Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
*IIRC, one of the Roman senate's last decrees was a message to the provincial governments basically absolving itself of the responsibilty of governing and saying, effectively (if not word for word), "Good luck. You're on your own." For the life of me, I can't find the exact quote anywhere.
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You may be thinking of the 'Rescript Honorius'. This was sent in AD410 to Britain by Emperor Honorius. It told British cities to defend themselves (or 'look to your own defence'). Historians think it significant that he wrote to the Cities and Towns (‘civitates’) rather than a Provincial Governor or senior General.
To be fair, there wasn't much that Rome could do to help - and there wasn't a level of government above the city in Britain (the last 3 governors had rebelled )
The exact wording has not survived. It might have been something like
“Vestrum est, Britanni, vos ipsos defendere”.