Fractured Britannia: The Twilight of Roman Britain

Richard Henry studies the final centuries of Roman Britain through two categories of material evidence closely connected with identity: dress accessories and coinage. Using large datasets, he traces regional differences in the persistence, adaptation and abandonment of Roman styles as imperial structures weakened and new post-Roman political communities began to emerge.

A crossbow brooch or decorated belt fitting could signal rank, yet such objects were not worn only by soldiers. Civil administrators and local elites also adopted military-looking dress, making it difficult to divide people neatly into Roman officials and everyone else. Henry compares brooches, belts, spurs and coins across Britain: in some regions Roman styles persisted into the fifth century, while in others they faded much earlier. The changes were uneven, and the small objects left behind make that unevenness visible.