Editing Roman Britain (section)

=== Sub-Roman Britain ===
{{Main|Sub-Roman Britain}}
[[File:End.of.Roman.rule.in.Britain.383.410.jpg|thumb|[[End of Roman rule in Britain]], 383–410]]
Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from [[barbarian]] attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing [[Roman usurper|usurpers]], the army chose a soldier, [[Constantine III (Western Roman Emperor)|Constantine III]], to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]]; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A [[Saxons|Saxon]] incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the [[Britons (Celtic people)|Britons]], and in 409 [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]] records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the [[Bagaudae]] rebellion of the [[Bretons|Breton]] inhabitants of [[Armorica]] since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to [[Calabria|Bruttium]] or [[Bologna]].<ref name="Moorhead">{{Harvp|Moorhead|Stuttard|2012|page=[https://archive.org/details/romanswhoshapedb0000moor/page/238 238]}}.</ref> With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing [[Romano-British]] ideals and conventions. Historian [[Stuart Laycock]] has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.<ref>{{Harvp|Laycock|2008}}.</ref>

In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by [[Vortigern]] to assist in fighting the [[Picts]], [[Scoti]], and [[Déisi]]. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic [[auxilia]]ries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to [[Brittany]] (hence its name), [[Britonia|Galicia]] and probably [[Ireland]]. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the [[Groans of the Britons]], an unanswered appeal to [[Flavius Aetius|Aetius]], leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the [[Battle of Deorham]] in 577, after which the significant cities of [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[Cirencester]] and [[Gloucester]] fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.

Historians generally reject the [[historicity of King Arthur]], who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Higham |first=Nicholas J. |title=King Arthur: The Making of the Legend |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-3002-1092-7 |location=New Haven, Connecticut}}</ref>