ABSTRACT
The collapse of the Roman province of Britannia liberated the native British peoples to build their own nations and created a vortex which drew Germanic migrants from across the English Channel and promoted stronger contacts with Gaels from across the Irish Sea. Although the social and political consequences of the collapse of imperial power were most conspicuous in southern and eastern Britain, where Roman culture was entrenched, the changes of the age were visible throughout the British Isles.
