A Dark Age Chronology

Books & Boots

Inspired by Robert Ferguson’s brilliant book, The Hammer and The Cross, I collated key dates from the so-called Dark Ages (let’s say from the departure of the Romans from Britain in 410 to the Norman Conquest of 1066). Why? Why not?

An at-a-glance summary of the period would be:

• 400 Romans leave England – Angles and Saxons invade Christian Britain
• 500 Anglo-Saxon kingdoms exist all across Britain, the Heptarchy
• 600 St Augustine comes as missionary to the pagan Anglo-Saxons
• 800 Vikings attack Lindisfarne, going on to colonise east and north England: a century of battles
• 900 Alfred the Great and successors unify the Anglo-Saxons against the Danes, creating ‘England’
• 1000 Aethelred the Unready fails to deal with repeated Viking attacks

5th century

410 Traditional date for the Romans quitting Britain. In fact it was a gradual process: 407 the army elects Constantine III emperor and he takes a…

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Histories by Tacitus

Books & Boots

Biography

Publius Cornelius Tacitus, generally referred to simply as Tacitus, was a Roman statesman and historian. He lived from 56 to 120 AD. Like many Roman writers he had an eminent career in politics and public service. He started his career under the emperor Vespasian (ruled 69 to 79) and entered political life as a quaestor in 81 or 82 under Titus (ruled 79 to 81). He became praetor under Domitian (ruled 81 to 96) in 88 and then a quindecimvir, a member of the priestly college in charge of the Sibylline Books and the Secular Games.

Tacitus gained acclaim as a lawyer and as an orator, then served in the provinces from about 89 to about 93, either in command of a legion or in a civilian post. He became suffect consul (someone appointed to replace an elected consul who had vacated their office before the completion of their year-long…

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