Talk:Roman Britain

Does "The governor... was forced to abandon the city -- and anyone who could retreat with him" mean that the governor abandoned some citzens as well? If so, this sentence is somewhat ambiguous, as it also sounds like a confusing incomplete sentence like:

1. The governor was forced to abandon the city
2. And anyone who could retreat with him...[did so and went back to Rome] or [did not do so and stayed in Britain].

Wouldn't a hypothetical sentence be more clear here? "forced to abandon the city -- and anyone who could have retreated with him"?

--Menchi 14:46 15 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Menchi, the governor saw that London was indefensible with the few troops he arrived with, & more troops were two weeks away. I don't know Tacitus' exact words -- although this event is retold in practically every history of Roman Britain I have read -- but the governor said in effect to the populace, "We're leaving. Everyone is more than welcome to leave with us, but if you can't come, or you can't keep up, you are at the mercy of the rebels." Then he broke camp & began to march away.

If you can figure out a better way to express that in the article, please do. While I wrote the original article, it is but a skeleton I fully expect others to add flesh & clothing to. -- llywrch 23:23 15 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Thanks, the background helps. I've paraphrased the sentence by breaking it down into two sentences. But the phrase "leaving some behind" could use your expertise to be more precise:

1. Do you know if it a lot of commoners were left behind? (A # would be nice, but a qualification (some, most, few) in its place is fine too.)
2. And are the majority of the abandoned citizens Roman citzens?

--Menchi 23:34 15 Jun 2003 (UTC)

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Citizenship and inequality

As I wrote about the citizen questions above, I thought of another important topic for the article.

1. Were many native Briton commoners made citizens of the Empire?
2. If so, how were their status inequal to those of Roman citizens?
3. How about the status of those (partially) Romanized Anglo-Saxon royalties?
4. Approximately how many Romans immigrated to Britain during this time?

--Menchi 23:41 15 Jun 2003 (UTC)