Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Alanus]

Because with the disintegration of the villa culture--the Roman equivalent of big-acreage land barons--Britain no longer produced enough grain to export. That is hardly the same as starving, but it indicates a slide away from agricultural plenty, which--along with a highly-structured society--is necessary to support large, well-equipped militaries.

One way to look at it is-- "when" are we talking about? :?
When did the post-Roman cavalry exist, if it did exist? All indicators point to a period earlier than previously thought, in the era of Gildas and even before him. This would lead to a plausible Roman military connection (except for Littleton & Malcor's unlucky Iazyges :roll: ). Then when we proceed into the next centuries-- the sixth and seventh-- we find a gradual deterioration of the economy. Certainly in the lifetimes of Illtyd, Dubricus, and Cadoc, we have a healthy and magnanimous villa economy. Then things go to Hell.

Within this early period, we are looking at Celts who believed they were Romans and who considered themselves "good Christians" on some level. This appears in Gildas as "cultural shock," as those nasty, and specifically PAGAN, Saxons and Jutes took over the eastern lands. In this early post-Roman society, it is certainly easy to find a continuing Roman perspective. Such an outlook would have re-created a Roman-styled cavalry... even though it might not have been neccessarily large. What would be needed to stop a half dozen raiding keels from pillaging the local (increasingly southwestern) populace? Two hundred horsemen? Three hundred? hock: Hmmm. That sounds like a familiar number. :wink: