The Secret History of King Arthur and Robin Hood.

Most historians place the Arthurian period in the fifth century AD, and so this is where I began my historical journey to find the 'real Arthur'. In about 402 AD, Stilicho, the Vandal Regent of Rome, needed the remainder of his troops back in Rome to defend the homeland against the invading Goths. This left Britain militarily vulnerable and weak, and by 410 the Anglo-Saxons were mounting a terrible invasion that set the countryside alight. But why did the Saxons delay their invasion? The answer lies within the extremely clever way the Romans had previously cleared the country of what they called 'barbarians' - i.e. those people who would have either utilized inside intelligence to assist any invading force or who would have undermined the existing rule. 'Britain was near to death until Stilicho arrived, and that with the Saxons defeated, the seas were safer and the Picts were broken, thereby making Britain secure.' So wrote the early Christian poet and historian, Claudian, in 399 AD. Britain enjoyed a brief time of relevant peace. This peace was shattered violently as the Saxons instigated their bloody onslaught in the summer of 410. By winter, the British 'civitates' had simply had enough of their Roman pretender, Constantine III, and the old Roman system, and so they decided to go it alone. However, the British message to the Emperor Honorius left open a small in-road just in case they were making a mistake. Britain wanted to stay in the Roman Empire, not as subjects but as allies aiding each other with trade and defence. So Britain became an autonomous state within the Empire, especially after the sacking of Rome by Alaric's Goths in 410. This balance of power continued, and in 417 AD the units of Comes Brittaniarum partially reoccupied the Saxon forts along the south-east coast. This British force was influenced by the Scythian warrior-