Customer Reviews

Romans and Barbarians: Four Views from the Empire's Edge, 1st Century AD

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found this book an interesting examination of the Roman empire's European neighbors in the first century CE from a 'Roman' viewpoint.
The prologue contains good information on different aspects of the Barbaricum and also acquaints us with a few past and present theories dealing with some of those aspects.
The first chapter, The Poet, is a story of the exile of P. Ovidius Naso (the poet Ovid) to the city of Tomis (later Constantsa) on the Black Sea. A very good depiction of the Sarmatians sets the background for the story. The second, The Lawyer, deals with the Varus disaster: the loss of the legions under his command to Armin (sic- author's compromise) as well as Rome's later revenge for this action. The origins of the statue of Hermann, the hunt for the actual battlefield and a wealth of historical detail makes this chapter a must read for anyone with an interest in Iron Age Germanic tribes and their interaction with the Romans. The third section, The Soldiers, is about the Roman invasions and conquests in Britain, from Julius Caesar to the end of the first century CE. There is a lot of information on the British Celts, much of which opposes many of the commonly held and romantic views of their culture.
The fourth chapter concerns the Dacians and their defeat by Trajan. Included is a lengthy discussion of both Trajan's Column and Trajan's Trophy, the latter with depictions of Suebian warriors. In this chapter mention is made of the cooperation between the Dacians, who were Sarmatian, and some Celts and Germans.
For those interested in either the 'barbarians' or the Romans of the first century, I recommend this book highly.

An historian turned writer, Williams provides a book that is most easy and enjoyable to read, but is packed with information you won't find anywhere else. I am especially impressed with how he tries to relate archeological findings with studies of ancient texts. As he tells us in the prologue, scholars in these disciplines rarely talk to each other, and indeed are often antagonistic. This tension is highlighted most dramatically in the chapter on the 'Teutoburg Forest' battle in Germany, where recent archeology tells us that the battle occurred not in a forest at all, but in an area between a hill and a marsh. I was astounded to read this: I had never seen it before because the information is published mainly in German, or is out of print. If you are interested in ancient history and can find this title, get it. I found my copy in a used book store.

Rome was surrounded by barbarian tribes as these tribes have not left us their written history they have become what the writer quite correctly states as prehistoric. Most of what we know of these people is what the Romans wrote about them. Which is not much! This is a problem as its very hard to write a study from Roamn literature about Roman and the Barbarians because there is so little written about it.

The book as a whole is certainly a good read. I found very interesting in particular, Ovid on the Black Sea and his life in a small town on the edge of the Roman empire. It was really interesting and I hope the writer writes some more about Ovid life there in a future book.

However unfortunately after reading this book I did not feel that I had learnt much about these barbarian tribes. A little about what Romans thought about these people. Overall I have not found anything new that has not been presented before in other books.

The writer also subscribes to a popular view that I don't, that the Roman never fell but evolved into medieval society.

I found this book to be surprisingly good, very easy to read and very enjoyable. The author offers four different views of life on the outer edges of the Roman Empire, from a Poet, a Lawyer, a Soldier and an Artist. The story flows along nicely with interesting views on the 'barbarians' encountered by Rome. I'm not an expert on this subject but I found the book held my interest and the author did no lose me in any of his explanations or descriptions of this period. This book has provoked a desire to read more about this period of history which to me indicates that the author has done a good job with this book. Well worth the time to sit down and read.

Interesting approach to history and the author has complete command of his subject. Fills in gaps in common historical knowledge. He is a scholar who writes and communicates well. If only there were more like him. Don't waste time reading reviews, buy this book and enjoy yourself.

In was my intention to give this book 5 stars with my previous review.