Northern Britain and the Fall of the Roman Empire

This article examines Roman-barbarian relations in the north of Britain in the context of cultural interactions on the other imperial frontiers. On the basis of the less confrontational model of Romano-barbarian interaction that this suggests, a rethinking of northern British politics is put forward. The withdrawal of effective Roman presence from the northern frontier (suggested in the later fourth century) caused political crises in the region between the walls and a break-up of the earlier Pictish confederacy. Change around 600 led, in turn, to the submerging of the British polities that had dominated the region since 400 by new powers, the English and the Scots, whose kingdoms’ foundation might belong to this period. Internal Pictish strife might explain why the Picts do not seem to be a very active player in the early seventh-century politics that are visible to us.