An edition of Romans and Barbarians (1998)
Romans and barbarians
four views from the Empire's edge, 1st century AD
By Williams, Derek
Publish Date
1998
Publisher
Constable
Language
eng
Pages
237
Description:
From 27 B.C. to A.D. 117, the Roman dreams of boundless empire began to falter. Romans and Barbarians sees the clash of cultures from the standpoint of four individuals whose curious fate it was to venture or be sent beyond the outer watchtowers of the Roman empire. They bore witness from the grassy steppe of Europe's southeastern corner; from across the grim Carpathians, towering beyond the Danube; from the fearsome German forest; and from beyond the Firth of Forth in the wilderness of northern-most Britain. Each portrait reveals different aspects of the Sarmatian, German, and Celtic peoples facing the empire's European frontiers. Together these four viewpoints provide a rich portrait of the classical and Iron Age worlds, mutually uncomprehending yet strangely unable to do without each other. The outcome is a skein of violence, tragedy, misadventure, and courage, offering a preview of the cruel but creative forces from whose fusion modern Europe was eventually to emerge.