Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 22:08:46 -0500
Originator: bmmr-l@cc.brynmawr.edu
@@@@95.1.5, Salway, Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain
Peter Salway, *The Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain*. Oxford
and New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Pp. xiii, 563. Illus. 270+
b/w, 34 color. $39.95. ISBN 0-19-822984-4.
Reviewed by Mark Hall, Department of Anthropology,
University of California, Berkeley
Roman Britain is a topic that continues to receive attention from
both archaeologists and historians. Invariably each discipline all too
often operates without the other; archaeologists often reject the
historical record due to its biases and historians are often at a loss to
explain the importance of pot sherds and other domestic rubbish. The *The
Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain* changes this situation. In
it, Peter Salway provides a visually exciting and immensely readable study
of Roman Britain that integrates both archaeology and history.
Salway is an excellent choice to author this volume. He is
Professor Emeritius of the Open University, former Fellow of Sidney Sussex
College, Cambridge and the current director of the Oxford Archaeological
Unit. Since he has worked in both disciplines, he can provide a balanced
view of Roman Britain that is missing in other writer's works.
This book is a revised and abridged version of Salway's massive
*Oxford History of Roman Britain*. The notable additions to his earlier
book are the inclusion of over 300 plates, 34 of which are in color,
numerous maps and site plans. These visual materials add zest and
vibrance to the text that should attract the attention of both the general
reader and serious scholar. Less noticeable, but equally important, is
his integration of the findings from the excavations conducted in London,
along Hadrian's Wall, and elsewhere in Britain during the 1980's. These
recent excavations are important for our understanding the process of
growth and decline in Roman Britain.
These illustrations and revisions come at a price. First, and
most distressing, is the lack of footnotes or references in the text.
Salway, in his introduction, notes that this is done since the book is
aimed at the "general reader." I feel this attitude insults any reader and
limits the usefulness of the book for students. Students need to know
where to look for the sources involved in the academic debate.
Furthermore, despite Salway's confident tone throughout the book, there is
a lot of uncertainity in the archaeology and history of Roman Britain. A
few examples of this will suffice. Dio, Josephus and Seutonius all
provide different accounts of the Claudian invasion of Britain. Salway
bases his text on Dio's version and never really explains why he feels
Josephus and Seutonius should not be used. The end of Roman Britain is
equally debated, but Salway bases his account on Zosimus and argues that
the final breaking point was the British revolt of AD 409 against
Constantine III. Finally, he states that there was a change of production
and land tenure in the rural countryside under Roman rule in Britain, but
provides meagre evidence (p. 434). Archaeology shows that areas like the
Fens and the northern highlands had relatively few villas, while areas
like Somerset had villas and British settlements occupying separate but
adjacent areas. A further argument countering Salway's statement is that
pre-Roman settlement and subsistence patterns survived through the Roman
period and into the Anglo-Saxon period.
Salway's confidence can also border on arrogance. The most
obvious example is his chapter on Roman economics. In just two sentences
(p. 427), he dismisses nearly the entire field of economic anthropology.
Admittedly, the Roman Empire is not a modern state, nor an industrialized
society, nor a peasant society, but the models derived in economic
anthropology are relevant to Roman Britain though. If nothing else, they
provide examples to start from when developing models of the Roman
economy.
The second cost of the illustrations and revisions is the lack of
depth and detail. This will probably escape most readers, but for those
who have read and used his earlier work, you will understand what I mean.
The sections on population, health and mortality, social classes, and
beheaded burials are just a few of the sections missing in the current
volume. Sadly, the balanced and well researched section on the events in
the early fifth century AD in Britain and Gaul is missing. This book is
thorough, but is a far cry from its predecessor.
While this book has its faults, it strengths are numerous. A
major one is Salway's stress on placing Roman Britain in context to the
whole Roman Empire. All too often books on Roman Britain take one of two
extremes--Britain was an unique cultural entity in the Empire, or it was
typical of the Empire as a whole. This book strives for a middle ground;
Salway argues for regionalism throughout the Empire and sees Britain as
being a "typical" region within it. One way he does this is by providing
an overview of Roman political history in each of the seventeen historical
chapters. Each opens with a review of events in the Empire and events in
Britain. As an example, Salway sees the abandonment of southern Scotland
after Agricola's campaigns as being due to Domitian's Dacian campaigns.
This approach is extended to the sections on material culture too.
Hadrian's Wall is an impressive structure, but Salway notes it was one of
many walls and fortresses built the second century AD Roman frontier.
Despite my negative remarks, I do recommend this book for courses
on the Roman Empire and Roman Britain. The book is visually exciting and
immensely readable. Furthermore, it contains a wonderful balance between
archaeology and history. You have to be aware though that this book does
have its faults and needs to be used with supplementary readings and
bibliographies.