Where did the Romans go after they left England?

Answer 1

From what I know of British history, and from peoples ancestries, DNA and what have you, several Romans stayed in England or went to Cornwall. They would stick around and or remain settled in the future years of England. It might also be important to note that around seven percent of males in Perthshire Scotland have J2 Y DNA, possibly because a Roman settlement was located near Hadrians wall back in those old times. So when one sees J2 y ancestry in England or Scotland, I suppose there is always that question of whether they are of ancient roman or medieval French descent? But either way, although many Romans might have left to France or Rome, at least several Roman families stayed in Britain and ultimately helped to make Britain the historically cultural diverse place that it has been for many years. I hope my info has helped. Good luck, God bless

Answer 2

It seems that most of the Romans who left Britannia in 383 settled in Armorica (Brittany, in north-western France). It is not known where the Romans who left Britannia after that went. The decrease in the Roman presence in Britannia was due to a number of redeployments of the Roman troops in Britannia.

In 383 Magnus Maximus was proclaimed emperor by his troops in Britannia because the emperor of the west, Gratian, had become unpopular. Maximus took a large number of troops in Britannia to Gaul, where he defeated Gratian. Theodosius I, the emperor of the east, sent troops to the west to confront him. A peace compromise was struck and Maximus was recognised as emperor of the west. However, war broke out again and Magnus Maximus was defeated in 388 by the forces of Theodosius I who became sole emperor of the whole empire.

An ancient source claimed that Maximus took all the Roman troops and the senior administrators with him, leaving authority in the hand of local rulers. It was also said that he settled troops from Britannia in Brittany (north-western France). This seems to fit with Breton traditional accounts of their early history and there is some historical evidence for this.

Some historians see the actions of Maximus as marking the end of direct imperial presence in northern Gaul and Britain and it was previously seen as the end of Roman presence in Britannia. However, archaeological evidence shows that this was not the end of the Romans in Britain. It seems that Roman presence in the north and west of Britain ended. Welsh tradition also gives Maximus as the point of the beginning of early medieval Welsh dynasties. However, Hadrian's was still manned.

In 401/2 Stilicho, the chief commander of the Roman army in the west, redeployed the soldiers along Hadrian's Wall to Italy, which was being attacked by the Visigoths and Ostrogoths.

At the time of the invasion of Gaul by Germanic a person (the Vandals, Sueves and Alans) in 406, Roman Britannia was in rebellion. In 407 the remaining troops in Britannia proclaimed Constantine III emperor. He crossed into Gaul, where he had some support, to set himself up as a usurper emperor. He probably took the remaining troops in Britannia with him. Eventually, Constantine II had to surrender and was captured and executed in 411.

Meanwhile, Britannia suffered severe raids by the Saxon in 408 or 409. In 409 or 410 the Britons expelled the Roman administrators in Britannia. The ancient historian Zosimus blamed this on Constantine III, saying that he had left the Britons in a desperate situation. However, he might have been referred to a rebellion in Brittany. In fact, he said that after the revolt Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the examples of the Britons. A letter by the emperor Honorius which was traditionally seen as a rejection of an appeal for help by the Britons may actually have been addressed to other peoples.