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Roman identity is one of the most interesting cases of social identity because in the course of time, it could mean so many different things: for instance, Greek-speaking subjects of the Byzantine empire, inhabitants of the city of Rome, autonomous civic or regional groups, Latin speakers under ‘barbarian’ rule in the West or, increasingly, representatives of the Church of Rome. Eventually, the Christian dimension of Roman identity gained ground. The shifting concepts of Romanness represent a methodological challenge for studies of ethnicity because, depending on its uses, Roman identity may be regarded as ‘ethnic’ in a broad sense, but under most criteria, it is not. Romanness is indeed a test case how an established and prestigious social identity can acquire many different shades of meaning, which we would class as civic, political, imperial, ethnic, cultural, legal, religious, regional or as status groups. This book offers comprehensive overviews of the meaning of Romanness in most (former) Roman provinces, complemented by a number of comparative and thematic studies. A similarly wide-ranging overview has not been available so far.
The ninth century Historia Brittonum is the first source that mentions Arthur and lists twelve battles, including the famous Badon Hill. Much ink has been spilt debating the identity and location of Arthur. This book will demonstrate that some of the battles can indeed be located with some confidence. Rather than fit a specific theory as to his identity the battles are placed in the fragmenting provincial, political and military context of the late fifth and early sixth century Britain. At a time of rapid changes in cultural identity and a significant increase in Germanic material culture and migration. These battles might be expected to be found along borders and in zones of potential confl...
King Arthur and the Battle for Britannia is the last in a series of three books. The first, King Arthur: Man or Myth, weighed the evidence for and against a historical figure. The second, The Battles of King Arthur, looked in detail at the famous battle list from the Historia Brittonum. Having looked at the questions of whether and where, this final book takes on the different question of who was Arthur? The book is intended to save readers time and money wading through the scores of competing theories. It explains the problems with many of these theories to date, their failure to gain widespread support and why many historians remain sceptical about the existence of a historical Arthur. The...
The book takes a new look at the archaeological and literary evidence and focuses on the fragmenting Diocese, provincial and civitas structures of post-Roman Britain. It places events in the context of increased Germanic immigration alongside evidence for significant continuation of population and land use. Using evidence from fifth century Gaul it demonstrates dynamic changes to cultural identities both within and across various groups. Covering the migration period it describes the foundation stories of Hengest and Horsa in Kent, Cerdic and Cynric, first kings of the West Saxons and Ælle founder of the kingdom of the South Saxons. Ælle is the first king Bede describes as holding imperium...
The 2004 film, King Arthur, starring Clive Owen and Keira Knightley, introduced the audience to Lucius Artorius Castus as the basis to the much later legend of King Arthur. The book analyses the theories behind the film which link this second to third century Roman officer with the medieval Arthurian legends and a possible historical figure in post-Roman Britain. This first full academic study of Artorius Castus offers a number of potential timeframes and details his career through a turbulent and bloody period of Roman history, serving as primus pilus of V Macedonia and praefectus of the Sixth Legion in northern Britain. Turning to the historical narrative of the film it covers the archaeol...
This history of early medieval Britain sheds light on the real King Arthur and settles longstanding historical misconceptions about the period. The Long War for Britannia examines some two centuries of ‘lost’ British history, while providing decisive proof that the early records of the time are far more reliable than many scholars believe. Historian Edwin Pace also demonstrates that King Arthur and Uther Pendragon are the very opposite of medieval fantasy—even if different British regions had very different memories of these post-Roman British rulers. Some remembered Arthur as the ‘Proud Tyrant’, a monarch who plunged the island into civil war. Others recalled him as the British general who saved Britain when all seemed lost. The deeds of Uther Pendragon replicate the victories of the dread Mercian king Penda. Pace demonstrates how these authentic—yet radically different—narratives have distorted the historical record in way that persist today.
As part of its centenary celebrations in 2010, the Roman Society organised a number of conferences across the UK exploring the theme of AD410 and the "End of Roman Britain". This volume contains a selection of 16 papers delivered at these conferences, tackling the debate from different angles (historical, archaeological, literary) and setting out the current state of research. An introduction by Simon Esmonde Cleary serves to set the volume in the context of the study of Roman Britain over the last forty years, since the inception of the Society's journal, Britannia, and a conclusion by Martin Millett highlights some of the key issues raised in the volume, and points to possible ways forward for future studies.
The first in-depth study of Arthurian places in late medieval and early modern England and Wales. Places have the power to suspend disbelief, even concerning unbelievable subjects. The many locations associated with King Arthur show this to be true, from Tintagel in Cornwall to Caerleon in Wales. But how and why did Arthurian sites come to proliferate across the English and Welsh landscape? What role did the medieval custodians of Arthurian abbeys, churches, cathedrals, and castles play in "placing" Arthur? How did visitors experience Arthur in situ, and how did their experiences permeate into wider Arthurian tradition? And why, in history and even today, have particular places proven so pow...