Britannia under the Boot: Roman militaria from the ‘civil zone’ of southern England

This article is from Current Archaeology issue 435

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The story of Roman Britain is often seen as a tale of two zones. To the south and east lay a ‘civil zone’, where towns and villas were at their most plentiful, while to the north and west a profusion of fortifications marks out the ‘military zone’. Just how absolute was this distinction, though? In this fascinating volume, finds specialist Edwin Wood charts the distribution of Roman militaria within the ‘civil zone’, and discusses potential reasons for its presence.

Wood takes care to set the finds evidence within the wider context of the Roman occupation, while his thoughtful consideration of the material leads him to conclude that the army went ‘to great lengths to be visible in force within the civil zone’. The motives for this varied across time and space, with an exploitative securing of supplies and attempts to bolster security in troubled areas both among the plausible impetuses proposed here.

REVIEW BY MATTHEW SYMONDS

Britannia under the Boot: Roman militaria from the ‘civil zone’ of southern England
Edwin Wood
BAR Publishing, £54
ISBN 978-1407363035