. Mediæval and modern history . complete nature of the conquestand from the loose feudal constitution of the Lombard monarchy,which was rather a group of virtually independent duchies thana real kingdom. Notuntil our own daydid there finallyemerge from thispolitical chaos aunited Italy/ 13. The Anglo-Saxon Conquestof Britain. In thefifth century of ourera, being then en-gaged in her deathstruggle with thebarbarians, Romewithdrew her legionsfrom Britain inorder to protectItaly. Thus thatprovince was leftexposed especiallyto the depredationsof the Anglo-Saxoncorsairs from the Continent. In their
. Mediæval and modern history . complete nature of the conquestand from the loose feudal constitution of the Lombard monarchy,which was rather a group of virtually independent duchies thana real kingdom. Notuntil our own daydid there finallyemerge from thispolitical chaos aunited Italy/ 13. The Anglo-Saxon Conquestof Britain. In thefifth century of ourera, being then en-gaged in her deathstruggle with thebarbarians, Romewithdrew her legionsfrom Britain inorder to protectItaly. Thus thatprovince was leftexposed especiallyto the depredationsof the Anglo-Saxoncorsairs from the Continent. In their extremity the provincialsare said to have appealed for aid to the Roman governor of Gaul,picturing, in a supplication known as The Groans of theBritains, their condition in these terms: ^The barbarians driveus into the sea; the sea throws us back upon the swords of thebarbarians; and we have only the hard choice of perishing bythe sword or by the waves. The appeal, if ever made, was 1 See accompanying map and explanatory Map of Italy uxder the Lombards Showing how the political unity of the peninsula was shat-tered by the Lombard conquest. The unshaded portionsrepresent the regions taken possession of by the barbarians;the shaded areas indicate the lands which remained in thehands of the Eastern Emperor 12 THE BARBARIAN KINGDOMS [§14 unavailing, for the Roman legions were just then battUng with theterrible hordes of Alaric and Attila, and could extend no help. Left to themselves the Britons made heroic resistance againstthe invaders. So bitter was the struggle that the provincialswere either exterminated, reduced to serfdom, or driven bodilywestward. Almost every trace of Roman civilization, togetherwith the Christian religion, which had been introduced during theRoman rule, was virtually swept away. It is to this period ofdesperate struggle that the famous King Arthur belongs. Thelegends that have gathered about the name of this national heroare mostly mythical; yet
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