Page "Roman Britain" Paragraph 64

It has been argued that Roman Britain ’ s continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state ’ s desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports.

Evidence has, however, been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain ’ s continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards.

This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine plague and the Marcomannic wars.