Roman Gaul and Germany

[Viggen]

Book Review by Ursus

 

English language scholarship tends to overlook Roman provinces - aside, of course, from Roman Britain. Anthony King attempts to partially correct that imbalance in Roman Gaul and Germany. Twenty years old and seemingly out of print, the book is worth an attempt to locate it from used vendors. It offers an interesting look into these two provinces, and perhaps a mixed review of Rome's efforts to civilize them.

 

Dr. Anthony King has authored previous books on Roman history, archaeology, military, and religion. He served as senior lecturer in Roman history and archaeology at King Alfred's College, Winchester. King's entreating prose will prove endearing to most readers. His sources are thoughtfully notated in the end, and the book comes included with some choice photographs, illustrations and maps....

 

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[Bryaxis Hecatee]

Looking at your review I know that it's a 20 years old book and thus the theories it suggests, which were indeed dominant at the time, are now dated. But the fact that it was one of the most modern book that you could find also shows that the current view of the english speaking world on these areas (especially nothern Gaul, Germany and Belgica) is missing about two or even three decades of research born, amongst other, from emergecy archeology. The discoveries made in such research, notably for the high speed train TGV/Eurostar/Thalys/ICE networks have allowed in depth archeological study of narrow but very long strips of land on hundreds of kilometers and discovered hundreds of settlements, necropolis, etc. which modified our view on thing. Studies on cities like Trier or K

[Centurion Marcus Valerius]

Thanks for the review and the comments about the discoveries associated with excavations for new train lines. When I lived in Spain, it was not uncommon to have archeologists on construction projects. There was a rule of thumb that the middle ages were a few meters below the surface and Roman relics were a few more meters underground. There was so much history to be uncovered that discovering ruins didn't stop construction unless they were deemed "important."

RSG

No Roads Lead to Rome