Pub Date : 2023-09-04DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x23000181
C.E. Greenwood, L.J.E. Cramp, T. Hodos
This study examined absorbed organic residues in pottery to assess differences in subsistence practices in Roman Britain. Through this approach, we investigated foodways at a major urban site and a range of small towns, villas and farmsteads within its hinterland. The study revealed that consumption at Cirencester differed remarkably to consumption at other sites in the surrounding hinterland, with a greater contribution from pigs and/or chickens. Dairy products were a key contributor to the diet at rural sites, including a high-status villa. We contend that both findings are the result of extensification of food production. Thus, we show how reconstructing broad culinary patterns can reveal possible responses of inhabitants to the challenges of feeding the increasing population of Roman Britain.
{"title":"What's in the pots? Identifying Possible Extensification in Roman Britain Through Analysis of Organic Residues in Pottery","authors":"C.E. Greenwood, L.J.E. Cramp, T. Hodos","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x23000181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x23000181","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This study examined absorbed organic residues in pottery to assess differences in subsistence practices in Roman Britain. Through this approach, we investigated foodways at a major urban site and a range of small towns, villas and farmsteads within its hinterland. The study revealed that consumption at Cirencester differed remarkably to consumption at other sites in the surrounding hinterland, with a greater contribution from pigs and/or chickens. Dairy products were a key contributor to the diet at rural sites, including a high-status villa. We contend that both findings are the result of extensification of food production. Thus, we show how reconstructing broad culinary patterns can reveal possible responses of inhabitants to the challenges of feeding the increasing population of Roman Britain.","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41667168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-04DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x23000399
David Woods
Charles and Singleton have explained why Cassius Dio's claim (60.21.2) that elephants were among the equipment prepared for use in Britain during the Claudian invasion of a.d. 43 is probably untrue, if one assumes that by ‘elephant’ he means the animal of that name. It is argued here that the best explanation of this apparent error is that Dio preserves a reference to a type of military machine, probably a siege-tower, rather than to the animal of this name.
{"title":"Claudius and the Elephants for Britain (Cassius Dio 60.21.2)","authors":"David Woods","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x23000399","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x23000399","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Charles and Singleton have explained why Cassius Dio's claim (60.21.2) that elephants were among the equipment prepared for use in Britain during the Claudian invasion of a.d. 43 is probably untrue, if one assumes that by ‘elephant’ he means the animal of that name. It is argued here that the best explanation of this apparent error is that Dio preserves a reference to a type of military machine, probably a siege-tower, rather than to the animal of this name.","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43205392","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-31DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x23000211
J. Kreiner
In the Early Flavian Period over 30 military units were created or transferred for service in Britannia. Paul Holder maintained that these units arrived with Petillius Cerialis for Vespasian's expansionist plans and connected several new levies to the Batavian Revolt. Considering recent scholarship on Roman responses to revolts and Flavian geopolitics, however, this viewpoint requires revision. The author maintains that these units were transferred throughout the 70s c.e. as opportunities developed organically in Britannia. These newly levied units were not created in response to the Batavian Revolt, but due to the extraordinary and complex circumstances within Rome's northern frontiers after the post-Neronian civil wars. This article concludes with updated histories for the auxiliary units involved.
{"title":"Unit Levies after the Batavian Revolt and the Conquest of Northern Britannia","authors":"J. Kreiner","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x23000211","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x23000211","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 In the Early Flavian Period over 30 military units were created or transferred for service in Britannia. Paul Holder maintained that these units arrived with Petillius Cerialis for Vespasian's expansionist plans and connected several new levies to the Batavian Revolt. Considering recent scholarship on Roman responses to revolts and Flavian geopolitics, however, this viewpoint requires revision. The author maintains that these units were transferred throughout the 70s c.e. as opportunities developed organically in Britannia. These newly levied units were not created in response to the Batavian Revolt, but due to the extraordinary and complex circumstances within Rome's northern frontiers after the post-Neronian civil wars. This article concludes with updated histories for the auxiliary units involved.","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41772273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-23DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x23000193
John F. Drinkwater
I propose that the usual role of the Notitia Dignitatum's ‘Saxon Shore’ forts was, on both sides of the Channel, to control chronic, ‘everyday’ piracy and to support imperial operations. An exception occurred under Carausius and Allectus when the British forts were augmented to face likely Roman invasion. There was never any integrated cross-Channel system against concerted barbarian seaborne attack, Saxon or otherwise. The ‘Saxon Shore’ was a late fourth-century political expedient, confined to Britain and with minor military significance.
{"title":"The ‘Saxon Shore’ Reconsidered","authors":"John F. Drinkwater","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x23000193","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x23000193","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 I propose that the usual role of the Notitia Dignitatum's ‘Saxon Shore’ forts was, on both sides of the Channel, to control chronic, ‘everyday’ piracy and to support imperial operations. An exception occurred under Carausius and Allectus when the British forts were augmented to face likely Roman invasion. There was never any integrated cross-Channel system against concerted barbarian seaborne attack, Saxon or otherwise. The ‘Saxon Shore’ was a late fourth-century political expedient, confined to Britain and with minor military significance.","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47296918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-11DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x23000077
P. Marsden
{"title":"London in the Roman World. By D. Perring. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2022. Pp. xix + 573, illus. Price £40. isbn 9780198789000.","authors":"P. Marsden","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x23000077","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x23000077","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47318844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-15DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x2300017x
M. Fulford
{"title":"Life in Roman and Medieval Leicester. Excavations in the Town's North-east Quarter, 1958–2006. By R. Buckley, N.J. Cooper and M. Morris. Leicester Archaeology monograph 26. University of Leicester, Bristol, 2021. Pp. xxx + 608, illus. Price £49.95. isbn 9780957479265.","authors":"M. Fulford","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x2300017x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x2300017x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42127981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x23000132
A. Colombo
This paper investigates Roman writing habits through the evidence of metal styli. An assemblage of more than 400 styli from London constitutes the basis of the analysis, which explores their similarities with examples from other sites in Britain and continental Europe during the Imperial period. The geographical and social distribution of styli suggests that certain types were employed or made in specific locations by different social actors, and that the major political and military centres of the Empire shared a common material culture of writing. The analysis also suggests that styli types of the northern European regions possibly developed from ‘military styli’ brought by soldiers and bureaucrats during the conquest.
{"title":"Writing in Roman Britain and Continental Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Styli Found in London","authors":"A. Colombo","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x23000132","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x23000132","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This paper investigates Roman writing habits through the evidence of metal styli. An assemblage of more than 400 styli from London constitutes the basis of the analysis, which explores their similarities with examples from other sites in Britain and continental Europe during the Imperial period. The geographical and social distribution of styli suggests that certain types were employed or made in specific locations by different social actors, and that the major political and military centres of the Empire shared a common material culture of writing. The analysis also suggests that styli types of the northern European regions possibly developed from ‘military styli’ brought by soldiers and bureaucrats during the conquest.","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45382718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-09DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x23000156
Claire Millington
{"title":"Conquering the Ocean. By Richard Hingley. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2022. Pp. ix + 312, illus. Price £22.99. isbn 9780190937416.","authors":"Claire Millington","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x23000156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x23000156","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45791600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-13DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x23000144
U. Roth
{"title":"Dying Young. A Bioarchaeological Analysis of Child Health in Roman Britain. By A. Rohnbogner. BAR Publishing, Oxford, 2022. Pp. xvii + 174, illus. Price £50. isbn 9781407359595","authors":"U. Roth","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x23000144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x23000144","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45202865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-13DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x23000041
H. Cool
{"title":"Bridge over Troubled Water: The Roman Finds from the River Tees at Piercebridge in Context. By H. Eckardt and P.J. Walton. Britannia Monograph 34. Roman Society, London, 2021. Pp. xii + 316, illus. Price £30. isbn 9780907764489 (print); https://doi.org/10.5284/1085344 (ebook).","authors":"H. Cool","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x23000041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x23000041","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44749699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}