[henry_thefirst]

I think your history is a bit off. The Romano-British culture all but disappeared when the legions were withdrawn in the fifth century. Rule of law dissapeared, and with the Barbarian invasions soon to follow, all ideas of "highly trained, professional troops" were replaced by highly mobile roving bands of pillagers. The only traces of Roman rule at this time were roads and beaten down walls. The Roman church even disappeared for at least a century.

Rule of law can really be said to have reemerged in England in 1066 with the Norman invasions. The Normans brough Norman-Frankish law theory into Britian. During the reign of Henry II (1133-1189) English common law as a concept emerged.

You don't want a history of English common law, I'm sure, but just note that the Roman influence of England, in the grand scheme of history, was minimum.

[MeanWestTexan]

"the Roman influence of England, in the grand scheme of history, was minimum"

Well, except for that Christianity thing.

[agere_contra]

I think I'll trust someone called "henry_the_first" when it comes to the history of common law :0)

Property rights and - especially - equality under the law are the air we (in the anglosphere) breathe. These are more primal even than universal suffrage. No English king dared declare himself above the law (English Kings might be untouchable de facto but not de jure) wheras European monarchs, Roman Emperors etc ruled largely without reference to the law all the time. I don't remember, but I think it was in the time of Henry the 1st or 2nd that this change became explicit in English history?

[Da_Shrimp]

Rule of law can really be said to have reemerged in England in 1066 with the Norman invasions.

I'd argue with that, if I may. The laws of Alfred and Ine predate the Norman Conquest by centuries. Alfred himself codified the usages and customs of English law in the Liber Judicialis.

Granted, the use of these laws was disrupted by the Danish invasions, but you can't really claim that England was occupied by a bunch of lawless barbarians only saved from themselves by the arrival of the Normans! Prior to the Conquest, Anglo-Saxon society was cultured and well-ordered and had been for a long time.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I agree with your statement that the Roman-British culture was replaced by Anglo-Saxon barbarians. Actually that culture was forced in to Wales, which was independent until centuries after the Norman invasion.
Still Roman culture permeated Western Civilization. First, the Catholic Church was the official religion of Rome and carried on with some of its culture.
The Roman legal system is not the basis for the English Common Law, as it was for continental Europe. However, the Roman law did influence the English system. It is ironic that Scotland is a civil law country rather than common law, yet it was probably more barbarian than England.