End of Roman Rule in Britain - Background

Background

In the late 4th and early 5th centuries, the Roman Empire could no longer defend itself against either internal rebellion or the external threat posed by expanding Germanic tribes in Northern and Eastern Europe. This situation and its consequences governed the separation of Britain from the rest of the Empire.

In the late 4th century, the Empire was controlled by members of a dynasty that included the Emperor Theodosius I. This family retained political power within itself and formed alliances by intermarriage with other dynasties, at the same time engaging in internecine power struggles and fighting off outside contenders (called "usurpers") attempting to replace the ruling dynasty with one of their own. These internal machinations drained the Empire of both military and civilian resources.

The Empire's historical relationship with Germanic tribes was sometimes hostile, at other times cooperative, but ultimately fatal, as it was unable to prevent those tribes from assuming a dominant role in the relationship. By the late 4th century, the Western Roman Empire's military forces were dominated by Germanic troops, and Romanised Germans played a significant role in internal Roman politics. The Germanic tribes to the east of the Empire were able to take advantage of the Empire's weakened state, both to expand into Roman territory and, in some cases, to move their entire populations into lands once considered exclusively Roman.