Roman Britain. The Oxford History of England, Vol Ia

Oxford History of England #1a

by Peter. Salway

We consider it a good looking book. 100% guaranteed.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Roman, Roman Britain, Classics, Roman History

Hardcover

First published September 17, 1981

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an encyclopedic tome of Roman involvement, conquest and expansion, and eventual decline in the British Isles. This was loaded with information, very dry and straightforward, and academic in its unbiased presentation.

Having said that, the book is divided into five sections. Each subsection began with a heading and the top-right of each page had a topic that was discussed. The table of contents listed all these subsections and topics to allow quick referencing and page finding.

The five chapters were in chronological order:
1. The First Roman Contacts. This included prehistoric Britain and the late Iron Age, the Celtic peoples and culture, and the expeditions of Caesar and Claudius.
2. The Roman Conquest. This included the Claudian invasion and permanent occupation of Britain, resistance and revolt from the various peoples like the Brigantes, stability against hostile aggression, and Hadrianic Britain and the building of Hadrian's Wall.
3. Imperial Crisis and Recovery. This included continued civil unrest, further growth and expansion, barbarian violence, Constantine the Great and reform, the 4th Century, and the restoration of order among continued Roman decline.
4. Roman Britain and Fifth Century World. This included the collapse of the Roman Empire and the ripple effect, the end of the Western World, and the scene of the new British Isles and Gaul (St. Patrick, King Arthur, Clovis) through 500 AD.
5. Britain Under Roman Rule. This was extensive about the daily aspects and influences in Britain. This included:
A. Assimilation (Romanization, administrative policies, laws)
B. Town and Country (urbanization, finances, public services, rural life, settlements)
C. The Economy (agriculture, mining, textiles and mosaics, pottery, iron working)
D. Religion and Society (Celto-Roman religion, Druids, healing cults, death and burial rites, Mithraism, paganism)

The beginning text had maps to show the pre-Roman tribes, expansion and growth from Forties AD to third and early fourth centuries AD, road systems, provincial boundaries, the Tetrachy, and the Roman world at 400 AD.

Overall this was a wealth of knowledge on the subject. I would recommend this to anyone interested in Roman history and their place in British history. Thanks!

[Czarny Pies · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain" is a beautiful coffee table book that provides an excellent introduction to the topic for any reader with a solid knowledge of the history of the Roman Empire. I took two full year courses as an undergraduate on the Roman Empire and still had difficulty following the book in numerous places. Salway assumes that his reader is familiar with the quirks and biases of the contemporary chroniclers (e.g. Julius Caesar, Tacitus, Plutarch, Suetonius, etc.) as well as possessing a good general knowledge of Roman Civilization. I did a term paper on Eastern Religions in the Roman Empire and still did not have an easy time following his outstanding chapter on Religious practices in Roman Britain. Salway's book is very good but requires a reader who is very knowledgeable about the broader Empire.
Salway's stated objective is to provide a synthesis of the archeological findings of the last two hundred years with the conventional histories based on textual sources. The first two thirds of his book is a conventional political and military history in which the texts dominate but where Salway nonetheless adds depth using the findings of the archeologists.
Salway notes that the archeological research often seems to contradict the contemporary chronicles. Huge battles are described in texts for which the battlegrounds have never been located by the archeologists.
Salway has an interesting view of Britain prior to the invasion. He notes that trade links between the island and the Roman Empire existed. The local tribes (states) were minting coins with roman letters. Salway suggests that like the central European wanting into the EU, there were British tribes who wanted into the Empire because they would gain access to new technologies in farming, metal work and building thus creating more prosperity. The revolts and resistance then were just as likely to have been due to political blundering by the Romans rather than the innate nationalistic resentment of a foreign occupier.
Salway argues that the decision to build Hadrian's Wall had nothing to do with conditions in Britain but was the result of Hadrian's campaign to build defensive structures throughout the entire empire. Both the design and location were mistakes. As a result the less expensive Antonine Wall was built 20 years later 60 kilometres further north.
Salway's chapter on the economy which is based on archeological findings is one of the best in the book. During the Roman period there dramatic improvements to agricultural techniques in Britain. Iron and pottery industries created. As the new industries were created to supply the Roman army, they all disappeared after the Rome withdrew from the island. The improvements in agriculture remained although the export markets were likely lost.
Salway's chapter on religion is also very good. He notes that while Christian chapels have been found in some of the large villas, no free-standing Christian churches have ever been discovered, suggesting that Christianity was primarily a phenomenon of the ruling elites during the period. Numerous statues of Roman Deities such as Jupiter, Juno, Mercury and Minerva have also been found. Mithraeums have also been found. As elsewhere in the Empire, Mithraism seems to have been confined to the militrary. Finally, there are numerous statues and other art works portraying Celtic deities suggesting that Celtic religion was dominant in the general populace.
For the reader who is highly interested in the topic, "The Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain" is a joy to read. The pictures are delightful. This book has aged very well in the 30 years since its publication.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a larger format edition of Salway's entry in the Oxford History of England series with the addition of lots of color pictures, some of which add significantly to the understanding of the text since the author uses inscriptions and coins as evidence for some of his work, both of which are well represented in the illustrations. Only drawback is that the book weighs a LOT--the combination of large format and use of coated stock throughout means that dropping on your foot would result in a trip to the emergency room.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trying to do justice an 800 page book in an 800 word review is a fool’s errand so I will try to hit the high points Salway makes and begin with a dialectical approach to reading it. Sometimes it is easier to define a text by discussing what it is not.

The author avoids the Scylla and Charybdis problem (I know, wrong language and wrong set of myths) that afflicts some views of the Romans in Britannica—on one hand seeing England as a Celtic nation from prehistoric times with an interregnum of a few hundred years during the occupation by the imperialists from the South or viewing the island province as a smaller version of Rome with the all the rights, privileges and access of Roman citizenship plus great public works.
Instead, Salway analyzes Roman Britain as part of the empire, subject to the taxes, military levies and other demands to support the metropolis as any other province. There were plenty of advantages—a universal language, civil law, all those straight roads, along with disadvantages—governors appointed from hundreds of miles away and not accountable to those they governed lots of taxes and levies but Salway clearly believes that Britain was effected more by edicts from Rome than Rome was by contact with Britons. Roman moralists, of course, thought that Romans were never influenced by those they colonized/conquered.

One example of the in depth discussion throughout “Roman Britain” is Hadrian’s Wall. It wasn’t a Great Wall of China structure (even less The Wall in “Game of Thrones”), not an us on this side and them on the other but it served many purposes, including interrupting communications between rebel groups on both sides of wall and serving as rallying point for garrisons in territory of conquered but not fully subdued barbarian tribes that lay beyond the most convenient line for the wall. This last point is important since the placement of Hadrian’s Wall was based as much on geography and the topology of the land—river valleys, hills—as political or military reasons. There were walls or other series of fortifications throughout the Empire; archeologists have found ruins in North Africa and Germany which historians think served the same function as Hadrian’s Wall.

Latin was one of the unifying or Romanizing instruments in Britain as it was elsewhere. Latin was necessary for commerce, law, administration and military service. Service in the army, probably the best and in some cases only way for class progression, meant you had to know how to speak and read Latin. If you wanted to enter into a contract, plead before a court or present a petition to an official you knew Latin. Latin was the lingua franca of the Senate and of the strivers in the streets from the Syrian desert to the banks of the Thames and from the Nile delta to the coast of Normandy. Along with the army and Roman law it was one of the forces that united the Empire and bound Britain to those on the continent.

While class was very important in Roman life and the classes strictly defined (slave, freedman, citizen, equestrian) the barriers were porous and new men could move upward. One cautionary tale told by Pliny the Younger and cited by Salway is instructive in a number of ways. He tells of the senator Macedo who had served as a praetor and was therefore only one step below the highest social level. He was murdered by his slaves partially because he had forgotten that his own father had been a slave. So there was nothing immutable about a man’s position no matter the condition into which he was born. There also seems to be a notable lack of racial prejudice among the Romans, who assumed that their culture and manners were superior to that of any civilized or barbarian groups but also that they could be assimilated by individuals in any of those groups.

An example of both how a person of the most humble origins could rise in Rome and also of the way that myths from third century Roman Britain is Carausius. He was from the Menapii tribe of northern Gaul (currently Belgium) who distinguished himself in the military so much that he was put in charge of the naval campaign against pirates. He was even more successful, always catching the pirate ships before they could escape with their plunder from the coasts of Britain and Gaul. It turned out he had been tipped off in almost every case and kept most of the treasure he confiscated. Called to Rome for court martial and almost sure execution Carausius rebelled, sailed to Britain and declared himself emperor of Britain and Gaul, issuing coins with his image. He is now seen by some nationalists as the first English king although he certainly didn’t think of himself that way. His short lived empire (actually only one of the many territorial revolts and by Roman military leaders) would have been over earlier but the Emperor Maximian was busy fighting on the German frontier.

Salway shows that what events far Britain had real consequences for the island province. It was always considered part of the northwest frontier along with and often secondary to Gaul. Legions raised in Britain fought throughout the empire, especially in Spain, both against the Goths and in civil wars (always on the side of the emperor).

It can take some patience but reading large—very large—parts of “Roman Britain” is rewarding for those interested in the putative subject itself as well as the expansion of Roman rule and influence and the history of the empire into the fourth century.

[Vasilis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have just managed to finish this lengthy volume. It has taken me a whole month and immense willpower to complete it. The author tries hard to give a detailed account of the historical events and the everyday life in Roman Britain. However, I agree with previous reviewers that he often loses focus. He spends far too much time either talking about events on the Continent or discussing minute details. He feels, for example, the need to mention every single governor of Britain whose name has survived to us, even when there is no substantial information about him. Another example is his extensive discussion of the Fenlands, despite the fact that the area was rather peripheral in the history of Roman Britain. Salway's writing is equally problematic. It is often tedious and laborious. In the end, the reader ends up feeling quite disorientated, burdened with too much detail, and, quite frankly, disinterested. Hence, despite the author's undisputed expertise on the subject, the book offers much less than anticipated.

[JS Found · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this is not a rewrite of the a book in the Oxford of England series but the book itself--it's a good, thorough history of Britain and the Roman Empire from the beginning of the first millennium AD to about 500. The first 500 pages cover the military and political history of the conquest of Britain and and the larger Roman Empire--basically who conquered whom, a look into the military and its forts of Britain, the various civil wars, competing emperors and barbarian invasions that eventually brought the whole Empire crashing down. The remaining 200 pages are about the social life of the people on the island, including the lay of the land, the economy, the houses and their religions. If you wanted that integrated into the text from the start, that's not what he does.

Salway spends a little too much time and space to talk about sometimes arcane specialist matters, like archeological evidence finds and those military forts, but there is much good stuff here. Those new to ancient Roman history will learn a lot. One thing I learned was that during a period of time London changed its name to Augusta. A few drawbacks: Salway quotes at length other historians' works in mass blocks of tiny text; his bibliography, in the the orange hardcover edition I read, is a mess--you have to read the beginning of the endnotes to find out the footnoted books at the bottom of the pages of the text aren't listed in the bibliography in the back--so if one is curious about reading further, one has to go back to flip through the pages again to jot the books down. It would be much easier to list all the books at the end.

This was published in 1981. Salway says that the architectural evidence isn't sorted out yet. So there may be later books that update this book or refute parts of it. But this is still a good book to read if you are interested in Roman and British history.

[Shannon Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a really good book, and full of facts I imagine I would never read anywhere else, but it is so dry and better for academics (who I think it is intended for). Anyway it took me two years to read it.

[Alex Helling · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Romans first intruded into Britain in 55 and 54BC when Julius Caesar came and saw (but did not conquer) during his Gallic Wars, they came again, this time for a bloody conquest, 100 years later. They were to stay 350 years until approximately 410 AD. Peter Salway’s Roman Britain covers this whole period, and the immediate post Roman period, with the focus squarely on the part of Britain that is occupied by Rome and its interactions with the regions outside Rome’s control.

This is The Book if you want to know about Roman Britain. It is very comprehensive covering all aspects of the period Rome was in Britain; politics, military, economy, religion, culture and society. The flip side of that comprehensiveness is that it has to be rather long!

While this is a book focused on Britain throughout the narrative Salway always makes sure that it is in its context for the Roman world as a whole. Therefore there is a considerable amount of the narrative which is about the events that are happening elsewhere in the empire; the succession of emperors, invasions, and reforms and then there is consideration of how they affected (or sometimes didn’t affect) Roman Britain. This has the benefit of enabling a good narrative which would have been far harder to construct if the scope were strictly limited to Britain given the limitations of sources.

The book is structured into five sections, the first four are the narrative, with the last ‘Britain under Roman rule’ more thematic, on assimilation, geography, the economy and religion. This is the longest section at more than 200 pages. I personally decided to read this section in the middle in the expectation that it would be the bit I would otherwise be least likely to get through. This was the case as it is rather dry often discussing what evidence there is and scholarly articles. And since this book is forty years old this section is unfortunately rather dated; it often refers to the state of scholarship and where more work is needed - hopefully some of that has taken place in the subsequent years. But if reading the book as an introduction to Roman Britain without much prior knowledge of the outline history of the Roman Empire reading this way around won't work very well as there are regular references to later events.

So a good book to read to provide much of what you want to know on 500 years of history from c50BC to c450BC from a British perspective. This book can also provide an introduction to the wider Roman empire.

[William Justus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing source on Roman Britain. It covers the entire period (as ill defined as it may be), from Julius Caesar to the 500s. Not only does Salway give all the information that we have about Roman Britain, he gives convincing arguments by analogy from other areas in the Empire when our information on the British provinces is slim. This text also manages to cover the general course of events in the Empire as a whole without getting bogged down in extraneous detail. The context provided by this approach is particularly illuminating when considering the climate and morale of Britain.

The book is split into narrative and analysis sections. The narrative explains the chronological events while the analysis considers the religion, agriculture, et cetera of Britain. Fortunately, the analysis is mostly comprised of new information and not simply a reorganization of what was already said in the narrative portion.

He is a thoughtful and careful historian, who is ever mindful of the limitations of the data and attempts to never step beyond the bounds of reasonable confidence. Additionally, he explains the arguments and theories of other historians and archaeologists, regardless of whether or not he is convinced by their reasoning.

I recommend this book to any who are deeply interested in Rome or ancient Britain. This book is approachable to the amateur historian, but not for the "casual reader." It is a wonderful book for who it was written, but may be dense and daunting for others.

[Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An indispensable but waffling resource, but perhaps unavoidable and forgivable given the often allusiveness of the subject.

This book is in some ways more about the Roman Empire, specifically the Western Roman Empire, than Roman Britain; long stretches, perhaps even the majority of the book, are dedicated towards the Roman Empire at large and its happenings. While this is necessary to provide subtext to the events unfolding in Britain at such and such a time it is also easy to get off track, which I feel this book often does. This book could probably be condensed down by 200 or 300 pages.

However, better to be generous with the details than sparing.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book as an in depth introduction to the topic and got exactly what I wanted from it. A little dry in places but I expected that going in.

[Jari Havela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Splendid!

[cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A vigorous and invigorating resource.

[Conall O'Toole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough review of the history and characteristics of Roman Britain. I was really interested in the methods and techniques used by the author to infer information like negative evidence.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished, took long enough! Review to come soon.

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See my book blog for a few pictures of the Roman baths at Bath

http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.bl...

This was quite an endeavor. I thoroughly enjoy all things British (until James VI/I has to go an die), so this was a no-brainer for me to pick up, despite its age (my edition published in 1993, but the first edition came out in 1981). This is 500+ pages of everything you would ever want to know about Roman Britain and everything we could possibly know up to that point. Of course there have been further discoveries made in the last 22 years, but this one is still very, very comprehensive.

I have always had good luck with the Oxford University Press books. I've never met one that I couldn't read quickly. This brick, however, presented my first challenge. Part of the reason for the slow-going is that I am far more interested in Roman Britain than Ancient Rome, and the two are naturally very connected, seeing as how you couldn't have the one I am interested in without the one I am less interested in. But so many things happening all over the Roman Empire had a direct impact on Roman Britain, primarily in regards to the Roman army and taking soldiers off the island when needed to quell outbreaks elsewhere - which directly led to the fall of Roman control.

Another reason for my slow-going could also be partly due to the fact that the writing was kind of dry at times. It just was not very exciting or inciting me to turn the pages very quickly - except for the photographs and maps. There are a plethora of both included (this being the 'illustrated' history and all) and I often found many of those to be more interesting than the writing itself. I don't think this is totally the fault of the author, as this is a huge section of time to take on, especially for a time period where we don't have a lot of contemporary accounts. We have the accounts by Roman citizens living on the Continent and in Rome itself, but far fewer from those living on the island of Britain.

This leads to my last sort-of disappointment. While the focus was of course Roman Britain and how it functioned as property of the Roman Empire, I was looking for more attention paid to the indigenous population. As always, Boudica gets her (well-deserved) moment in the sun, even if the facts are at best fleeting. (As an aside, how can one not admire this warrior queen who avenged her daughters in such a awesomely powerful way? It makes her later defeat that much more tragic. I tell Eleanor all the time she is lucky I discovered Eleanor of Aquitaine before I discovered this mighty Iceni queen, or her name might have been VERY VERY different!) I would have liked to see more focus on the people who the Romans conquered, and how profoundly their lives were changed.

Over all, this is a highly comprehensive look at the island of Britain during its time as part of the Roman Empire. There are several helpful maps, floor plans, and photographs. Highly recommended for those with a deep interested in the subject, though it might be a bit overwhelming for those with no background knowledge or just a passing interest.

[Iain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this difficult to finish despite a good start. The issue in my opinion is that the author looses focus. The book might better be titled "A History of the Roman Empire", as dozens of pages are devoted to events in mainland Europe and even the Far Eastern Empire. Events that often have no impact on Roman Britain. Events that are described for the express purpose of making the point that they had no impact... but why are they even described in a book on Roman _Britain_? I think the book would have benefited from editing to focus it on Romans in Britain, as the title would suggest. The book also suffers from being too "complete" covering each and every known figure in Roman Britain regardless of whether they actually did anything. Names are thrown out by the hundreds only to disappear without any relevance to history.

Too complete, too unfocused, and as a result simply too long.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

c1993. I can't really say it any better than Piers Brendon from the Independent who said "expertly written..and full of enlightenment". It is a succinct look at the before, during and after together with the politics of certain decisions made by Rome. I did like that there was no guessing or assuming going on. The facts are stated and whether or not the archaeological evidence and theories are apt. Certainly, I enjoyed some chapters more than others but overall a good, if academic, read. " Thus began the curious phase known as the Gallic Empire, when for thirteen years the whole of the north-western part of the empire was run as an independent entity, with its own series of emperors. "

[Lauren Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is divided into five sections--early contacts, the conquest, crisis & recovery (imperial Rome), the end of Roman Britain and finally a look at what Britain was like under Roman rule. It was this, last, section that I found most interesting. How "Romanized" were the British? How "Christianized" were they? What was the relationship of town and country like (remembering the Roman love of cities). What was the economy like--was currency used? How was trade conducted and between who? I found all of this very interesting. The first four sections were good and informative but it was the social side that just seemed to interest me more.

[R.M.F. Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Authoritative, engaging, full of interesting insights and composed by an expert at the head of his game - Salway's Roman Britain is jam packed from everything to civil society to currency, diet to dress.

I have yet to encounter a comparable book that delves down into this level of detail.

And of Britain itself? Famously, the Romans believed that this cold, wet island in the middle of the North Atlantic wouldn't amount to much...

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME AMOUNT OF READABLE INFORMATION

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found out what I wanted to know but with great effort.

[Morag Wehrle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic. An excellent, readable overview of the history of Britannia.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

While authoritative in its research and scope, the prose is not engaging and long stretches seem to to talk about numerous Roman civil wars on the continent.

[Emily]

Text-heavy discussion that challenges historical assumptions; notable for many aerial photographs of archaeological finds.

Good reference text for the BHP coverage of this period.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

an OK read if you are really interested in those times.