Ten Minute English and British History #02 - Late Roman Britain

This episode covers Britannia during the late Roman Empire from the reigns of Septimius Severus through the Third Century Crisis all the way to the end of Roman Britain. It focuses on Britannia's role as just another constituent part of the Empire and how it affected Roman politics such as the appointment of Constantine the Great there.

Recommended books:

P. Salway - Roman Britain: A Very Short Introduction (2015) - A very cheap and accessible book, Salway has many other general narratives of Roman Britain as well.;

O. Hekster - Rome and its Empire, AD 193-284 (2008);

R. Collins - Early Medieval Europe, 300-1000 (2010) - Genuinely a phenomenal book for greater European context of the period.

Ten Minute English and British History is a series of short, ten minute animated narrative documentaries that are designed as revision refreshers or simple introductions to a topic. Please note that these are not meant to be comprehensive and there's a lot of stuff I couldn't fit into the episodes that I would have liked to. Thank you for watching, though, it's always appreciated.

[danidejaneiro]

I love the attention to detail making sure the Scottish sky is a realistic grey.

[wellthatwasdaft]

The dry sense of humour in these is fantastic.

[Aviationlord]

You get to be emperor, you get to be emperor and you get to be emperor! Everyone gets to be emperor!!

[DylanDude]

_"Why just have economic collapse when you could have revolt too?"_ Said the French.

[jeffanderson]

I now believe that people who died in previous centuries simply went from completely fine one moment to falling over in one motion the next.

[michaelmilburn]

I love the dying sound effect, that deep thud

[NikkiMKarLen]

"Because why only have economic collapse when you can have revolt, too."

[RyanFilmMaker]

as someone who was disappointed in the lack of detail in my history classes you are a god send. thank you

[zachlinn]

"So how many times have you fallen apart and reconquered yourself?"

"Yes"

[shooter]

3:15 Here we see the Rome player trying changing the government from Bureaucracy to Urban Feudalism with that -25% levy for the +50% agricultural income.

[jeevanbhogal]

3:53 loving that Cambridge Latin reference there :D

[oduffy]

A small important detail is that by the end of Roman Britain, the legions guarding it were mostly barbarians. Meaning they were the local tribes trained, equipped and paid for by Rome. Which meant that when Mganus Maximus pulled out the British legions, it wasn't just the soldiers but entire tribes that left: men, women, old people, children and livestock. This caused a depopulation of Britain, but an increase in the population of the province of Amorica. This can be seen in the written records and oral history of Brittany, and is how the Breton people and culture came to exist on the continent of Europe. Even today there are Upper and Lower Cornwall in Brittany; or the stories of King Arthur existing in Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany.

[michaelmilburn]

This is really top quality, well put together and straight to the point. Absolutely no fluff. The screens with more text are good because I can pause the video and read it in my own time. Keep up the good work

[AJMerrick]

1:12 found himself somewhat murdered 😂😂

[mihailzador]

Bigger army diplomacy - is the only real diplomacy.

[RonPaulo]

“The Crisis of the Third Century was ended by a man called Diocletian”

Emperor Aurelian: Am I a joke to you?

[ibbi]

Thanks for the overview of Roman Britain :). That is an era and area I was not very familiar with. Most of the time its described something like "Romans arrive, Romans leave, Angles, Saxons and Jutes arrive".

[sol]

"I have an opinion"
"Veto"
"Why?"
*"I have an army."*

[WowUrFcknHxC]

OMG. I love your little Latin signs. They are hilarious. "Romani sumus" "non litteratus sum" 🤣🤣🤣

[takarifan]

I wish I learned more about European history in my classroom. What I learned alot about is the Islamic empires (Caliphates and Ottomans) and the rest of it is my country's brief local history and colonization.

Speaking of local history, could you cover the early Indus Valley civilization towards ancient and medieval Hindu empires and early Hindu Buddhist empires in South East Asia? That would be great for westerners to learn much of my people as I do learn yours.