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What was the time period like?:

The fourth century AD marked the move towards the beginning of the end of Roman occupation of Britain. In 367 AD Hadrian’s Wall was abandoned. In 383 AD, Roman troops were withdrawn from north and western Britain, and in 406 AD the emperor Honorius told cities in Britain to defend themselves against attackers, essentially telling them they were on their own. While there was a lot more unrest and attacks from groups like the Picts and Saxons, the withdrawal of the Romans was very gradual. The change from being formally part of the Roman empire would have been slow, especially since Britain had already been under independent rule at the end of the third century until it was reclaimed by Constantius I, who died at York (Eboracum) in 306 AD.

Until the Romans left, Britain was a province of the Roman empire. A province was an area ruled by a governor or a prefect, who then reported to the emperor. In the fourth century, the system of government changed many times, including several periods where there were joint emperors, one based in the west of the empire and one based in the east.

Because we can’t put specific dates on when the Ivory Bangle Lady lived and died, it’s hard to know whether she would have seen any of the major events that took place during the fourth century. She could have seen Magnentius’ attempted take-over of the imperial throne in 350, which attracted a lot of support from Britain. She might have lived through the abandonment of Hadrian’s Wall in 367 and the raiding that took place that year, as well as the arrival of Theodosius and his army to restore order in 368. She might even have lived through Magnus Maximus’ usurpation (or theft) of the imperial throne in 383, which started when the troops he was commanding in Britain proclaimed him emperor, although he eventually was captured and executed in Italy in 387, so didn’t last long. Whenever she lived, she was likely to have known about a lot of insecurity and conflict, even if it took place away from York.

We can’t say much about what life was like for Black people in this time period, because their experiences were so different. People with African heritage came to Britain particularly because of their links to the Roman army, perhaps as dedicated military units raised in the African provinces, or as descendants of those had settled elsewhere in the empire. We can tell that Black people moved around the Roman empire from the chemicals in their bones and teeth, and we can tell whether they had to do hard physical work or not from their skeletons. Our evidence tells us that you could find Black people at all levels of Roman British society, even if they were only there in very small numbers.