And when, in the year 410, Alaric the Goth sacked Rome and the last two legions departed to prop up the tottering empire, that chill developed into an acute anxiety attack. This was one of the genuinely fateful moments in British history, the legions departed. No, it was not like Hong Kong in 1997, no, there were no flags flying or pipers piping. The Governor was not driving around his courtyard seven times pledging to return. Now, doubtless, many of the Romano-British did hope and expect to see the eagles back someday. The tax collectors, and the magistrates, and the town councillors, and the poets, and the potters, and the musicians and the newly-Christian priests all said to themselves, "Well, this couldn't go on forever. We couldn't always look to Mother Rome and Mother Rome is half-infested with barbarians anyway. We can handle this. We've got the Saxon shore forts. We can hire barbarians to deal with the other barbarians. We can handle this. We can handle this.


公元410年，哥特人阿拉里克（西哥特国王）洗劫了罗马。最后两个驻守的罗马军团，也撤回保卫摇摇欲坠的帝国。惶恐不断升级，城内风声鹤唳。这是不列颠史上真正决定性的时刻，罗马军团退散，这并非1997年的香港回归，没有更迭的国旗，亦无奏乐声飘扬，也无总督开车巡视七次宣誓撤出殖民。无疑，很多罗马-不列颠人期许着罗马有朝一日东山再起。税务官，地方法官，议员，诗人，陶艺家，音乐家以及新兴的基督教牧师，都自我安慰道，这种局面会结束的。我们不能总求助于母国罗马，更何况她正深陷与蛮族鏖战的泥沼中。我们可以自救，我们有撒克逊沿岸堡垒，我们能雇佣蛮族来对付蛮族的入侵。我们可以自救。肯定可以自救。