The Count of the Saxon Shore for Britain (Latin: comes littoris Saxonici per Britanniam) was the head of the Saxon Shore military command of the later Roman Empire.
The post was possibly created during the reign of Constantine I, and was probably in existence by AD 367 when Nectaridus is elliptically referred to as such a leader by Ammianus Marcellinus. The Count's remit covered the southern and eastern coasts of Roman Britain during a period of increasing maritime raids from barbarian tribes outside the empire. The Count was one of three commands covering Britain at the time, along with the northern Dux Britanniarum and central Comes Britanniarum.
Originally, the command may have covered both sides of the English Channel as well as Britain's western coast, as Carausius's position had, but by the end of the 4th century the role had been diminished and Gaul had its own dux tractus Armoricani and dux Belgicae Secundae.
In 367, a series of invasions from Picts, Franks, Saxons, Scots and Attacotti appears to have defeated the army of Britain and resulted in the death of Nectaridus.[1] Under Count Theodosius's reforms, the command was reorganised slightly. Although Ammianus speaks of a 'conspiracy of the savages,' he states that the Saxons and Francs attacked the Gallic (French) regions, while in Britain, the savages in question were only Picts, Scots and Attacotti.[2]Eutropius had already spoken of the channel being cleared by Carausius, since the Armorican and Belgian coasts had been 'infested' with Francs and Saxons.[3]
The 5th-century Notitia Dignitatum lists the names of the Saxon Shore forts,[4] from Norfolk to Hampshire that were under the Count's command.[1] Further stations up the North Sea coast were probably also his responsibility. Forces he controlled were classified as limitanei, or frontier troops. In 401 many of his soldiers appear to have been withdrawn for the defence of Italy, rendering Britain much more vulnerable to attack. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, the eighth fort 'Anderida' was stormed by Saxons in 491, and the British garrison and inhabitants exterminated.[5]
Valentinian I, sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor along with his brother Valens from 364 to 375. During his reign, he fought successfully against the Alamanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians, strengthening the border fortifications and conducting campaigns across the Rhine and Danube. His general Theodosius defeated a revolt in Africa and the Great Conspiracy, a coordinated assault on Roman Britain by Picts, Scoti, and Saxons. Valentinian founded the Valentinianic dynasty, with his sons Gratian and Valentinian II succeeding him in the western half of the empire.
Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius was a military commander of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. He was a Menapian from Belgic Gaul, who usurped power in 286, during the Carausian Revolt, declaring himself emperor in Britain and northern Gaul. He did this only 13 years after the Gallic Empire of the Batavian Postumus was ended in 273. He held power for seven years, fashioning the name "Emperor of the North" for himself, before being assassinated by his finance minister Allectus.
Līmes is a modern term used primarily for the Germanic border defence or delimiting system of Ancient Rome marking the borders of the Roman Empire, but it was not used by the Romans for that purpose. The term has been extended to refer to the frontier defences in other parts of the empire, such as in the east and in Africa.
Flavius Theodosius, also known as Count Theodosius or Theodosius the Elder, was a senior military officer serving Valentinian I and the western Roman empire during Late Antiquity. Under his command the Roman army defeated numerous threats, incursions, and usurpations. Theodosius was patriarch of the imperial Theodosian dynasty and father of the emperor Theodosius the Great.
The Attacotti were a people who despoiled Roman Britain between 364 and 368, along with the Scoti, Picts, Saxons, Roman military deserters and the indigenous Britons themselves. The marauders were defeated by Count Theodosius in 368. Their origin and the location and the extent of their territory are uncertain. Theories say they were Picts, Scoti, a Germanic tribe, Britons, or pagans from Wales.
Valentia was probably one of the Roman provinces of the Diocese of "the Britains" in late Antiquity. Its position, capital, and even existence remain a matter of scholarly debate. It was not mentioned in the Verona List compiled around AD 312 and so was probably formed out of one or more of the other provinces established during the Diocletian Reforms. Some scholars propose Valentia was a new name for the entire diocese, but the List of Offices names it as a consular-rank province along with Maxima Caesariensis and the other equestrian-ranked provinces. Present hypotheses for the placement of Valentia include Wales, with its capital at Deva (Chester); Cumbria south of Hadrian's Wall, with its capital at Luguvalium (Carlisle), Modern scholars dismiss the old idea that it was the lands between the Antonine Wall and Hadrian's Wall, possibly with a capital at Habitancum (Risingham), because of the dearth of Roman finds in that area.
Dux Britanniarum was a military post in Roman Britain, probably created by Emperor Diocletian or Constantine I during the late third or early fourth century. The Dux (literally, " leader" was a senior officer in the late Roman army of the West in Britain. It is listed in the Notitia Dignitatum as being one of the three commands in Britain, along with the Comes Britanniarum and Count of the Saxon Shore.
The Comes Britanniarum was a military post in Roman Britain with command over the mobile field army from the mid-4th century onwards. It is listed in the List of Offices as being one of the three commands in Britain, along with the Dux Britanniarum and the Comes litoris Saxonici. His troops were the main field army (comitatenses) in Britain and not the frontier guards (limitanei) commanded by the other two.
The Great Conspiracy was a year-long state of war and disorder that occurred near the end of Roman Britain. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described it as a barbarica conspiratio, which capitalised on a depleted military force in the province that had been brought about by Magnentius' losses at the Battle of Mursa Major in Pannonia after his unsuccessful bid to become emperor.
Comes, plural comites, was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count".
Legio II Armeniaca was a legion of the late Roman Empire. This legion may have been garrisoned in the Roman province of Armenia, but later, together with its twin, I Armeniaca, it was moved into the field army as a pseudocomitatensis legion. The legion is reported to have built a camp in Satala. According to Ammianus Marcellinus, in 360 AD. II Armeniaca was stationed in Bezabde with II Flavia Virtutis and II Parthica. When Shapur II besieged and conquered the city, killing many of the inhabitants. The II Armeniaca however, survived, since it is cited in the Notitia Dignitatum as being under the command of the Dux Mesopotamiae.
Dulcitius may refer to either of two ancient Roman officials active in the fourth century AD.
Anderitum was a Saxon Shore fort in the Roman province of Britannia. The ruins adjoin the west end of the village of Pevensey in East Sussex, England. The fort was built in the 290s and was abandoned after it was sacked in 471. It was re-inhabited by Saxons and in the 11th century the Normans built a castle within the east end of the fort.
The Saxon Shore was a military command of the late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the "Count of the Saxon Shore". In the late 4th century, his functions were limited to Britain, while the fortifications in Gaul were established as separate commands. Several Saxon Shore forts survive in east and south-east England.
Portus Lemanis, also known as Lemanae, was the Latin name of a Roman Saxon Shore fort, settlement and port in southern Kent. The modern village of Lympne derives its name from the ancient port.
The Heruli was an auxilia palatina unit of the Late Roman army, active between the 4th and the 5th century. It was composed of 500 soldiers and was the heir of those ethnic groups that were initially used as auxiliary units of the Roman army and later integrated in the Roman Empire after the Constitutio Antoniniana. Their name was derived from the people of the Heruli. In the sources they are usually recorded together with the Batavi, and it is probable the two units fought together. At the beginning of the 5th century two related units are attested, the Heruli seniores in the West and the Heruli iuniores in the East.
The Primani was a legio palatina of the Late Roman army, active in the 4th and 5th century.
The Dux Belgicae secundae was a senior officer in the army of the Late Roman Empire who was the commander of the limitanei and of a naval squadron on the so-called Saxon Shore in Gaul.
The frontier of the Roman Empire in Britain is sometimes styled Limes Britannicus by authors for the boundaries, including fortifications and defensive ramparts, that were built to protect Roman Britain. These defences existed from the 1st to the 5th centuries AD and ran through the territory of present-day England, Scotland and Wales.
Legio I Flavia Constantia was a Roman legion, mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum as a comitatenses unit stationed in the Eastern Empire.
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