriva (Amiens, north eastern France) of a British father and a Frankish mother. He was said to have been tolerant of both paganism and Christianity. He worked his way up the Roman ranks until he commanded the palatine legions - the Loviani and Herculiani seniores, personal legions of the Emperor Constans himself. He was raised to power in Autun when the Roman army became disgruntled with the behaviour of Constans and had him executed, after he had fled, near the pyrenees by one Gaiso (Consul in 351).

Magnentius must have visited Britain sometime in February 350AD, probably to raise taxes for his forthcoming war and to strip the country of some of its legions. He stripped Britain of all movable troops and emptied the frontier garrisons of Gaul to swell his ranks. For Magnentius, this was just the beginning of his claim for total power of the Roman world. He collected the armies of Britain and Gaul and called on his fellow Germanic Franks and Saxons plus Spaniards in support and started on his march first towards Trier then to Rome which capitulated in his favour. Magnentius tried to get recognition from Constantius as the rightful Emperor of the Western Empire but this was refused by Constantius, understandable, as the Flavian dynasty had held sway for 50 years since Contantine I.

Magnentius,
the first Romano Briton to usurp power.

 

In response to all this Constantius II invited Germanic tribes to cross the Rhine and enter Gaul. This was a spoiling tactic to hold up Magnentius and was to have far reaching effects. Magnentius though, due to his Frankish allies was able to bring some control to the Barbarians invited in by Constantius.  Constantius however employed many more Germanic barbarians to swell his ranks. Magnentius for his part recruited Keltoi and Galatai. But his most enthusiastic followers, according to the emperor Julian himself:

"..were by virtue of their ties of kinship, Franks or Saxons, the most warlike of whom live beyond the Rhine and along the shore of the Western Sea." (Or. 1. 34c-d).

In 351AD these two massive armies met at the Battle of Mursa Major in present day Croatia and in the ensuing battle and stalemate 52,000 men lost their lives. With such huge losses the Roman armies were seriously depleted and it would take a couple of years before Constantine could try again. But by 353 he had successfully beaten Magnentius at Mons Seleucus in southern France.

One Gerontius (Keraint, Gereint) was Magnentius’ Comes Britanarium, commander of the armies. Gerontius was a Briton and shows the ties Magnentius had with the provinces and armies of Britain who had probably helped him to power in 350. Could this Gerontius be the Keraint ap Genedos of the Welsh genealogies? Is Genedos just a corrupted late Welsh form of Magnentius?  Anyway, according to Welsh myth, Gerontius set his relatives up in positions of power in Britain. To Tegid (Tacitus) was given the far north, his descendent was Cunedda. To his other brother Eudaff he gives Wales. Keraints daughter Faustus marries Magnentius. Eudaffs daughter, Sevira marrries Magnus Maximus. Eudaff may have been Magnus Maximus' Praetorian Prefect Eudosius. To his first son Cynan he gives Dumnonia and Armorica later. Cynan becomes Maximus' Magister Militum probably in control of Armorica. Cynans daughter Strada marries Coel Hen. All fascinating myth but unprovable[3]. Only this tentative tie with Gerontius, Comes Britanarium in 350 remains.

With a much reduced army in Britain it would not be long before the Barbarian tribes to the north and Scoti in Ireland realized the position. They don’t seem to have pushed for any major offensive during the time of Magnentius though. Perhaps when he visited Britain in 350 he had paid them off and made a treaty with them as Julian (who becomes Caesar of Gaul and Britain in 355) mentions a treaty that was made with the Scots and Picts later when he complains in about 359/60 that they have broken it.

After the death of Magnentius in 353 his general Gerontius is tortured then exiled but to where is unknown. Britain, the country, is still a rich and prosperous one but is about to feel the wrath of the Emperor Constantius.

By 353 the stirring of more hostile nations was starting to take place. The Huns in the east had started to make their way west  and the Irish had started to become united enough under strong leaders to begin raiding western Britain. The movement of the Huns started a domino effect pushing Germanic tribes westwards in panic, spilling over into Roman lands.

354AD was a momentous one in the history of Britain, for in this year the Roman nobility of Britain was decimated, it’s weak but honorable Governor Martinus dead by his own hand and by the end of the year this had caused the country to rebel under one Carausius II. These events were enough to weaken the internal structure of the country to such a degree that within a few years the Picts and Scoti were once more brave enough to raid in large numbers and make enough success of it that legions from abroad were needed to put down the troubles. So what led to this state of affairs? One Paulus Catenus, probably one of the most evil men ever to have entered Britain.  He was sent by Constantius to seek out those who may have supported Magnentius and return them to Rome. When he arrived in 354 and found the weak governor Martinus  in charge he went vastly beyond his remit and proceeded to accuse and implicate practically the whole of British Roman nobility. Poor Martinus looked on in horror as innocent as well as perhaps guilty were arrested and thrown into chains. From which custom Paulus acquired the nickname Catenus – The Chain.  For the full horror of the story we have Ammanius to thank and here it is :

The Torture of the Followers of Megnentius

1. While this was happening in the East, Constantius was passing the winter at Arelate, where he gave entertainment in the theatre and the circus with ostentatious magnificence. Then, on the 10th of October, which completed the thirtieth year of his reign, giving greater weight to his arrogance and accepting and accepting every false or doubtful charge as evident and proven, among other atrocities he tortured Gerontius, a count of the party of Magnentius, and visited him with the sorrow of exile.

2.And, as an ailing body is apt to be affected even by slight annoyances, so his narrow and sensitive mind, thinking that every sound indicated something done or planned at the expense of his safety, made his victory lamentable through the murder of innocent men.

3. For if anyone of the military commanders or ex-officials, or one of high rank in his own community, was accused even by rumour of having favoured the party of the emperor’s opponent, he was loaded with chains and dragged about like a wild beast. And whether a personal enemy pressed the charge or no one at all, as though it were enough that he had been named, informed against, or accused at all, he was condemned to death, or his property confiscated, or he was banished to some desert island.

4. Moreover his harsh cruelty, whenever the majesty of the empire was said to be insulted, and his angry passion and unfounded suspicions were increased by the bloodthirsty flattery of his courtiers, who exaggerated everything that happened and pretended to be greatly troubled by the thought of an attempt on the life of a prince on whose safety, as on a thread, they hypocritically declared that the condition of the whole world depended.

5. And he is even said to have given orders that no one who had ever been punished for these or similar offences should be given a new trial after a writ of condemnation had once been presented to him in the usual manner, which even the most inexorable emperors were commonly allowed. And this fatal fault of cruelty, which in others sometimes grew less with advancing age, in his case became more violent, since a group of flatterers intensified his stubborn resolution.

6. Prominent among these was the state secretary Paulus, a native of Spain, a kind of viper, whose countenance concealed his character, but who was extremely clever in scenting out hidden means of dangers for others. When he had been sent to Britain to fetch some officers who had dared to conspire with Magentius, since they could make no resistance he autocratically exceeded his instructions and, like a flood, suddenly overwhelmed the fortunes of many, making his away amid manifold slaughter and destruction, imprisoning freeborn men and even degrading some with handcuffs ; as a matter of fact, he patched together many accusations with utter disregard of the truth, and to him was due an impious crime, which fixed eternal stain upon the time of Constantius.

7. Martinus, who was governing those provinces as a substitute for the prefects, deeply deplored the woes suffered by innocent men ;and after often begging that those who were free from any reproach should be spared, when he failed in his appeal he threatened to retire, in the hope that, at least in through fear of this, that malevolent man-hunter might finally cease to expose to open danger men naturally given to peace.

8. Paulus thought that this would interfere with his profession, and being a formidable artist in devising complications, for which reason he was nicknamed “The Chain,” since the substitute continued to defend those whom he was appointed to govern, Paulus involved even him in the common peril, threatening to bring him also in chains to the emperor’s court, along with the tribunes and many others. Thereupon Martinus, alarmed at this threat, and thinking swift death imminent, drew his sword and attacked that same Paulus. But since the weakness of his hand prevented him from dealing a fatal blow, he plunged the sword which he had already drawn into his own side. And by that ignominious death there passed from life a most just ruler, who had dared to lighten the unhappy lot of many.

9. After perpetrating these atrocious crimes, Paulus, stained with blood, returned to the emperor’s camp, bringing many with him many men almost covered with chains and in a state of pitiful filth and wretchedness. On their arrival, the racks were made ready and the executioner prepared his hooks and other instruments of torture. Many of the prisoners were proscribed, others driven into exile; to some the sword dealt the penalty of death. For no one easily recalls the acquittal of anyone in the time of Constantius when an accusation against him had even been whispered.

We can see from this that poor Martinus was barely strong enough to raise a sword against Paulus and was not able to deliver a killing blow. Paulus Catena though got his comeuppance a few years later in around 362 when he was burned alive for his crimes.

This probably left Britain in a state of flux, with most of the Roman nobility slain and imprisoned and with the cruel minions of Catena in place revolt must have been fermenting. To see Rome so cruelly despoil and kill its people was too much. Those left in power raised one of their own to power and rebelled from Rome probably expelling and killing any Roman officials who apposed them. This new leader was Carausius II. We do not know if this was his real name, only that he had used the same name of a previous usurper from about 80 years before. 

In 354 Carausius had an immediate problem though, Magnentius had stripped the country of its legions and best fighting men a few years before, many remaining Romano British leaders had been killed or taken by Paulus and then some Romans remaining would have been killed or expelled by Carausius II and his supporters. So Carausius II must have had problems of what to do at this point to defend the provinces from attack. He appears to have successfully led the country into the coming year and beyond but the weakened state of the defenses must have been apparent to the neighboring Scots and Picts for within a few years Britain was on it’s knees to Rome once again begging for help. 

Julian

In 355 AD Julian was made Ceasar of Britain and Gaul by Constantius as Constantius was tied up in the east fighting and couldn’t manage the whole empire. Julian however had problems in Gaul with the Alamanni who had crossed the Rhine. He didn’t have time to sort out Britain. For the next few years he campaigned against the Alamanni, made treaties with them and took enlisted troops from them. In his descriptions of Britain under the rule of Julian, Ammianus writes that unrest in Gaul distracted Julian from taking an active role as commander of Britain. 

The barbarian raids from Scot and Pict must have continued and probably also from Franks, Angles, Frisians and Jutes who had been roaming northern Gaul since Magnentius and Constantius had let them in. Julian had to deal with these Germanic tribes in Gaul as they had stopped the grain imports from Britain reaching Rome. This led to a scarcity of Grain in Rome in 360, when the people of Rome actually rebelled due to these shortages.

In 356 Carausius II is still in power. We know this as coins were issued by him. His reign must have been a difficult one. An example of  the coinage evidence is a copper issue, of barbarous type, showing on the obverse the head of an emperor and something like the legend domino Carausio ces, while the reverse rudely copies the device of emperor, phoenix and labarum, which was in use about A.D. 340-350, and bears the legend DOMIN . . . CONTA . .  NO.  This `Conta’ is Constantius of course showing that Carausius probably still recognized the authority of the Emperor in the east or hoped to show himself as equal to him. 

In 356 Julian was still campaigning against the Alamanni in Gaul. In around 358 or 359 there is a major invasion by Scots and Picts. 358 is the last date we have for coins of Carausius II. It is possible he was defeated by these attacks and Britain was left open to plundering by small bands of Pict and Scoti in the north and west of the country. The tomb of Carausius II may have been found in Penmachno, Gwynedd, Wales. There is a cairn stone there that reads:

CARAVSIUS HIC IACIT IN

HOC CONGERIES LAPIDUM

'Carausius lies here in this cairn'. This has been dated to between 4^th to late 5^th Century so it is most likely the Cairn of Carausius II who may have died fighting the Picts.

In Wales the Desi (Irish settlers from county Waterford) under Aed Brosc were beginning to expand. In 359 after this heavy assault by the Picts and Scots these raids had become too much and Britain’s leaders begged Rome for assistance. Julian answered and sent some legions under Lupicinus in 360AD. He brought with him the Herulians, Batavians and Moesians. In the words of  Jovian  another Roman historian we are told : 

"... the wild tribes of the Scots and Picts broke their understanding to keep peace, laid waste the country near the frontier, and caused alarm among the provincials, who were exhausted by the repeated disasters they had already suffered. The Caesar [Julian], who was spending the winter at Paris a prey to various anxieties, shrank from going in person, like Constans on a previous occasion, to help his subjects across the Channel; he was afraid of leaving Gaul without a ruler at the very time when the Alamanni were bent on fierce war. He decided therefore to send Lupicinus, at that time master of cavalry, to settle these troubles either by negotiation or by force. Lupicinus was a stout and experienced soldier, who was apt, however, to set up his horn on high and to talk in the style of a tragic hero. It was long a matter of debate whether his greed predominated over his cruelty or the reverse. Taking with him a light-armed force of Herulians and Batavians together with two units of Moesians, this commander reached Bononia [Boulogne] in the depths of winter. He embarked his troops on vessels which he collected, and sailed with a favourable wind to Rutufiae [Richborough] on the opposite shore. From there he marched to Londinium [London], intending to let the situation determine his strategy and to take the field as soon as possible."

Lupicinus arrived in 360 with his legions and quickly cleared up the Pict and Scoti attacks. Lupicinus appoints Alypius  as Vicarius, Fullofaudes as Comes Britanarium, and Nectarides Comes Maritimi Tractus.(General of the coastal regions). Due to these attacks the villa society in Britain is under terminal decline and by the end of the 4^th Century most villas have been abandoned and even towns and villages show signs of abandonment and decay.

Alypius the Vicarius of Britain has the job of rebuilding or repairing Britain’s infrastructure, including Hadrians wall and the shore forts of Kent and East Anglia. He was probably based in London.  He was recalled within a couple of years and sent to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem.

Fullofaudes is made Comes Britanarium. He is said to be of Germanic origin, possibly Vandal or Goth. He would probably have been based in York. Nectarides was probably responsible for the southern and eastern coastal regions. He appears to have been Greek or Roman. Perhaps based on the Saxon shore in Kent or East Anglia.

Between 360 and 366 Britain appears to rebuild it’s defenses and has five years of relative peace before the Scots and Picts once more band together in 366/7, this time though in a more organized and planned way that may have also involved other Germanic peoples. This event is later called the `barbarian conspiracy’....

The beautiful peaceful country of Wales. Photo by Dane Pestano.

Next, Part 3 - the Barbarian Conspiracy.



References:

[a] The early sources all call him a barbarian. Later sources  mention his Frankish mother and British father. That he may have had a British link is supported by the fact that he was able to get the support of the Romano Britons under the Comes Britanarium, Gerontius. However the above quote which states his kin were Franks and Saxons casts some doubt on this unless these two were closely allied at the time. See The Revolt And Ethnic Origin of the Usurper Magnentius and the rebellion of Vetrianio by John F Drinkwater, who suggests the British link may be suspect.

[1] http://www.mountainman.com.au/essenes/res_gestae_14.htm 

[2] http://www.roman-emperors.org/magnent.htm

[3]http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/eudanc.html

Images Public domain via Wikimedia Commons unless stated.

Copyright 2011 Dane Pestano.

Defining the Dark Ages - Part one

In defining the Dark Ages one must start with the period proceeding it to determine the events, wars and characters that led to the Roman withdrawal from Britain and western Europe. In these series of blogs I will briefly look at the history of Britain and to a lesser degree Europe, from the beginning of the fourth century AD to the beginning of the fifth.

Britain and Europe in the fourth Century.

Roman Britain at beginning of fifth century when the provinces had been split into five.

Britain at the beginning of the fourth century was a rich and prosperous one. The Romans had divided the country into two provinces Britannia Prima in the south and Britannia Secunda in the north, each with sub provinces or Caesariensis. These partitions were created by the Emperor Severus to try and limit the power of local generals to raise large armies against Rome. Although a good idea it did not stop further rebellion and in the future Britain was further split into four and then five different provinces, again for the same reason. The actual location though of the fifth provice Valentia is still debatable. Mak Wilson over on his blog Badonicus discusses the problems here. The governor (Consul) of Superior controlled the main bulk of the legionary armies and was based in London. Inferior was headed by a Praetorian rank and controlled smaller armies or frontier troops called Litanei and were based in York.

The local tribes of southern and eastern Britain were mostly of Belgic origin, having fled in various waves before and after defeat to Caesars’ Romans in Gaul in 60BC. The Belgic tribes themselves were Germanic in origin, who had taken on Celtic customs and culture. The interior and western tribes would have been indigenous Britons. But they were all in effect Roman citizens, Romanised Britons, still though with Celtic customs, local tribal leaders and a degree of the old pre Roman culture.

Society had spread out from the confines of the town and cities and the rich and powerful made their homes in their vast country estates, building fine villas. The population at this time must have reached about five million. Rome had brought new machinery and practices that increased the production of arable land, feeding not only the population of Britain but also exporting enough to feed the mouths of a hungry Europe. Cattle and sheep rearing had also benefited from this time of plenty to form much larger herds. The woodlands of Britain had been much cleared and at this time boundaries of hedges and fences had started to enclose rectangular fields and pasture. Towns were civilised places where trade was strong, sanitation sound and an educational system was in place to produce a basis for the continuation of the Roman way.  To some, the early part of the fourth century AD was a golden age of Britain under imperial Roman power.

The situation in Gaul was not quite as good. Gaul like Britain was partitioned into its provinces, Gallica Prima in the south (as it was nearest to Rome) and secunda in the North. Armorica in the north west much later became Brittany. In the west Aquitania, which was further subdivided into three parts. The tribes of Gaul were similar to Britain’s. Gauls were the Celts who were settled in the central regions and to the west in Armorica, the Belgae had settled in north and eastern Gaul , and pushed westwards into parts of Armorica as well. The Aquitanians were entirely different with a variety of tribes hence the three way partitions, but the northern region bordering on the Loire and Armorica was originally Pictish. The Picts were very similar to the Gauls and Belgae. All three appear to have spoken different languages or dialects perhaps. Here is a description of the Gauls given by Ammianus, a fourth Century Roman  Historian.:

Wounded Gallic warrior

“Nearly all the Gauls are of a lofty stature, fair, and of ruddy complexion; terrible from the sternness of their eyes, very quarrelsome, and of great pride and insolence. A whole troop of foreigners would not be able to withstand a single Gaul if he called his wife to his assistance, who is usually very strong, and with blue eyes; especially when, swelling her neck, gnashing her teeth, and brandishing her sallow arms of enormous size, she begins to strike blows mingled with kicks, as if they were so many missiles sent from the string of a catapult.

The voices of the generality are formidable and threatening, whether they are in good humour or angry: they are all exceedingly careful of cleanliness and neatness, nor in all the country, and most especially in Aquitania, could any man or woman, however poor, be seen either dirty or ragged.

The men of every age are equally inclined to war, and the old man and the man in the prime of life answer with equal zeal the call to arms, their bodies being hardened by their cold weather and by constant exercise, so that they are all inclined to despise dangers and terrors. Nor has any one of this nation ever mutilated his thumb from fear of the toils of war, as men have done in Italy, whom in their district are called Murci.

The nation is fond of wine, and of several kinds of liquor which resemble wine. And many individuals of the lower orders, whose senses have become impaired by continual intoxication, which the apophthegm of Cato defined to be a kind of voluntary madness, run about in all directions at random; so that there appears to be some point in that saying which is found in Cicero's oration in defence of Fonteius, "that henceforth the Gauls will drink their wine less strong than formerly," because forsooth they thought there was poison in it.”

We can see from this description that although the Gauls where hot tempered and fearsome warriors they also made sure that cleanliness and neatness where high priorities. Even the poor being made to dress well, suggesting some type of early welfare system where possibly local tribal leaders were responsible for the general well being of the whole tribe. You dont mess with their wives though ;-)

Barbarian raiding from across the Rhine by Frankish tribes had started in the late third century and had attacked the rich villa society of the open Gallic countryside. Many villas were abandoned in Gaul and Armorica and the people returned to towns which were then fortified and walls built to keep out raiders. This led to a movement of the rich nobility of Gaul to southern Britain were they built their new villas in the late third and early fourth Century. The situation in Gaul was brought under control by the efforts of Constantine the Great, Constantine I. He was proclaimed emperor of the Roman Empire in Britain at York in 306 AD soon after his father Constantius had died.  Constantine managed to bring the Rhine frontier under control and then the whole empire eventually, moving its capital to Constantinople. He was also a great supporter of Christianity and helped Christianity gain a foothold of power within the imperial system. Hans Polsander put’s it this way in his work on Constantine:

“By entrusting some government functions to the Christian clergy he actually made the church an agency of the imperial government”

This was an important move. As Christianity became more powerful it also became more involved in the workings of the Empire. Positions of power within government also became positions of power within the church. By the late fourth century and early fifth these positions of power were evident wherein Bishops came from the ruling nobility of the land.

Contantine I

Constantine the Greats legacy was one of stability and growth within his lifetime. When he died in 337 he was still wearing the white robes of a Christian neophyte, showing how far Christianity had come and how powerful its influence had been on those of the Empire. Although later Emperors would try to bring back the pagan ways or adopt alternative Christian creeds, the die was set and Catholic Christianity had a strong enough hold to come out on top by the end of the fourth Century.  Britain however, situated on the edge of the Empire was a breeding ground for alternative teachings such as Pelagianism and the Celtic churches attempts to remain independent from Roman doctrine. In one way this was good as without these dissentions we would probably know very little about subsequent fifth century Britain at all.

After 337 Constantine’s sons started to fight over the rights to the Empire. His son Constantine II took power in the west and started a wholesale genocide of his relatives to secure his position. His brother Constans now stood in his way, ruling in the eastern Empire. They met in battle at Equilea and Constantine was defeated. Constans how ruled both the east and west. He may have visited Britain sometime around 340 probably on a military campaign.(Ammianus).

Around this time the Irish started raiding the eastern coasts of Britain. Some started to settle North Wales and would eventually become a problem to Roman authorities within 20-30 years when Cunedda is brought down from northern Britain to expel them. At some point the Irish Desi tribe of Meath and Munster also started to settle southern and eastern Wales.

Constans

By 340 the villa society in Britain had increasingly succumbed to the same problems as those earlier in Gaul. Barbarian raiding by Picts, Franks, Angles, Frisians and other Germanic tribes had started to put pressure on these undefended rich Villa establishments. People started to move back to the cities and towns to better defend against such raids. It was at this time that Emperor Constans must have come to put down the Barbarian raids and re-establish order. 

In the next  part the start of the breakdown of Roman authority in Britain begins.

Part Two - The rebellions - is here

Images Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Copyright 2011. Dane Pestano.