Riotamo and the emperor Procopius Antemius: Britain's relations with Rome at the end of the western empire
Abstract
This work deals with a historical episode that has gone almost unnoticed in recent publications, perhaps submerged by the many other traumatic processes that shaped the end of Roman Gaul. But in our opinion it is an event of essential importance, both for the fi gure of the emperor Anthemius and the studies on Sub Roman Britain. Around AD 469 an expeditionary force formed by Britons landed in the continent (possibly in Armorica) in alliance with Rome, after being called by the emperor, to confront the Visigoths led by king Euric. Although the plan failed and Euric could defeat the Britons single hand before Anthemius or other Roman generals managed to join forces with them, the episode is highly signifi cant. Riothamus, the leader of the expedition, has been linked both to the Arthurian legend and to the character of Ambrosius Aurelianus, the fi rst hero of the Briton resistance against the Saxons. This late alliance, in a desperate situation and close to the collapse of the Empire in the West, opens new and suggestive research lines. Up to four diff erent literary sources relate the event.Downloads
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