Customer Reviews

Roman Britain: Outpost of the Empire

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H.H. Scullard's "Roman Britain" is ideal for anyone with a strong interest on this historical period. For me, it served as a satisfying introduction. Also, because of its contents and the way it is organized, serious students can use this book as a good reference on many of the topics surrounding the history of Roman Britain.

The author skillfully blends a wide range of topics to comprehensively cover the subject. Along with the history of Rome's initial invasions, conquests, and eventual collapse in Britain, I especially enjoyed the explanations of the various architectures found throughout the island. From temples, to forts, villas, city plans, and Hadrian's Wall, Scullard puts the reader where he can see the landscape of everyday life for Roman Britons. He definitely strengthened my desire to criss cross the English countryside. And when I do, I am sure I'll have this book in a handy backpack.

The only downside of this book for the general reader is that, in being comprehensive, it is sometimes dry, dry, dry. This is a clear, authoritative, and very well illustrated book. So it follows that interspersed between warlords and military governors there are significant portions on the mineral content of Britain or the various pottery found at different excavations. If you're going to cover a subject well, you might as well cover it all. I couldn't fault the author for that, so I just read on.

After reading Scullard's "Roman Britain" I thought that everything I will ever read on this subject will be to support what I've learned in this book. If you have the time and will to dive into this subject, get Scullard's book.

Scullard provides us with a vivid portrait of Roman Britain drawing upon classical scholarship and archealogical finds. The book is abundantly illustrated (125 illustrations) which greatly aids the reader. Highly recommended for the general reader and student!

H. H. Scullard presents the story of England's earliest period of recorded history in comprehensive if dry fashion, with the island nation and future global colonizer first finding its feet ironically enough as a prosperous backwater colony of the Roman empire.

It began with a raid by Julius Caesar in 55 BC. It ended 500 years later with Saxons and Scots invading both coasts, Caledonians coming down from Scotland, and a Roman emperor who effectively told his loyal British subjects that they were on their own. In between was a mostly prosperous and peaceful period, a relative oasis from the turmoil embroiling the rest of the known world.

Was Roman colonization really such a good thing? Early on, Scullard quotes the famous Roman historian Tacitus on how colonization went down: "And so, little by little, the Britons were seduced into alluring vices: arcades, baths, and sumptuous banquets. In their simplicity they called such novelties 'civilization,' when in reality they were part of their enslavement."

Yet it's hard to see where they got burned. Other than Tacitus, Scullard makes a case for the positive, pointing out how the little that remains in evidence of Roman Britain speaks to improved farming, widespread wealth, and the rise of a middle class. Yet he also points to cases of internal strife and occasional revolt. If Scullard worked more at this theme, it might have captured something more interesting than dates, names, and old pottery shards.

The book is splendidly organized. Each chapter takes on a single element of the larger story, such as the pre-conquest period or the economic underpinnings of the colony. A generous helping of maps, illustrations, and photographs are incorporated in such a way that they appear in relevant sections of the text. At times, such as when Scullard describes the military and engineering marvel that was Hadrian's Wall, protecting against invasion from Scotland, the book manages to instill genuine awe.

But the dryness can be a minus, facts laid out without the undergirding of a theme or idea. The book seems to have been based off lectures Scullard gave as a professor; he frequently references facts as if they are already known to the reader from prior readings, something you can do in a classroom but not with a more casual reader.

The book was published in 1979, which means we miss out on some later archaelogical finds like the discovery of a possible Roman fort at Cawdor. This would extend the Empire's reach farther north than Scullard suggests here. But Scullard manages the facts of what was known rather well, and the book isn't outdated so much as incomplete.

I guess I'm holding Scullard at fault for interesting me but not satisfying me, hardly the worst thing a historian can do. The prose is not engaging enough for a layman, and the text probably not deep enough for the serious student. But anyone with a casual interest in the story of Roman Britain may find him- or herself stimulated enough by this book to probe further.