Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier | 
| Author: Alan K. Bowman
Publisher: Routledge
Category: Book
List Price: $33.95
Buy New: $30.55
You Save: $3.40 (10%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 789615
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 167
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.5
ISBN: 0415920256
Dewey Decimal Number: 936.2881
EAN: 9780415920254
ASIN: 0415920256
Publication Date: January 16, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Greetings, I ask that you send the things which I need for the use of my boys . . . which you well know I cannot properly get hold of here . . . --A Roman solider on the frontier of England around AD 100
Over three hundred letters and documents were recently discovered at the fort of Vindolanda, in Northern England, written on wooden tablets which have survived nearly 2,000 years. Painstakingly deciphered by Alan Bowman, the materials contribute a wealth of evidence for daily life in the Roman Empire.
Military documents testify to the lifestyle of officers and soldiers stationed at Vindolanda, and portraits of domestic life are included in letters between the officers' wives and a letter from home promising a solider a package of socks. The engaging texts from thirty-four tablets provide insight into the similarities of daily existence in the Roman Empire and the present.
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| Customer Reviews:
Organized for Scholars But Worth a Look for Laymen May 20, 2006
This book will tell you some interesting things about the social life of Roman army officers and their families, the manufacturing and building activities the men of the Roman auxiliaries did when not fighting, the process of Romanizing conquered provinces, and the networks of trade that sprung up to supply the Roman army in Britian. All this comes from some remarkably preserved bits of wood almost 2,000 years old.
But this isn't a friendly, popular archaeology book. Its bibliography and notes and organization clearly indicate an intended audience of scholars. The text seems to be organized as if nobody will read the book cover to cover. Specific conclusions and facts are repeated from chapter to chapter. I suspect it was thought that its intended academic audience would simply read whatever chapter was titled in line with their speciality.
Still, those who have seen the Vindolanda writings on tv or the British Museum may be curious to see full translations of many fragments, and students of Roman military administration or Roman Britain will certainly want to take a look. The book also includes several photos of the actual fragments and explains why the script doesn't seem to much resemble what we think of as Roman writing. Indeed, one of Bowman's major emphasis is what the Vindolanda fragments tell us about the evolution of Roman writing from Old Roman Script to New Roman Script.
A solid read December 10, 2004
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book was solid. It appears to be meant for people doing research for their own books, or academic work. So there is no real flow or story. It may just be me, but I did not catch the logic behind the arrangement of the chapters. That being said, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing what it was like to be a man on the frontline in the Imperial Roman world. Ever wonder how Rome was able maintain dominance over the world for so long with so few people? This provides great insight. Although the reading was not so exciting, I am very glad to have read this, book as it provides huge amounts of food for thought. I would have preferred to give this book 3.5 stars, but no such option.
 Very Disappointing August 29, 2003
4 out of 11 found this review helpful
The dry writing prevented me from getting excited about the subject. And at only 167 pages in flimsy paperback, this book is not worth the price it's listed for here at Amazon.
 An intriguing look at life on the Roman frontier. July 20, 2003
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
"Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier" is a fascinating analysis of a collection of wooden writing tablets found in the ruins of an old Roman fort in northern Britain. The tablets reveal much about the life of Roman soldiers on the British frontier, of whom most seem to have come from other peoples conquered by Rome. Through the tablets we are able to get a glimpse at the organization of the Roman army at that time and in that region, as well as at the domestic life in the Praetorium.The book also includes the Latin text of the most important tablets as well as photographs of the tablets and of other articles found at the site from that period (such as a leather sandal and a textile sock). The book also shows that the Roman army depended on written correspondence and therefore had a surprisingly high level of literacy, surprising at least to the modern person who assumes that all, or most, who lived in past ages were thoroughly ignorant. In fact, the higher-ups seemed to enjoy a higher lifestyle than one would expect from the frontier, being able to import such luxuries as vintage wine and pepper. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in Roman society in general or Roman military life on the frontier in particular.
I have this on my top shelf! January 21, 2001
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
If you want to have a feel for the thoughts, needs, and everyday interaction of the Roman soldier and family on the frontier, step into a time machine and go there, or, get this book and read the writings of the Camp commander's wife, the soldiers request for leave, and lists of purchases! You can't get a time machine, so this is the next best thing. The author helps you put the writings in the proper context, how they were found and about when they were written, but this book lets you look over the shoulder of the ancient Roman on the British frontier. Get it! You will read it because you are just as interested in the gossip as the commander's wife!
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