“The English are not descendants of the Romans! Only in your sick fantasies! (why would you want to be a descndant of the Romans??? YUCK!--no offense to those who are.).
When the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain in the 6th century, it was due to a vacuum left by the evacuating Romans centuries earlier. So although Britain in Roman times was a colonial outpost, no Romans remained at the time of the Anglo-Saxon conquest. It was a 100% Replacement event where the Romans left and the Anglo-Saxons came in. There was no mixing of the two. They never saw each other.
Many people get the false impression that the Roman occupation of Britain was continual, and that there remains a Roman base to the ethnicity, culture and language of Britain. This impression is utterly false. It's like saying all Americans are descendants of Native Americans because they were here first. No. European Americans for the most part REPLACED the indigenous peoples. Same with Britain. The only remains of Roman culture in Britain are the baths, roads, and some buildings. That's it.”
Evidently he wants to be descendant of the Romans because he thinks it is prestigious, more prestigious to think being a descendant of AngloSaxon (with no offense to anybody). I can imagine it is like that!
Unfortunately he will be partly disappointed.
First: nobody is directly “descendant” from the Romans because:
1) The “Romans” did not exist as a people. They were not an “ethnic group” as you mean, but in centuries of story became Romans also many Germanic tribes etc. So a “Roman” was a citizen of the Empire and he could be north African till the north of Europe, from today Portugal to Middle-East.
Rome was the first enormous metropolis of the western world, its inhabitants came from all the Empire.
So I do not understand what you mean when you talk about “Romans”.
2) In thousand of years many populations in ALL European countries mixed and overlapped, so how you can say English are only Anglo saxon, it’s fantasy!. Anglo Saxon was a people who contribute to the population of Britain. Then according to your way of thinking English would be more exactly “French Normans” because that was the last great invasion centuries after AngloS which erased all Anglo Saxon contribution, language included.
First: Iberians, them Celts, then Romans, Then Anglo Saxon, then Danish invaders, then Vikings, then French Normans.....Where is the main ethnic and cultural anglo saxon contribution?
I do not want to point out that we are referring ONLY to English as inhabitants of England because Welsh and Scottish are not Anglo-Saxon.
It’s true as you said where Romans evacuated the Germanic tribes invaded Britain causing the total collapse of civilisation and the withdrawal of culture, but the Roman contribution was not lost entirely. Something remained, and from those ruins English re-started their civilisation.
So English are not COMPLETELY Anglo Saxon: only in your sick fantasies! This is a stupid thought based on more stupid “ethnic” reasoning, English like EVERY people on EVERY country of Europe is the result of uncountable superimpositions.
Germanic tribes DID NOT invaded CENTURIES after Roman left the island but few years later, you’d better to brush up your time chronology. Yes, there were no mixing.
Although the heritage Romans left in Britain was pretty big, the comparison with native Americans is totally false, the native American did not influence the new nation, Romans in Britain ONLY built the entire roads web, the most important cities, they founded London (londinium), imported urbanisation and laws. Roman law, by the way, was the base of the today western law. They also left the culture, and some “ethnicity” (a very idiot word to me). So as you can see in some way you ARE a descendant of the Romans, like ALL Europe.
When the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain in the 6th century, it was due to a vacuum left by the evacuating Romans centuries earlier. So although Britain in Roman times was a colonial outpost, no Romans remained at the time of the Anglo-Saxon conquest. It was a 100% Replacement event where the Romans left and the Anglo-Saxons came in. There was no mixing of the two. They never saw each other.
Many people get the false impression that the Roman occupation of Britain was continual, and that there remains a Roman base to the ethnicity, culture and language of Britain. This impression is utterly false. It's like saying all Americans are descendants of Native Americans because they were here first. No. European Americans for the most part REPLACED the indigenous peoples. Same with Britain. The only remains of Roman culture in Britain are the baths, roads, and some buildings. That's it.”
Evidently he wants to be descendant of the Romans because he thinks it is prestigious, more prestigious to think being a descendant of AngloSaxon (with no offense to anybody). I can imagine it is like that!
Unfortunately he will be partly disappointed.
First: nobody is directly “descendant” from the Romans because:
1) The “Romans” did not exist as a people. They were not an “ethnic group” as you mean, but in centuries of story became Romans also many Germanic tribes etc. So a “Roman” was a citizen of the Empire and he could be north African till the north of Europe, from today Portugal to Middle-East.
Rome was the first enormous metropolis of the western world, its inhabitants came from all the Empire.
So I do not understand what you mean when you talk about “Romans”.
2) In thousand of years many populations in ALL European countries mixed and overlapped, so how you can say English are only Anglo saxon, it’s fantasy!. Anglo Saxon was a people who contribute to the population of Britain. Then according to your way of thinking English would be more exactly “French Normans” because that was the last great invasion centuries after AngloS which erased all Anglo Saxon contribution, language included.
First: Iberians, them Celts, then Romans, Then Anglo Saxon, then Danish invaders, then Vikings, then French Normans.....Where is the main ethnic and cultural anglo saxon contribution?
I do not want to point out that we are referring ONLY to English as inhabitants of England because Welsh and Scottish are not Anglo-Saxon.
It’s true as you said where Romans evacuated the Germanic tribes invaded Britain causing the total collapse of civilisation and the withdrawal of culture, but the Roman contribution was not lost entirely. Something remained, and from those ruins English re-started their civilisation.
So English are not COMPLETELY Anglo Saxon: only in your sick fantasies! This is a stupid thought based on more stupid “ethnic” reasoning, English like EVERY people on EVERY country of Europe is the result of uncountable superimpositions.
Germanic tribes DID NOT invaded CENTURIES after Roman left the island but few years later, you’d better to brush up your time chronology. Yes, there were no mixing.
Although the heritage Romans left in Britain was pretty big, the comparison with native Americans is totally false, the native American did not influence the new nation, Romans in Britain ONLY built the entire roads web, the most important cities, they founded London (londinium), imported urbanisation and laws. Roman law, by the way, was the base of the today western law. They also left the culture, and some “ethnicity” (a very idiot word to me). So as you can see in some way you ARE a descendant of the Romans, like ALL Europe.