AS Conquest

[Ray Hendon]

Thanks for your excellent comments.  It occurs to me now, after reading the
more recent comments about the fate of the Celts after the AS invasion, that
one thing we know was that many Celts were taken as prisoners after losing a
battle.  We also know that many of them were subsequently sold on the slave
market that enimated from Rome.

But, did the AS folk sell off a significant number of Celts as slaves?  By
exporting their booty of slaves to Rome and other large slave markets on the
continent, they could convert their invasion gains directly into gold.  This
fact would certainly have great appeal to the invaders, as gold currency was
now available to them but had not been available in any quantity in their
homeland.  Certainly this potential bonus of adventuring would make the
journey from the Germanic lands to England more appealing to those thinking
about migrating. If the incursion was successful, the members of the
invading party would not only end up with choice farmland, already
developed, but a chestful of cash from any slaves he could round up.

For economic reasons, then, I can see that there would be a great incentive
to lure potential invaders and increase the capturing and selling native
Celts.  And with the demand for slaves being robust, even after Rome fell,
the price would be high.  I just wonder if a significant number of Celts
left the British Isles in this manner and might be responsible for a large
part of the Celtic depopulation that ensued the AS invasion.

Ray Hendon
San Antonio, TX