Britannia in the Later Empire
If Britannia within its bounds was fairly secure, the same cannot be said of the world beyond. The state of the Roman Empire was like that of a huge, roughly assembled raft afloat on the ocean. When storms arose, partial break-up always threatened; communication from the centre was extremely difficult, and the captains of different sections fought each other for authority over as much of the heaving surface as they could effectively control. With the resumption of calm, the central commander would gradually re-establish overall authority, though each time it would be over a rather different structure, and with a somewhat different system of management. For a time, from 260, Britannia formed part of a 'Gallic empire' until the emperor, Aurelian, restored Roman control in 274. Again, between 287 and 296, breakaway leaders, Carausius and his assassin and successor Allectus, ruled until an imperial army under the Caesar Constantius came to reinstate central authority. Allectus appears to have been the first ruler in Britain to import foreign troops, Franks in this case, to bolster his own forces.
These power struggles had an important effect on the borders of the Roman provinces. To sustain their bids for power, the would-be emperors drew troops away from the legionary garrisons. In 296 Hadrian's Wall, left undefended by Allectus, was stormed from the north: a foretaste of what would later happen on a larger scale. Around 312 the number of provinces was increased to four: Britannia Prima and Maxima Caesariensis from the old Upper Britain; and Britannia Secunda and Flavia Caesariensis from Lower Britain. London, Cirencester, York and Lincoln were the respective capitals. These political and administrative changes reveal a firm governmental control but also a change to more intensive civilian rule compared to the old military division.
Although some historians characterised Britannia as a 'backward' province, this does not seem to have been the case. The Wall to the north and the coastline long kept it free from the invasions and warfare that plagued and finally wrecked the much greater and richer province of Gaul from the later decades of the third century. Town fortifications seem to have begun in Britannia in the late second century, originally in the form of earthworks. By the late third century, these were being replaced by walls. At this time, too, a new danger to the integrity of the provinces was recognised, with the institution of the forts of the 'Saxon Shore'. Across the southern stretches of the North Sea there were portentous movements of peoples taking place. Frankish and Saxon pirates were raiding at sea and on land. The whole immensely long northern frontier of the empire was slowly crumbling under pressure from the Germanic and Slavonic peoples.
From 350 began the process, ultimately disastrous to Britannia, of imperial usurpers drawing troops away from the provinces to help their own ambitions on the European mainland. This also introduced a form of recurrent civil war, since the victor, like Emperor Constantius II in 353, would severely punish a 'rebellious' province that had, whether under duress or not, supported a usurper. The unrest and resentment brought about by this policy encouraged an alliance of Picts and Scots (the latter still one of the peoples of Ireland) to invade the north. They were forced back by elite units of the Roman army, sent over under the command of Lupicinus, the senior general of the western emperor, Julian. But, when Julian became sole emperor and focused his attention eastwards on Persia, the attacks from north and west resumed with greater intensity. A large-scale invasion took place in 367, with Saxons seemingly acting in conjunction with the Picts and Scots. These were plundering expeditions rather than conquering raids. The British provinces, once so secure, were in great disarray. The barbarian invaders were reaching as far as London, and the imperial forces were too depleted to withstand them. Emperor Wentinian sent the military count, Theodosius, to repeat what had been done by Lupicinus. Landing at Richborough (by this time a major coastal fortress) he secured London and moved rapidly against the roving war-bands. By 369 he had largely restored the order and morale of the provinces. The accounts of his campaign refer to a fifth province. Valentia, probably in the area around Carlisle, a strategic district south of the Wall. Theodosius sought to make a lasting disposition, and his campaign secured a few years of relative peace. Ironically, it was an army revolt that launched a new stage of disorder, when in 383 the army in Britain proclaimed its general, Magnus Maximus, as emperor. Invading Gaul with his army, Magnus defeated the western emperor, Gratian, and ruled until 388 when he was defeated in northern Italy by the eastern emperor, Theodosius the Great, son of the count who had reclaimed Britannia.
These power struggles had an important effect on the borders of the Roman provinces. To sustain their bids for power, the would-be emperors drew troops away from the legionary garrisons. In 296 Hadrian's Wall, left undefended by Allectus, was stormed from the north: a foretaste of what would later happen on a larger scale. Around 312 the number of provinces was increased to four: Britannia Prima and Maxima Caesariensis from the old Upper Britain; and Britannia Secunda and Flavia Caesariensis from Lower Britain. London, Cirencester, York and Lincoln were the respective capitals. These political and administrative changes reveal a firm governmental control but also a change to more intensive civilian rule compared to the old military division.
Although some historians characterised Britannia as a 'backward' province, this does not seem to have been the case. The Wall to the north and the coastline long kept it free from the invasions and warfare that plagued and finally wrecked the much greater and richer province of Gaul from the later decades of the third century. Town fortifications seem to have begun in Britannia in the late second century, originally in the form of earthworks. By the late third century, these were being replaced by walls. At this time, too, a new danger to the integrity of the provinces was recognised, with the institution of the forts of the 'Saxon Shore'. Across the southern stretches of the North Sea there were portentous movements of peoples taking place. Frankish and Saxon pirates were raiding at sea and on land. The whole immensely long northern frontier of the empire was slowly crumbling under pressure from the Germanic and Slavonic peoples.
From 350 began the process, ultimately disastrous to Britannia, of imperial usurpers drawing troops away from the provinces to help their own ambitions on the European mainland. This also introduced a form of recurrent civil war, since the victor, like Emperor Constantius II in 353, would severely punish a 'rebellious' province that had, whether under duress or not, supported a usurper. The unrest and resentment brought about by this policy encouraged an alliance of Picts and Scots (the latter still one of the peoples of Ireland) to invade the north. They were forced back by elite units of the Roman army, sent over under the command of Lupicinus, the senior general of the western emperor, Julian. But, when Julian became sole emperor and focused his attention eastwards on Persia, the attacks from north and west resumed with greater intensity. A large-scale invasion took place in 367, with Saxons seemingly acting in conjunction with the Picts and Scots. These were plundering expeditions rather than conquering raids. The British provinces, once so secure, were in great disarray. The barbarian invaders were reaching as far as London, and the imperial forces were too depleted to withstand them. Emperor Wentinian sent the military count, Theodosius, to repeat what had been done by Lupicinus. Landing at Richborough (by this time a major coastal fortress) he secured London and moved rapidly against the roving war-bands. By 369 he had largely restored the order and morale of the provinces. The accounts of his campaign refer to a fifth province. Valentia, probably in the area around Carlisle, a strategic district south of the Wall. Theodosius sought to make a lasting disposition, and his campaign secured a few years of relative peace. Ironically, it was an army revolt that launched a new stage of disorder, when in 383 the army in Britain proclaimed its general, Magnus Maximus, as emperor. Invading Gaul with his army, Magnus defeated the western emperor, Gratian, and ruled until 388 when he was defeated in northern Italy by the eastern emperor, Theodosius the Great, son of the count who had reclaimed Britannia.
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