A Brief History of Roman Britain

by Joan P. Alcock

In BC 55 Julius Caesar came, saw, conquered and then left. It was not until AD 43 that the Emperor Claudius crossed the channel and made Britain the western outpost of the Roman Empire that would span from the Scottish border to Persia. For the next 400 years the island would be transformed. Within that period would see the rise of Londinium, almost immediately burnt to the ground in 60 AD by Boudicca; Hadrian's Wall which was constructed in 112 AD to keep the northern tribes at bay as well as the birth of the Emperor Constantine in third century York. Interwoven with the historical narrative is a social history of the period showing how roman society grew in Britain.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Roman History, Roman Britain, Military History, Historical

385 pages, ebook

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

Joan Pilsbury Alcock is an archeologist and historian and an Honorary Fellow of London South Bank University and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. She is the author of Life in Roman Britain (1996) and Food in Roman Britain (2001), among other works.

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Narrated by: Lisa Coleman
Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins

Description: In 55 B.C. Julius Caesar came, saw, conquered and then left. It was not until A.D. 43 that the Emperor Claudius crossed the channel and made Britain the western outpost of the Roman Empire that would span from the Scottish border to Persia. For the next 400 years the island would be transformed. Within that period would see the rise of Londinium, almost immediately burnt to the ground in A.D. 60 by Boudicca; Hadrian's Wall, which was constructed in A.D. 112 to keep the northern tribes at bay, as well as the birth of the Emperor Constantine in third century York. Interwoven with the historical narrative is a social history of the period showing how Roman society grew in Britain.

This is a text book full of lists, sites, tribes and snores. Absolutely useless as an audio.

NEXT!




NONFIC NOVEMBER 2015:

CR White Mughals
5* A History of England from the Tudors to the Stuarts
3* Rome and the Barbarians
4* Field Notes From A Hidden City
3* The King's Jews: Money, Massacre and Exodus in Medieval England
CR A History of Palestine 634-1099
CR Charlotte Brontë: A Life
3* The Alhambra
CR A Long Walk in the Himalaya: A Trek from the Ganges to Kashmir
3* Buddhist Warfare
4* A Gathering of Spoons
AB A Brief History of Roman Britain - Conquest and Civilization

[essie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a good concise account of Roman Britain. It covers topics such as home life, army life, farming and death among the Roman British population. It's not very thorough but allows you to pick topics of interest to research in depth yourself.


Things I learned
- They loved to write out curses on tablets in places where someone stole their stuff.
- The coalescence of pagan religions and Gods with the Roman deities. Also there's some interesting stuff about who Druids were and what they did. To be honest, the chapter of religion in Roman Britain was pretty fascinating. I didn't know but initially, the Romans hated Christianity so much, they tried to encourage pre-historic beliefs as they were afraid of the power of a unified God.
- One important general had something cheeky written on his gravestone.
- The Romans, for all the patriotism, were straight up cynics, man.
- How the Celts (especially Celtic aristocracy) actually embraced the more "civilised" Roman lifestyle.

And some other bits... there was an awful lot to digest but it made for good reading. It told the story of poor, mighty Boudicca and I definitely want to buy a book or two on her - Celtic Britain was a feminist land; they valued matriarchy (defined by men and women ruling side by side in unity, not just women btw). The Roman's brought trade, roads tax and the patriarchy. Alcock doesn't touch on it majorly but this novel definitely establishes an edited, manipulated and tarnished of herstory written by Roman and Greek men.

There was a lot of military strategy and the first 100 pages was just a comprehensive timeline which was pretty dry. I think it would have been better if the whole book was done chronologically.

[Gareth Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joan Alcock delivers a brief history of Roman Britain as promised by the title of the series which houses Roman Britain - Conquest and Civilization. Equally, her extremely well-researched book gives a concise history of the Roman government of Britain and the extent of its control, along with an evaluation of various aspects of society and lifestyle.
Inevitably, in a book of 336 pages of text, there is a limit to description and anecdote. Indeed, at times, the book reads like it is working through a checklist. Nevertheless, it provides an excellent starting point for someone wishing to explore the subject. I shall certainly explore several areas covered in the book in greater detail elsewhere, equipped with a solid overview.
The book contains a useful appendix including a chronology of Roman emperors and a glossary of the classical writers used as sources, along with a broader bibliography. there are helpful, clear maps at the beginning of the book and some illustrative black and white photographs.
In summary, a very useful introduction to Roman Britain.

[Mark J C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough introduction to life in Roman Britain

Very thorough and informative. A good introduction to Britain under Roman occupation.

Best read as an eBook so you can easily refer back to previous mentions or check definitions. Some reviews appear to be for the audiobook version - due to the density of information and the speed with which the author moves from item to item an audiobook will be very difficult to follow without constant pauses and back-tracking.

Overall (as an eBook) highly recommended.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's some interesting details in here but it takes me back to my days of studying archaeology, in the sense that OH MY GOD THE WRITING OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL TEXT BOOKS IS FUCKING DULLER THAN A GREAT BIG DULL THING!

No offence Joan, it's not personal, it's the entire field that suffers from the curse of making fascinating subjects sound boring as hell.

The chapters on society and life towards the end are more interesting than the dry history of the first half.

[Rhiannon Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me more than one attempt to actually finish - it's full of interesting facts, but for my taste a little light on both narrative (paragraphs are grouped thematically but not necessarily related) and analysis (we sometimes find out how a fact is known, but not always, for example). The later chapters on ordinary experience were more interesting to me as a reader than the earlier ones which summarise imperial history.

[kristiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very dense in information. Which does not make for the best reading experience however it does make for a good study material.
Some chapters are easier to process than others. Some chapters get really boring and redundant if you're not super invested in ancient Roman leaders and their politics.
Overall there is a lot to learn from this book, but the same information could have been obtained by more visual materials - a museum visit or a video.

[Ed · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's ok, does what it sets out to do. Briefly sums up the 400+ years of Roman occupation in the first 100 pages (a bit TOO briefly for me) and the rest gives an idea of life and society in Roman Britain. It's very dry though, I ended up skim reading the second half of the book and only slowing down to read bits that particularly piqued my interest.

[George Foord · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learnt so much from this short overview. Great reading!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but brief, like it says on the tin.

[Steve Majerus-Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid but not especially readable history outlining what we know about Roman Britain.

[Nick Harriss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good history that balances detail with breadth.

[Elentarri · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an adequate, brief and basic overview of the Roman occupation of Britain. The book serves as an uninspiring introductory text to the subject. The narrative follows events in a chronological order, with additional chapters dedicated to army life, town life, the countryside, religion and belief, food and diet, industry and society.

[Philip Zyg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a simple yet satisfactory introduction to Roman occupation of Britain, its conflicts and advancements, its protagonists on both sides of the Oceanus (The Channel). Single chapters are dedicated to Northern tribes (hence Hadrian's Wall), agriculture and trade, religion before and after the conquest and, more importantly, the population's diet - this is the author's specialty and she generously abounds in details about ways of preparing, cooking and preserving the various types of food (yes, badgers too!). An excellent survey, all in all.

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made it about a third of the way through this book and could hardly recall anything that I read. It just wasn't memorable at all which is a shame because it's such a fascinating subject. That said, this is one of those instances when a writer takes an interesting subject and murders it before your very eyes. On to the next book!

UPDATE April 2nd 2017:

I managed to finish this book. While a few chapters were alright, most of the book was unimpressive. I wish that I could give this book a better review because there is a lot of great info but it's presented in such a boring ass way that there's really no getting around or above a two star rating. I do not recommend.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful if somewhat dry short account of life in Roman Britain. Certainly gives a flavour of era although few personalities and stories stand out. Neatly divided into non-chronological sections (Army life; food; religion).

[Joshua Mowll · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good concise history of Roman Britain. Written as an overview, it gives a digestible level of information on a very big subject. It seems the Brits were always a pugnacious nation, difficult to rule, and prone to rebellions. Splendid. I also really enjoyed the chapter on food and diet.

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first chapter of this book was fascinating, but when it got into the chapters on town life and country life, it started to feel like a list of known Roman sites in Britain.

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good introduction to Roman Britain. The book is thorough, covering practically all aspects of life.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent fact-filled history of Roman Britain. Well written - not dry, but it does read more like a textbook for a level one college course than a history book for the general public.