ABSTRACT
For a long time it was taken as axiomatic that Roman Britain came to an end in AD 410; for those requiring precise dates, it appeared to suffice. It is now understood that the evidence upon which this was based-a reference in the late historian, Zosimus-had been incorrectly interpreted; the rescript of the emperor Honorius, giving instructions for the institution of local measures for self-defence, was addressed not to the Britons, but to the Bruttii of southern Italy. As a result, we not only lose a date but are provided with an opportunity to view the decline of direct Roman influence in Britain not as an event, but as a process, extending over a considerable period. Although the nature of archaeological evidence for the later fourth and fifth centuries does not always facilitate precise interpretations, it does allow us to glimpse important cultural transformations which were occurring during this period and which represent the reality of the ‘end of Roman Britain’.
