Fortifications

Occasional Papers of the Society of Antiquaries of London, No. 20; 208 pages; Roman Fortresses and their Legions had its origins in a conference held in 1992, and contains 11 papers by leading Roman military archaeologists on the fortresses of Roman legions from Britain, Germany and the Danube region to the eastern empire. It will appeal to both general and specialist readers interested in Roman military archaeology. Historians, including the pioneer antiquaries, have long realised that the study of the legions is fundamental to our understanding of the history of the Roman Empire. The essays in this volume, contributed by some of today's foremost scholars of Roman army studies, range across the whole of the Roman Empire - including Britain, the Danube lands and the eastern provinces - and cover a wide variety of themes. Authors effectively combine evidence derived from ancient sources and inscriptions with the rapidly growing amount of information and detail obtained from archaeological excavation. The volume covers the period from Augustus, when the plans of permanent legionary fortresses were beginning to evolve, to the Late Empire, when the legion was a very different body from that with which we are familiar in the early imperial period. The essays are dedicated to the late George C Boon FSA, FRHistS to mark his vast contribution to Roman scholarship.