Editing Roman Britain (section)

=== End of Roman rule ===

{{Main|End of Roman rule in Britain}}
[[File:Brittain 410.jpg|thumb|Roman Britain in 410]]

The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of [[Michael Rostovtzeff]], was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "[[dark earth]]" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts.<ref>Archaeological evidence of late 4th-century urban collapse is analysed by {{Cite book |last=Cleary |first=Simon Esmonde |title=The Ending of Roman Britain |date=2000}}; the "de-romanisation" of Britain is the subject of several accounts by [[Richard Reece]], including "Town and country: the end of Roman Britain", ''World Archaeology'' '''12''' (1980:77–92) and "The end of the city in Roman Britain", in {{Cite book |editor-first=J. |editor-last=Rich |title=The City in Antiquity |date=1992 |pages=136–144}}; {{Harvp|Loseby|2000|page=326f}} makes a strong case for discontinuity of urban life.</ref> Turning over the [[basilica]] at [[Silchester]] to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.<ref name="Fulford">{{Cite journal |last=Fulford |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Fulford |date=1985 |title=Excavations... |journal=Antiquaries |volume=65 |pages=39–81 |doi=10.1017/S0003581500024690 |s2cid=164170447}}, noted in {{Harvp|Loseby|2000}}.</ref>

The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as [[Chedworth Roman Villa|Chedworth]], [[Great Casterton]] in [[Rutland]] and [[Hucclecote]] in [[Gloucestershire]] had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of [[Saint Patrick]] indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in [[Verulamium]] and [[Cirencester]]. Some urban centres, for example [[Canterbury]], [[Cirencester]], [[Wroxeter]], [[Winchester]] and [[Gloucester]], remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.

Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.