How aware were the Saxons and the Vikings of Ancient Rome?

by alf998

Somebody told me today that the Saxons used Roman coins as pendants. Is this true, and if so, how aware were these people of the Roman Empire?

BRIStoneman

Very!

I wrote an answer here that I hope you might find useful about Romanitas - the perception of "Roman-ness" and its centrality to early medieval English politics, which discusses things like the appropriation of Roman terminology, the restoration and re-use of Roman sites, and the occasional political use of Roman coinage designs.

I wrote another here that touched upon the degree to which Early Medieval English society was monetised and the extent to which that currency could be very tightly controlled.