<P> Bede completed his book Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People) in around 731 . Thus the term for English people (Latin: gens Anglorum; Anglo - Saxon: Anglecynn) was in use by then to distinguish Germanic groups in Britain from those on the continent (Old Saxony in Northern Germany). The term' Anglo - Saxon' came in practice in the 8th century (probably by Paul the Deacon) to distinguish English Saxons from continental Saxons (Ealdseaxe,' old' Saxons). </P> <P> The historian James Campbell suggested that it was not until the late Anglo - Saxon period that England could be described as a nation state . It is certain that the concept of "Englishness" only developed very slowly . </P> <P> As the Roman occupation of Britain was coming to an end, Constantine III withdrew the remains of the army, in reaction to the barbarian invasion of Europe . The Romano - British leaders were faced with an increasing security problem from seaborne raids, particularly by Picts on the East coast of England . The expedient adopted by the Romano - British leaders was to enlist the help of Anglo - Saxon mercenaries (known as foederati), to whom they ceded territory . In about 442 the Anglo - Saxons mutinied, apparently because they had not been paid . The Romano - British responded by appealing to the Roman commander of the Western empire, Aëtius for help (a document known as the Groans of the Britons), even though Honorius, the Western Roman Emperor, had written to the British civitas in or about 410 telling them to look to their own defence . There then followed several years of fighting between the British and the Anglo - Saxons . The fighting continued until around 500, when, at the Battle of Mount Badon, the Britons inflicted a severe defeat on the Anglo - Saxons . </P> <P> There are records of Germanic infiltration into Britain that date before the collapse of the Roman Empire . It is believed that the earliest Germanic visitors were eight cohorts of Batavians attached to the 14th Legion in the original invasion force under Aulus Plautius in AD 43 . There is a recent hypothesis that some of the native tribes, identified as Britons by the Romans, may have been Germanic - language speakers, but most scholars disagree with this due to a lack of evidence in Roman - period evidence for local languages . </P>

Who occupied the british isles before the coming of the anglo-saxons