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Elite 248
This book focuses on the groups that were left behind when Roman power faded from Britain and Gaul, leaving the inhabitants and remaining Romans to survive without the protection of the Legions.
We start with a longer than normal timeline, reflecting the complexity of this era, although many of the earlier events are of more uncertain date thatn reflected here, and in some cases now generally considered to be largely fictional. Admitedly the really ‘dark’ period is largely confined to Britain, and doesn’t actually last all that long in some parts of the country. In Gaul the remnants of the Roman system survived quite a bit longer, with the last effective Roman governor of Roman Gaul, Syagrius, overlapping with the reign of Clovis of the Franks.
Next comes a section looking at the various factions in post-Roman Gaul and Britain that could claim some descent from the Roman system. I would have liked a little more acknowledgement that the history of some of these factions is not at all clear – the short section on Reghed mentions Coel Hen as a late Roman ruler and Urien as ruling from Carlisle, without mentioning that many historicans consider Coel Hen to have been fictional and that there is no certainty about the location of Urien’s kingdom, with northern Cumbria or south-western Scotland both in the running. Army organisation is perhaps on more solid ground, as we know quite a bit out the armies these forces were descended from or evolved into.
Arms and equipment is the firmest area. Here we have a mix of some literary sources, supported by art, sculpture, coins and archaeology. Once again there is wide range of variety, with some of the groups retaining the appearanace of the Late Roman Army and others started to copy their Germanic enemies. The ability to use the surviving physical evidence means we can be more certain about what was going on (with the caveat that the remains are biased towards the pagans who buried grave goods and against the Christians who had abandoned that tradition.).
Chapters
Introduction
Post-Roman Gaul
Post-Roman Britain
Equipment, Arms & Clothing
Author: Raffaele D’Amato & Andrea Salimbeti
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 64
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2023