How come Italy used to be the center of the civilized world,

[Genital Doli]

"The withdrawal of Roman legions did not put an end to the Roman culture of the "lost province", which still remained part of the Roman cultural world, as Britons self-identified as Roman."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Roman_Britain

yes, they did. britons weren't the people who founded the kingdom of england, i hope you realize that