Scrinium Classical Antiquity

PARTOUT BURNS, J., (transl. and ed.), Romans. Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators. William B. Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids / Cambridge (UK), 2012. XXVII,428p. Hard bound with dust wrps. Series: The Church's Bible. € 25.00 (Antiquarian)

WEBSTER, G., Rome against Caratacus. The Roman Campaigns in Britain AD 48-58. Routledge, London / NewYork, 2003. Re-issued. 181p. ills.(B&W photographs and line drawings). Paperback. Initials stamp, date and personal library mark on free endpaper. 'Dr. Graham Webster has completed a valauble trilogy about the early years of the conquest of Britain (the other works are 'The Roman Invasion of Britain' and 'Boudica: the British Revolt against Rome A.D. 60). The new volume covers the years of the push through the West Midlands and into Wales against Caratacus. It deals rathers more briefly with the work of consolidation in the 50s by Scapula's successors. P. Ostroisu Scapula died a frustrated and broken man. Webster is sceptical about his generalship: 'All through his period of office in Britain Scapula had made hasty decisions without full consideration of the long-term consequences.' Webster has evolved an interesting format for his books. First comes a judicious narrative based on the ancient literary sources (a translation of Tacitus 'Annals 12.31ff. is included in an appendix), in which Webster's determination to extract as much information as possible from the text is only occasionally marred by strained and oversubtle interpretations of Tacitus' words. The historical narrative is followed by an attempt to dig up from a multiple of excavation reports and aerial photography any information which may illuminate or supplement the account. Potentially it is a frustrating task, because he had to deal with the earliest levels of most sites. Much has to be left to conjecture. Webster is never afraid of conjecture. From an accumulation of scraps of evidence he produces a convincint picture of the Scaplan frontier systems. Readers unfamiliar with the Welsh Borders may find themselves having to refer constantly to the maps. With appendices on the Roman army and other matters and with glossaries on Latin military terms this is a very useful book. The whole titlogy is a vivid testament to the ways in which archaeology in the hands of an acute scholar can enrich hisotry. Webster notes that Tacitus' account of the crucial battle with Caratacus is very unsatisfactory and the site difficult to lacate. (...) It may be doubted that Tacitus had either the information or the desire to offer a more accurate narrative.' (JEREMY J. PATERSON in Greece and Rome, 1983, p.96-97). € 19.50 (Antiquarian)

BOSWORTH SMITH, R., Rome and Carthage. The Punic Wars. Longmans Green, London, 1881. XXVI,251p. Ills.(B&W line drawings plus coloured folding maps). Original embossed cloth. Spine gilt titled. Head and tail spine a bit bumped. Joints a bit sratched. Series: Epochs of Ancient History. € 20.00 (Antiquarian)

WHITTAKER, C.R., Rome and its Frontiers. The Dynamics of Empire. Routledge, London / NewYork, 2004. X,246p. Cloth wrps. Nice copy. ‘C.R. Whittaker offers a collection of his essays on Roman foreign relations, frontier society, and the eastern trade written since his 1994 monograph ‘Frontiers of the Roman Empire’. . (…) W. has risen from being one of many controversialist working on the frontier to being the fair-minded chronicler and wise arbiter of the field. W. begins (…) with an admirable introductory survey entitled ‘Where are the Roman Frontiers Now?’ (…) ‘Mental Maps and Frontiers’ surveys Roman mapping technologies and moves beyond the usual gloomy assessment to investigate the positive consequences of Roman mapping habits for their understanding of their borders. And last on the strategy theme ‘Roman Frontiers and European Perceptions’ places the whole debate in its modern historical context. A pair of papers treat India. (…) The rest of the papers are more various. ‘The Importance of the Invasions in the Later Roman Empire’ is a useful survey of the evidence that the invading barbarian forces of Late Antiquity were not so very big or destructive after all, and a fine examination of the reasons why late antique authors nonetheless represented them as such.’ (J.E. LENDON in The Journal of Roman Studies, 2005, pp.257-258). ‘This is an important and useful book. Let us hope that Dr Whittaker will continue to develop his ideas, especially those on personification in ethnography and Roman relations with peoples outside the formal boundaries of the actual provinces.’ (D.B. SADDINGTON in The Classical Review (New Series, 2005, p.262). € 95.00 (Antiquarian)

BURNS, Th.S., Rome and the Barbarians, 100 B.C. - A.D. 400. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore / London, 2003. XIV,461p. Original grey cloth with dust wrps. Initials stamp, date and personal library mark on free endpaper. 'B. treats 500 years of Roman interaction with northerners, from the day of the Cimbri and Teutones until the morrow of the Gothic influx. (...) The principles first: (i) the most abiding contacts between Romans and northerners were those occurring in the Roman army; and (ii) the interactions were not the result of massive intrusions of northerners into Roma territory. Borrowing from the Greeks, the romans called the northerners 'barbari'- savages, stammering brutes. The cultural animus behind such a term is evident, and thus B. keeps a distance from it. He prefers another Roman characterization, one which the supposedly speech-impaired roughnecks were disposed to accept. The northerners were clients, their patrons at first being individual (and distinguished) Romans and later the Roman state. The Roman government maintained treaty relations with a leader, the principal client, and by extension the people he ruled. Now, having set perceptions and principles in order (pp.1-41 (...), B, is ready to generate the two dramas. From Caesar's Rhineland campaigns until the aftermath of Julian's victory at Argentoratum, the mingling of Romans and their neighbors in Northern Frontierland produced a composite society (...). Meanwhile, the second and perhaps more chaotic drama was unfolding in the centers of roman power. In the time of the Roman Dominate, some of the habits and even the players from Northern Frontierland came to the top of Roman society. (...) In general, B. has presented a remarkably even-handed portrait of Roman-northern action and reaction, as portrait made effective especially by the novel distancing from the Roman conception of 'the barbarian'. (...) B. has written a useful book.' (FRANK M. CLOVER in The Classical Review (New Series), 2005, pp.258-60). € 37.50 (Antiquarian)

BURN, R., Rome and the Campagna. An Historical and Topographical Description of the Site, Buildings, and Neighbourhood of Ancient Rome. Deighton, Bell / Goerge Bell, Cambridge / London, 1876. LXXXIII,484p. Richly ills. Cloth. Gilt embossed ornamental cover. (Gilt a bit fading). Upper edge gilded. Small personal library mark and name on free endpaper. With 85 illustrations by Jewitt, and 25 maps and plans. With an Appendix and additional plan illustrating recent excavations. From the library of the late Sir Kenneth James Dover. € 135.00 (Antiquarian)

SHERK, R. K., (ed. and transl.), Rome and the Greek East to the Death of Augustus. Cambridge University Press, 1984. 200p. Paperback. Name and date on half title. Series: Translated Documents of Greece and Rome, 4. This is a collection in English translation of Greek and Latin sources for the study of Greek and Roman history, sources which are mainly inscriptions and papyri. They do not include the major authors such as Polybius and Livy. Where those authors have provided us with the broad outline of the Roman presence in the Greek world, this collection allows the student and reader to penetrate beneath what they have to tell us and to see details otherwise unreported. Much of this documentary material having never before been translated into English, it has been all too often neglected in colleges and universities at all levels. The theme of the present collection is the Roman presence in the Greek East, the nature of the Roman hegemony, the diplomatic moves on both sides, and the reaction of the Greeks, during the period from the last decades of the third century BC to the death of Augustus in AD 14. It includes such materials as treaties of alliance and friendship, honorary decrees, official letters of Roman governors, decrees of the Roman senate, dedications of statues, Roman laws, reports of embassies, religious cults, legal decisions, loyalty oaths to Rome, athletic contests, calendars, and minutes of an audience in Rome given by the emperor. Brief commentary and notes accompany the translations, making this book a collection to be welcomed by students and teachers of ancient history. (Publisher's information). € 19.50 (Antiquarian)

OSGOOD, J., Rome and the Making of a World State 150 BCE - 20 CE. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (...), n.d.(>2018). X,274p. Paperback. 'This book has many strengths, not the least of which is Osgood’s ability to construct an engaging and insightful narrative. Each chapter begins with a vignette that grabs the reader’s attention while also providing a useful illustration of major themes that will be the focus of the chapter. Osgood’s skill at drawing out apparently minor details or events that have broad and important implications is also praiseworthy. There are also a number of helpful tables and figures that condense or illustrate information discussed in the text of the chapter. In addition, the book as a whole makes good use of a variety of evidence including literature, inscriptions, and material evidence such as coins and architecture. (...) Although this book does not offer new arguments or interpretations of this transitional period in Rome’s history, Osgood does construct a comprehensive and insightful narrative in a writing style that is engaging and clear. In addition, he provides a level of detail and precision that can be appreciated by fellow Roman historians while also being accessible to a general audience. This book is a pleasure to read.' (KATHERYN WHITCOMB in BMCR 2019.09.06). € 28.50 (Antiquarian)

LIVY, (LIVIUS), Rome and the Mediterranean. Books XXXI - XLV of The History of rome from its Foundation. Translated by H. Bettenson. With an Introduction by A.H. McDonald. Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1978. 699p. Paperback. Pages a bit yellowed. € 10.00 (Antiquarian)

BICOT, P., Rome Antique au IVe Siècle après J.-C.. Freal, Paris, 1955. 29,30(x3)p. ills.(B&W photographs and tracing paper with notes). Sewn. € 40.00 (Antiquarian)