The Votadini exodus to Wales

[dux bellum]

I'm not exactly sure either how the topic switched from the Votadinni either, but what de herr...

As for the draco standard, it just seems like a well-chosen symbol of authority. It's the universal being of power, wrath, and even divinity. It can a be benevolent guardian, or it can be the bane of every living thing in its wake. It's no wonder the Romans and Britons adopted it from wherever the dragon originated (though the draco standard definitely came from the Sarmatians), and that's why it was probably flying over Harold Godwinson's head at Hastings.


I do agree that Vortigern was not a supreme king, and perhaps he held sway over a majority of the Romano British cities. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the kings of Baddan (Bath), Ceri (Cirenchester), and Gloui (Gloucester) died at Dyrham, suggesting perhaps that most of the British kingdoms (at least those most affected by the Saxon Advent) had deteriorated into poleis, with kings or warlords ruling the countryside from a single city or hillfort.