The Rocks at the Edge of the Empire: 50 extraordinary rocky places that tell the story of the Romans and the landscape of their northern frontier

This article is from Current Archaeology issue 422

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REVIEW BY ROB IXER

Many recent popular archaeology books are text-heavy, with indifferently reproduced black-and-white illustrations printed on poor-quality paper, and with a few token colour plates. This wonderful paperback, a landscape book in both senses of the word, is the total antithesis. Fifty pages of unfussy, informative (but often didactic) text lie across from a full-page, full-colour photograph, the majority of which show Roman remains within the scenery on or around Hadrian’s Wall.

The Wall (like Gaul) is divided into three parts literally based on its underlying geology, with its central 30km section built firmly above the Whin Sill, and it is this that provides some of the book’s grandest photographs, especially the views from Steel Rigg (although Hardknott Fort, close to Eskdale, is spectacular).

For the astonishingly cheap price of three cappuccinos, here is a superb pictorial meditation showing roman-tic [sic] views of the interactions between the Imperium and northern Britannia.

The Rocks at the Edge of the Empire: 50 extraordinary rocky places that tell the story of the Romans and the landscape of their northern frontier
Ian Jackson
Northern Heritage (£12)
ISBN 978-1739486143