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The Romano-British.

Although official Roman rule had ceased to be, most of the country still regarded itself as part of the Roman Empire and many of the Roman customs and warfare methods survived into this period. This was quite fortunate as it gave the Roamno-British a chance as they were under assault from many sides.
Military.
Infantry.
The infantry were now a shadow of the mighty Legions of Rome former power. This lack of discipline and co-ordination lead to the subsequent hiring of Saxon mercenaries, which was the catalyst for much of the periods military problms. The manning of static defences and shield walls was the most common deployment of the infantry of this period.
Cavalry.
By far the best troops the Romans fielded in their dying days were the cavalry. Though they had often been thought of as inferior and useful only for skirmishing, they were starting to be deployed in more frontline operations, probably helped by the fact that most of them were auxiliaries. Is is thought that the historical Arthur indeed existed and that he lead a fast moving force of cavalry, which would help to explain the closeness in time of battles great distances apart.
The Roman Cavalryman.
The cavalryman of this period rode perhaps an arab horse, the native horses to this island were more like ponies (similar to New Forest ponies) with the white horses much loved by the Britons. He was trained to charge with the spear although it was usually used overarm - the couched lance came later with the Normans, with a sword as his secondary weapon. The gladius of the earlier empire was far too short and was useless for this new form of warfare - one had to lean out of position in order to strike at people on foot, so the Romans did what they done best, adapted a Barbarian idea, and created a longer weapon known as a Spatha. This was a longsword but unlike the better known Norman variety had a short guard reminescent of the earlier gladius. Later on, as supplies from Roman manufacturers became more scarce, the Saxon broadswords would be much prized by the Britons and the Britons used what they could.
The armour was normally chain or lamellar armour, the segmentata was too restrictive and scale was not a good choice as it is vulnerable to upward thrusts, which is the main threat for a cavalryman. The Romano-Sassanian cavalry helm was developed for the cavalry from the earlier parade helms. It has been found all over the empire, from Berkaso (Yugoslavia) to Burgh Castle (Norfolk).
The infantry.
Although the military was in much decline, the standard British foot soldier would have looked quite Roman. Many of them would have served in one of the later legions or auxilia, a lot of the non-Roman troops stayed behind when the Romans pulled out of Britain, or perhaps their fathers and grandfathers did. They would have been dressed in the late Roman style with the tunic likely to have applique on it. The troops themselves could be genrally split into two types, those who were armoured and those who were not. Body armour was generally scarce among the less populated areas of the country, but the some may have been lucky enough to possess suits of lamellar, scale, chainmail or occasionally leather armour. The armoured infantry generally fought in ranks carrying large shields but were otherwise equipped much like their Saxon counterparts, possibly using a scramaseax or semispatha as their secondary weapon. Whatever type of troop they were, the main weapon of the time was the spear, with an oval or round shield as the main body defence. Away from the more Romanised areas of the country, mainly the South and East, the Roman influence was there, but less apparent from the those more affluent parts of Britan. The hill tribe types were generally more of a militia, suited for more light infantry and skirmishing roles. The more native Celtic style of dress is more the norm here, with bright colors and patterns readily evident. These light Infantry generally carried small shields, and fought as skirmishers with javelins, bows or slings, but spears were still very common although the sword a lot less so. Archery seems to have been as important in Britan as elsewhere in the Empire. The late Roman bow was descended from the Scythian type, being of composite construction, about hip high and double curved with bone ears, this type of bow does seem to have been replaced as the ability to make it died out with the more common flat bow and early longbow.
Standards.
The Dragon standard or Draconarius was adopted by the Roman army after the annexation of Dacia and continued to be used in a variety of forms until the late dark age/medieval era when it replaced with pennant, flags and heraldry. A gaping Dragon mouth in fabric or sometimes cast in metal is followed by a windsock body, altough sometimes other animals or figures were used. Alternatively, the Britons would have used a more imperial style standard.

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Last edited; 08/11/98 14:02:37