Roman Britain

This lively and authoritative account of Britain as a Roman province sets the Roman conquest and occupation of the island within the larger context of Romano-British society and how it functioned.

In the introductory chapters, Guy de la Be’doye`re outlines events from the Iron Age period immediately preceding the conquest in AD 43 to Emperor Honorius’s advice to the Britons in 410 to fend for themselves. He then discusses the issues facing Britons after the absorption of their culture by an invading army, including the role of government and the military in the province; religion, commerce, and technology; and day-to-day life both in towns and in the countryside.

Beautifully illustrated, the book includes reconstruction drawings, dramatic aerial views of Roman remains, and a wide array of images of Roman villas, mosaics, coins, pottery, and sculpture. The narrative is brought vividly to life by inscriptions found on tombstones and buildings and quotes from historians such as Tacitus and Dio, and there are feature boxes throughout devoted to topics ranging from the building of Hadrian’s Wall to the discovery of the Vindolanda writing tablets.