Subscribe now for full access and no adverts
REVIEW BY JOHN REID
The attraction of ancient Rome is as potent today as it has ever been – just turn on your TV or look at any popular history bookstand – and how can we resist such an alluring mix of power, culture, and military might? Increasingly, however, the veil of Classical respectability that once cloaked the actions of the world’s greatest empire is being stripped away by modern authors like Fernández-Götz and Roymans, to reveal something altogether more sinister. At the heart of this troubling milieu lies the brutal power of the legions as the enforcers of imperial will. This new volume of the Cambridge Elements series shines something of a light on that dark heart – a heart to which past authors have occasionally been blinded by the dazzling bling that is the by-product of all empires.
Although this publication concentrates on the material evidence of Rome’s wars of conquest in the West – and as such could be considered a specialist work of conflict archaeology – both authors are seasoned investigators across multiple archaeological disciplines, which ensures a well-balanced, highly readable, and rounded narrative.
The concise format of the Cambridge Elements series imposes deliberate space limitations on the authors, but this constraint keeps the writing focused and authoritative. The authors have consequently concentrated on specific examples of the effects of aggressive expansion of the Western Roman Empire on the indigenous populations, and how that has been evidenced by recent archaeology. They have divided the book into four case studies, beginning with Caesar’s expansion into Gaul, then through the Cantabrian and Asturian Wars in Spain, to Augustus’ failed annexation of Germany, and finally ending with the partial conquest of Britain. As one has come to expect with the vibrant work of these two authors, the chosen case studies are not a mashup of old data, but are packed with the latest research, with many of the cited investigations having taken place within the last few years.
The volume, just over 100 pages long, is in essence a beautifully produced vade mecum, and is so thoroughly referenced and well-illustrated with relevant photographs and clearly drawn maps that it will act as a sourcebook for this topic for some time to come.
Archaeology of the Roman Conquest: Tracing the legions, reclaiming the conquered
M Fernández-Götz and N Roymans
Cambridge
University Press, £17
ISBN 978-1009181990
