The Edge of the Empire

by Bronwen Riley

Overview

AD 130. Rome is the dazzling heart of a vast empire and Hadrian its most complex and compelling ruler. Faraway Britannia is one of the Romans' most troublesome provinces: here the sun is seldom seen and "the atmosphere in the country is always gloomy."What awaits the traveller to Britannia? How will you get there? What do you need to pack? What language will you speak? How does London compare to Rome? Are there any tourist attractions? And what dangers lurk behind Hadrian's new Wall?Combining an extensive range of Greek and Latin sources with a sound understanding of archaeology, Bronwen Riley describes an epic journey from Rome to Hadrian’s Wall at the empire's northwestern frontier. In this strikingly original history of Roman Britain, she evokes the smells, sounds, colors, and sensations of life in the second century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681771779
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	05/03/2016
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	842,217
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Bronwen Riley is the head of guidebooks at English Heritage. She studied Classics at Oxford and then Byzantine Art at the Courtauld Institute. She lives in England.

Table of Contents

List of Maps 9

Introduction: Evoking the Past 13

I Rome, Heart of Empire 21

II Setting Sail from Ostia 42

III Through Gaul to Ocean 63

IV Arrival in Britannia 79

V London, Seat of Power 90

VI Westwards to Silchester 112

VII Bath, a Tourist Hotspot 127

VIII The Fortress and Amphitheatre at Caerleon 149

IX A New Forum at Wroxeter, Capital of Cattle Country 169

X To the Wall 182

Postscript: Beyond AD 130: People, Politics and Places 216

Checklist of Latin and English Place Names 232

Bibliography 235

Notes on the Text 253

Acknowledgements 305

Index 307

Editorial Reviews

…[an] erudite and fascinating work concerning the Roman occupation of Britain…Dear reader, if you live like me in some long liberated colony of one or the other, consult this fascinating volume for a guide not merely to its physical relics but to its meanings and its attitudes, which may perhaps be your own. If not, read the book anyway to find what your destiny has missed.

The New York Times Book Review - Jan Morris

06/27/2016
Riley, head of guidebooks at English Heritage, imagines a second-century C.E. travelogue based around Sextus Julius Severus's journey from Rome to Britain upon assuming his post as governor of Britannia in 130 C.E. Making clear that much is based on conjecture, Riley builds on documentary and archaeological evidence, and borrows relatable information from other areas of the empire or adjacent time periods in Britannia to provide a logically plausible scenario. She begins with a sketch of the Eternal City itself, moving northward across Gaul to Britannia and taking time along the journey to describe various aspects of life for a Roman citizen of the time. Once in Britain, Riley follows the course that Severus might have taken on his first tour of the province, giving precise distances between stops as well as including known features of each settlement and both Roman and modern names. A postscript delivers a further brief history of Britain under Roman rule and an idea of what a modern visitor might see at the various sites. There are maps and diagrams scattered throughout that help to bring this journey to life. Riley gives readers a reasonable snapshot of life as it might have been in second-century Britain. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Riley manages to bring multi-faceted, polyglot and multi-cultural Roman Britain to vibrant life.

Country Life

This wonderful book is a testament to this haunting land.

The Sunday Times

Erudite and fascinating. Dear reader, if you live like me in some long liberated colony of one or the other, consult this fascinating volume for a guide not merely to its physical relics but to its meanings and its attitudes, which may perhaps be your own. If not, read the book anyway to find what your destiny has missed.

Jan Morris

An artful combination of history, archeology, and the imagination.

Mary Beard

Bronwen Riley writes superbly.

The Independent

Head off on an epic journey across the Roman Empire in this entertaining read. Bronwen Riley is a warm and insightful guide to the sights, sounds, artifacts and people you encounter along the way.

History Revealed

This wonderful book is a testament to this haunting land.

?The Sunday Times

Bronwen Riley writes superbly.

?The Independent

05/01/2016
Imagine you are a newly appointed provincial governor to the distant and rainy island of Britannia, there to represent Roman emperor Hadrian. How do you arrive? What cities do you tour, and what are the most important activities? This thought experiment underpins Riley's (editor, English Heritage Red Guides) journey of Roman-occupied Britain. She focuses on the era of Hadrian (r. 117–38 CE), in particular the eponymous Wall bordering Caledonia. As a journalist and heritage guide editor rather than a scholar, the author's approach is with an eye to engagement as opposed to historical accuracy. To ensure a smooth narrative as her real-life governor Julius Severus travels around Britannia, the author makes choices based on the existing evidence, with footnotes and copious endnotes to justify her reasoning. This takes readers to second-century Britannia more effectively than a traditional chronicle and serves as a guide to destinations in modern Britain. VERDICT Roman history and British history readers will relish this entertaining study of Britannia; travel fans will find this unusual take on the genre appealing as well.—Margaret Heller, Loyola Univ. Chicago Libs.

Library Journal

★ 2016-02-09
A delightful trip from Rome to Hadrian's Wall—in C.E. 130. On the surface, the book shouldn't be that interesting: descriptions of roads long gone, cities renamed, and modes of transportation gladly forgotten. Still, classics scholar and guidebook author Riley (Great Yarmouth Row Houses and Greyfriars' Cloister, 2011, etc.) has an impressive gift for travelogue. She tells the story of Sextus Julius Severus, the new governor of Britain, an imperial province as opposed to a mere senatorial one. Riley's descriptions of the roads along her journey will make readers want to visit for themselves. At the mouth of the Tiber River is Portus Ostientis, built by Claudius to hold 400 ships, even the enormous grain ships from Alexandria. A quick sail to Narbonne and passage through one of the three Gauls proves to be a fairly comfortable trek with good roads and hotels. The author deftly tells of alternate routes—and their advantages and problems—to Oceanus, an "immeasurable expanse of sea full of monsters and unfathomable tides at the ends of the earth"—now known as the English Channel. In London, the author takes off on a remarkable story of the towns and roads of Britain in the year 130. The maps and descriptions of the route through London, Bath, Wales, and north to the wall are informative, scholarly, and colorful. Along the way, Riley also discusses the druids, curious offerings to the gods, curse tablets, Roman baths, and other archaeological findings. Of course, the tale of Hadrian's Wall could make a book on its own, but the author has higher ambitions, and she achieves them in this successful evocation of "a journey to Britain in the Roman period." Great fun for anyone with even a slight knowledge of Roman and English history and geography—or those curious about them.

Kirkus Reviews