The Romanization of Britain
An Essay in Archaeological Interpretation

Reissue of this acclaimed and influential study of cultural change, with a new introduction reviewing the ongoing debate about Romanization.

Martin Millett (Author), Charlotte Higgins (Foreword by)

9781009485524, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 January 2025

290 pages
24.6 x 16.9 x 1.6 cm, 0.51 kg

'This is a thoughtful and absorbing monograph which deserves the widest readership and discussion. It is brimful of ideas and insights, underpinned by an impressive series of tables, which collect together a vast array of data. Fundamental to the approach is an emphasis on theoretical and statistical considerations, coupled with a close awareness of the work of some contemporary ancient historians.' Timothy W. Potter, Former Keeper of Prehistory and Early Europe at the British Museum

The Romanization of Britain was greeted, on first publication, as an innovative study of cultural change and interaction, offering a bold new perspective on Roman Britain based on archaeological evidence. It set out to explore the social dynamics of cultural change from a local perspective by looking at the patterns of interaction between provincial peoples and imperial power. Drawing together a wide range of excavated data as well as textual evidence, it provided a new synthesis of the province whilst offering an alternative way of understanding cultural change in the Roman Empire more widely. Its publication served to catalyse debate, stimulating very considerable discussion and generating a wide variety of responses in a range of publications. This revised edition adds a new introductory essay exploring the genesis of this classic work and reviewing the subsequent debate, while also recalibrating the author's perspective on cultural change within the wider Roman provinces.

List of illustrations
List of tables
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Romanization of Britain in perspective
1. The nature of Roman imperialism
2. The pattern of later Iron Age societies
3. The invasion strategy and its consequences
4. The emergence of the 'civitates'
5. The maturity of the 'civitates'
6. Development at the periphery
7. The developed economy
8. Later Roman rural development
Epilogue: decline and fall?
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1]