Vikings would take blond and redhead English slaves south to sell and finance a career as mercenaries or traders. They were well-known to the Greeks and were called Varangians in the Byzantine era. From the goods taken south to trade, Rome got a good idea of the wealth of resources in England - to Rome, England was their 'new world'. Expansion of the Roman Empire in a crowded Mediterranean was limited, and the only power controlling the assets of the North were the Vikings. And why should the Vikings control it all? So off they went to England, kicked the Vikings out, and began exploiting resources and manpower while collecting tribunes from the tribal leaders.
“Some Scandinavian laws prohibited inheritance for those who had dwelled in Greece, because it was so lucrative.”
https://www.quora.com/Did-the-Vikings-have-anything-to-do-with-the-Greeks
Thanks for this. Makes sense.
But eventually England was comprised of Saxons who were conquered by invaders from the North, and they conquered back finally uniting England. England did not descend from th Romans.