Piracy in Late Roman Britain: a Perspective from the Viking Age

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper is concerned with the nature of the contacts between late Roman Britain and the seafaring peoples of the continental North Sea coast. Evidence for Germanic piracy during this period is extremely slight, with the consequence that notions about its character are poorly defined. However, this paper argues that there is a basic similarity between these barbarian attacks and those of the late eighth- and early ninth-century Vikings against England, Ireland and northern France. The Vikings are much better evidenced, both in terms of written sources and the archaeological record: this makes it possible to offer a model for the nature, scale and consequences of Germanic piracy in late Roman Britain.