In 406, the various tribes of barbarians swept across the frozen Rhine. Like a swarm of locusts, they brought famine and pestilence. Whether as settlers, various mobile war-bands or both, these foreign federates threw the Roman urban system into a decade of civil chaos. The established food sources failed to sustain the spike in population. The heavy influx could not be peacefully taken in by the Empire. The Romans in Gaul and Spain suffered tremendously during this time. The deadly reality lingers in the entries of the fifth-century sources. Even the gates of Rome could not keep out the resilent Goths.

The Spanish writer, Hydatius, tells of cannibalism in the city of his region. Olympiodorus reiterates the horrid living conditions within the walled cities of the Empire.

Though not suggested, the famine mentioned by Gildas parallels these words of suffering. Professor David Dumville makes the point of stressing the extent of the famine mentioned by Gildas and how it was still remembered generations later in his lifetime. By removing the association between the Agitius and Aëtius, the famine on the island and the mainland become one in the same.

According to Gildas, when the Romans left at the beginning of §19 (about 410), the Scots and Picts wreaked havoc upon the British. This was much like what the Vandals done in the Spanish provinces. With the Goths plundering Italy, the other Germanic tribes had free reign within their immediate areas. In contrast to the southern Romans, the British citizens abandoned their towns in §19.3 when faced with foreign raiders. Maybe in part, they tried to avoid the cannibalism that seized the cities of Spain.

The Gallic Chronicle of 452 notes this enormous famine in Gaul between the years of 411 to 416. Echoing the apocalyptic words of Hydatius, Gildas elaborates that disasters abroad increased internal disorder on the island at the end of §19. The notorious British famine continues to center stage in §20.2.

With the assumption that the British were suffering from food shortages at the same time, this famine would have spanned from the Mediterranean to the western shores of the North Sea. This seems like a famine that would still be talked about in Gildas' day.

During these troubled times, the ransom of a Roman Princess was measured in grain not gold. The negotiation between the Goths and the Romans continued for another five years.

Finally in 416, King Valia of the Goths exchanged Princess Placidia for 600,000 measures of grain.