WHAT WE ARE READING THIS MONTH: ALL THINGS ROMAN
The Latest Picks From The Roman Found Library.
The Roman Found Library is ever expanding and we are constantly on the lookout for new additions to add to our increasing reference archive. Naturally one of the first themes that we created within the library was as much as we could gather on all things Roman. It wouldn’t be Roman Found without the Roman!
We often get asked for the resources behind our history deep dives into the finds we uncover and a lot of the best sources can be tricky to find online with the best history locked away into the pages of books. After all it’s easy to close a web page and never find it again but you have a much higher chance of finding that page again in a physical book that’s not going anywhere, apart from onto the bookshelf of course. So for this month's top ten picks from the Roman Library read on to discover some new gems to add to your bookshelf.
ROMAN BRITAIN A NEW HISTORY
Guy de la Bedoyere
This beast of a history book is one of the latest additions into the Roman Library and can be easily picked up from the shelves of most of your high street bookstores. It’s a new revised edition reprinted in 2021 so contains some of the most up to date history that you can find and even includes some of the latest archaeological discoveries, most notably (for us metal detectorists at least!) The Frome Hoard, the largest Roman Coin discovery in Britain and the incredible Crosby Garrett Helmet. Both important Roman discoveries, made by metal detectorists, that have added to the history record and our understanding of Roman Britain.
At over 280 pages it’s no light reading that’s for sure but you’d struggle to find a more comprehensive and inclusive account on the history of Roman Britain specifically. In comparison to the whole Roman Empire, Roman Britain is a relatively small subject and therefore lacks in the research and compilation of research to create an entire overview on the subject as a whole. However this book does that exploring the chronology of Roman Britain as well as discussing in great depth the history and archaeology of a series of themes that create the rather unique Romano - British Society.
ROMAN BRITAIN AND WHERE TO FIND IT
Denise Allen and Mike Bryan
The absolute go to, for the planning of the next Roman Found Roman Tour. Again this book can be picked up from most of your high street bookstores and being published in 2020 it contains an up to date account of the hidden ruins of Roman Britain. But it’s not just a guide either as every chapter and location is packed with contextual history to help you learn the story of Roman Britain through its Roman remains.
Handily split into regions that are covered over 9 chapters, this book details all of the Roman Sites that remain to be visited in Roman Britain. Most of the sites include an address, postcode or directions to the location as well as a detailed description of the history of the site, how it would have been used and a star rating that references just how much Roman material there is left visible. We honestly take this book everywhere we go, with its handily catalogued chapters it’s easy to find locations nearby with just a flip of the book, adding a bit of Roman spice to every trip.
ROMAN BRITAIN OUTPOST OF THE EMPIRE
H.H. Scullard
An excellent and unexpected place that can throw up some of the best reference books out there are hidden in the eclectic shelves of charity and second hand book shops. And that’s exactly what happened for this latest addition to the Roman Found library as Ellie came across it on the shelves of a second hand book shop in Bakewell, for a mere £2 as well, not all reference books have to be expensive!
One of the good things about Ancient History like the Romans is that it is, well, Ancient. It’s been around for thousands of years. So it doesn’t really matter too much if you have an out of date reference book, in fact reading an older book as well as a more modern book will only further widen your understanding of the subject as a whole as you can read different interpretations over time. Plus we love a vintage find and you can’t beat those vintage illustrations that are often lacking in more recently published works.
This particular book was published in 1979 and contains a full overview of Roman Britain walking you through several themes whilst covering the timeline of Roman occupation in Britain. It’s full of photographs, maps and illustrations too to further aid the reader in understanding the complex archaeology and history of Roman Britain.
TREASURES OF ROMAN LINCOLNSHIRE
Antony Lee
Of course living and digging in Lincolnshire this has to be one of the prized books in the library, merely just for sitting and leafing through to admire all of the incredible archaeological discoveries of Roman Lincolnshire and dream about our own making an appearance within its pages.
This book was first published in 2016 and was created with the support of Lincolnshire's Entire Archaeological Community including the Portable Antiquities Scheme. It’s available in most high street bookstores and provides a thematic overview of Roman Lincolnshire using archaeological objects, monuments and excavations to weave the story of Lincolnshire within the wider context of Roman Britain. It covers everything from the landscape, roadways and rivers to everyday life, religion and literacy. It’s great for us, for reading about the wider context in which our own discoveries sit and to expand our knowledge on the area.
MAP OF ROMAN BRITAIN
Ordnance Survey
Whilst not quite being a ‘book’ in the general sense of the word this item in the library is an incredibly important resource for understanding Roman Britain. We own the third edition which was published in 1956.
As well as possessing an incredible pull out map this ‘book’ also possesses a historical introduction that runs you through the understanding at the time of the geography of Roman Britain and the recent discoveries that have led to the creation of this third and revised map.
The pull out map itself is huge and is covered in great detail marking all of the known locations of roads, colonias, walled towns, spas, minor settlements, temples and shrines, barrows, villas, bathhouses, kilns, mines, fortresses, forts, signal stations, temporary camps, aqueducts, canals, if there's a feature in Roman Britain no matter how small, then its on this map. It’s an incredible compilation of archaeological research and discovery that illustrates everything that all of the history books on Roman Britain are conveying, the sheer breadth and spread of Roman Britain.
ANCIENT AND ROMANO BRITISH BROOCHES
Richard Hattatt
Possibly one of the hardest books to get hold of within the Roman Found Library is the Ancient and Romano - British Brooches Book published in 1982 by British Collector Richard Hattatt. This book compiles together a huge amount of information that previously was practically inaccessible being split over a vast amount of articles, journals and excavation reports. Not only this but much of the illustrations within the book are from Richard Hattatt’s personal and incredible ancient brooch collection.
It is the passionate and detailed work of a man dedicated to spreading the knowledge of ancient brooches. And it is one hell of a reference guide, taking you through the history and development of brooches right from the British Iron Age up to the Romano British Period, even including a brief chapter on other brooches from different periods of mention such as Anglo Saxon brooches and Greek Brooches.
The illustrations are second to none and there’s no better book for understanding your ancient brooches than this one, however it is worth a mention that you can buy the Richard Hattatt’s Visual Catalogue of Ancient Brooches easily and whilst this book doesn’t contain the history and context of his Ancient and Romano British Brooches it is an important visual resource for the dating and identification of ancient brooches.
ROMAN COINS
C.H.V. Sutherland
Possibly one of the heftiest beasts in the Roman Found Library has got to be this Roman Coins publication by C.H.V. Sutherland that was first published in 1974. The book aims to give the rather complicated and complex history of Roman coinage in a narrative form to make for better understanding by the reader and it is an excellent reference for digging deep into the context and meaning behind Roman Coinage and the importance of the symbolism included upon them.
The book also includes both black and white and colour photographs of a specially selected catalogue of Roman Coins to explain their place in Rome’s history as well as the importance of their art. It covers coins from Republican and Imperial times right through to the Last Emperor of the West, Romulus Augustulus. For those wanting a concise and detailed report of Roman Coinage and its place within the context of wider Roman History at the time then this is the book for it.
IDENTIFYING ROMAN COINS
Richard Reece and Simon James
This small reference book first published in 1986 was actually recommended to us by our FLO as an important and handy small guide to getting to grips with the identification of Roman Coins. It focuses specifically upon site finds that are likely to be found in Britain and contains a short but concise overview of the Roman Coinage of Britain, what it consists of and what features to look out for to aid in the identification and dating.
It is also packed with illustrations, several pages of common types of coins and their emperors split into broad date ranges to help with narrowing down the identification as well as a guide to contemporary copies and a size guide to narrow down the type of coin. Whilst this book may not always identify specifically what coin you possess it does help you learn an important understanding towards identifying Roman Coinage and the periods that they have come from.
LATE ROMAN BRONZE COINAGE AN ATTRIBUTION GUIDE FOR POORLY PRESERVED COINS
Guido Bruck
This book is a rather specific reference guide, but one of the most handy of all as it focuses purely on late Roman Bronze Coinage, probably the most common Roman Coin find there is. It is a 2014 publication of a translation of the original text written by Austrian Numismatist Guido Bruck and is possibly the most useful book in the Roman Found Library.
One thing that makes this book so incredibly useful to the identification of Roman Coins is the illustrations, and there's hundreds of them. Every single type of reverse that could appear on your Roman Coin is illustrated in the tables at the beginning and then once the reverse is identified there is a further related table later on in the book that narrows down the identification even more allowing you to get as specific as emperor and even mint. To achieve this from a Roman Coin in relatively poor condition is only a feat achievable through the incredibly detailed and in depth illustrations that are broken down in this book to give you as much information as possible about your coin. A digging reference essential.
POTTERY IN ROMAN BRITAIN
Vivien G. Swan
But of course it's not all about the coins and it's not always metal finds that we find ourselves discovering in the fields. Pottery finds have got to make up the second largest group of finds to come out of metal detecting, if you're in the right field of course, and we often find a lot of Roman Pottery in particular.
So that brings us to the small publications of the Shire Archaeology Series, the whole series in itself contains loads of small reference books on one topic that contain excellent and condensed history and information to add to your knowledge and understanding of the topic. This one in particular is all about Roman Pottery and provides important context and history to most of the wares of Roman Pottery found in Britain, it even runs in chronological order placing the pottery types within a timeframe of the Roman Occupation.
If you have any topics in particular that you would like to see the next Library shelf picks from then do let us know!
