Late Roman Silver: The Traprain Treasure in Context. Edited by F. Hunter and K. Painter . Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2013. Pp. xlv + 446, colour illus. Price: £50.00. isbn 978 1 908332 02 8.

Abstract

Petts (to my mind more convincingly) uses textual, epigraphic and material evidence to make the case for strong ecclesiastical and secular connections between the SouthWest and northern Gaul, arguing that the long-distance links of the SouthWest have been over-emphasised. Knight and Evans focus on Wales and the importance of the rebellion of Magnus Maximus in A.D. 383, noting the intriguing appearance of Magnus Maximus in medieval Welsh legends and genealogies in the form of Macsen Wledig, although Evans concludes (contra White) that any continuities between late Roman and medieval Wales are later constructions and that elements of romanitas in medieval Wales were reintroduced in the ninth century and later. Scotland and the North are discussed in papers by Birley and Hunter who both highlight the fluid situation of the fifth century, although Hunter argues that for northeast Scotland the key period was actually the third century. He further suggests that sites such as Traprain Law indicate that warlords were able to take advantage of the complex situation in the wider world to which they were connected. The remarkable long sequence at Vindolanda also continued into the fifth/sixth century, where an individual called Brigomaglos is attested, suggested by Birley to be a warlord based at the site (a situation possibly paralleling that at Birdoswald). This idea of fragmentation and different local responses to a changing situation comes through very strongly in many of the papers. As Collins and Breeze note in their paper on the late military situation, there were three or four separate armies in Britain who followed very different trajectories. This picture of a myriad different 'ends' and 'continuities' parallels that which has emerged for other areas of the Roman Empire in recent years and in Britain the data generated through research, the PAS and developer-funded excavation have created a much more detailed picture than was the case even a decade ago. This important volume richly illustrates the quality of the data and the possibilities that arise from a more nuanced and combined treatment of material and textual evidence within the broader context of the Empire. However, as Millett notes in his concluding remarks, the ongoing problems of chronology continue to hinder further understanding of this key period of Britain's history.