"Thine, Roman, is the pilum:
Roman, the sword is thine,
The even trench, the bristling mound,
The legion's ordered line;
And thine the wheels of triumph,
Which with their laurelled train
Move slowly up the shouting streets
To Jove's eternal flame.”
I. The Crisis of the Fifth Century and Events of the Early Sixth
In the year 468 AD the Emperor Anthemius sent an expedition to Africa to retake it from the Vandals. The Vandals were defeated and Africa retaken from the barbarians. Meanwhile, back in Rome Anthemius' Magister Militum, Ricimer, suddenly died, struck by lightning during a particularly violent storm. There is some evidence that Ricimer had plans against Anthemius, but what little exists is scarce and so the theory cannot be corroborated. In any case, Anthemius continued to reign until the year four-hundred and ninety-one. He was succeeded by his sixteen-year son Romanus.
What followed was a dark period for Rome, the darkest in its history. Authority was ceded in many places to foederati and local rulers - the Franks took over the area around Lutetia and the eastern portions of Gaul, and the Burgundians established a kingdom that stretched over large areas of southern Gaul. In Italy, the Ostrogoths founded a kingdom centred around Verona, while to their west the Lombards took over Mediolanum and the surrounding area as the Legions were recalled to central and southern Italia in the face of barbarian threats But outposts of Romanitas survived, in the countries of Aurelianum, Armorica and Suessiones in Gaul, Tarraconensis, Baetica and Cartago Nova in Hispanica.
As the Romans struggled, in 527 AD a general by the name of Marcus Valerius Julianus managed to take over by dint of the Legions' loyalty to him, staging a take-over with trivial ease. He called himself Julian III, founding the House of Valerius that rules to this very day. He reigned for thirty years, and his grandson, Marcian II, would control the greatest period of the Western Empire in the period between the fifth century and the reign of Romulus Valerius Aquilius Maximus, the dreaded Malleus Persarum, began in 1256 AD.
In the early sixth century, a Romano-British war-lord called Arcturus united the British petty-states, driving back the Saxons at Mons Badonicus. However, he was constantly warring against the Saxons who had invaded the isles, and his position was weak. Eventually, he triumphed gloriously in a battle against a rebelling petty king fought at his fortress of Camulodunum (later known as Caer Camulod) in 517 AD. This battle seems to have secured his position enough for him to declare himself 'Britannicus Maximus'. His 'Kingdom of Britannia' would long outlast his death in 530. His heir, Ambrosius, continued the war against the Saxons that had been brought over as Foederati back in the Fifth Century - managing to halt and drive back their advance, as Arcturus had done, with the historic Battle of Londinium (however, the Saxons maintained control over Cantia, the ancient territories of the Iceni, Londinium proper and some land in the south).
Rome might be in retreat, but still its glory shone - dimmed, perhaps, but only so that one day it might shine all the brighter.