ABSTRACT

THIS BOOK BRINGS TOGETHER THE evidence from the literary, numismatic and archaeological spheres of a relatively little known yet extraordinary episode in the history of Roman Britain. For a decade the island achieved an independence which threatened the stability of the empire, brought the constitutional and administrative reforms of Diocletian into question and almost certainly delayed their full implementation. On two occasions, during these ten years, coastal areas of Gaul formed part of the separatist dominion. The urgent need to bring the revolt in Britain to an end led to the creation of a second tier of imperial rulers, designated heirs to the joint emperors. In the West Constantius Chlorus was promoted specifically to suppress the revolt. In the East Galerius was selected to deal with the encroaching threat of Persia. Constantius’s success was instrumental in opening the road to power for his son Constantine, who used the province recovered by his father as the base for his own bid for imperial recognition. It was the battle-hardened army of the father which threw its support behind the son who, it can be argued, through the adoption of Christianity as the state religion shaped the world in which we still live.