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Originally Posted by Lalwendė
I'm not sure its the Romans. Tolkien says "occupying lands that once had been part of its domain", which would suggest a culture that had retreated and might suggest Britain after the Romans had left. But he also says "living in contact with", which would not suggest The Romans. Not only had they left by that time, but the Anglo-Saxons pointedly avoided anything which remained of the Romans; they were deeply superstitious of what remained and would simply not contemplate living in the old villas (as the Britons were quite happy to do. Anglo-Saxon culture seemed to wholly deny that the Romans had even existed. So I don't think it was the Romans.
But it could have been the Romano-British. The Saxons took over land that had belonged to these people, pushing them back to the edges - 'lands that had once been its domain' and they lived 'in contact with' them by marrying their women (the Anglo-Saxons forbade British men from marrying during the early days at least).
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The 'Romans' didn't leave Britain, in fact. The LEGIONS were recalled. Romano-Brits had been declared Roman citizens in 212 by Caracalla (along with all other free men & their households throughout the Empire). So by 410, when Constantine II marched out to try to become Emperor, the civilians running the show were all Romans.
The Angles, Jutes & Saxons have been shown archeologically to have lived side by side with the Britons for a long time (at least a century) with only fitful raiding on both sides. The Britons were busy fighting each other for the High Kingship (or whatever) & trying to reestablish the glory of Empire, while the Germanic tribes were basically farmers.
I am very sure Tolkien stated he wanted to have an idealized form of Anglo-Saxons, complete with horses, etc - I'm probably remembering Shippey but I don't have the book here with me.
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