vespasian70 Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 Hello all! I have seen two different books available about the battle of Mons Graupius, 'A battle lost: Romans and Caledonians at Mons Graupius' by G. Maxwell and 'The Roman Conquest of Scotland, The Battle of Mons Graupius AD 84' by J. E. Fraser. I'd like to know what anyone thinks about them and which one would be the better choice. Both books are fairly recent (Maxwell's 1990, Fraser's 2005), but I suppose Fraser's being just a couple of years old, reflects more recent scholarship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 Hello all! I have seen two different books available about the battle of Mons Graupius, 'A battle lost: Romans and Caledonians at Mons Graupius' by G. Maxwell and 'The Roman Conquest of Scotland, The Battle of Mons Graupius AD 84' by J. E. Fraser. I'd like to know what anyone thinks about them and which one would be the better choice. Both books are fairly recent (Maxwell's 1990, Fraser's 2005), but I suppose Fraser's being just a couple of years old, reflects more recent scholarship. I haven't read either, nor am I really familiar with the works, but your presumption on recent scholarship probably has merit. Archaeologists in the UK have been highly active in recent years and I would feel comfortable that any finds over that period would be included in the newer book. In digging around some reviews of the book, it appears that one of Fraser's major contentions is that the traditional site of the battle is invalid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vespasian70 Posted October 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 I ordered Fraser's book today because I'm curious about his conclusions concerning the battle's location. It would be a wonderful thing if Mons Graupius can finally be located! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted November 26, 2007 Report Share Posted November 26, 2007 (edited) I ordered Fraser's book today because I'm curious about his conclusions concerning the battle's location. It would be a wonderful thing if Mons Graupius can finally be located! I must admit to not having read either book but as far as the location of Mons Graupius is concerned a more recent book (Wooliscroft and Hoffman (2006) Rome's First Frontier' ) which I have almost completed raises the spectre that although a lot of time and effort has gone into such research and the search for the 'true' location of the battle it which may in reality have been little than a skirmish. Hoffmann in particular has written a fair bit in recent years pointing out the 'literary antecedent's of Tacitus Agricola [N.B. while apparently working on her own forth coming translation] and querying precisely how much historical 'truth' it actually contains and some of this material has been included in Chapter 7 of this book. If her contention and interpretation of the available evidence is in any way correct it does call into question whether there ever was such a battle or if there was precisely how big it actually was and consequently how likely any evidence of it would have survived a few years afterwards let alone almost 1900 years. [edited for spelling and clarifying Hoffmann's apparent publication intention] Edited November 27, 2007 by Melvadius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vespasian70 Posted November 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2007 Thanks for the recommendation Melvadius! Looks like an interesting read....I will check it out. Btw, I bought Fraser's book and quite enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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