Roman London and Other Towns - G. Milne: Book of Roman London: Urban Archaeology in the Nation's Capital. Pp. 128, 92 ills. London: Batsford/English Heritage, 1995. Paper, £15.99. ISBN: 0-7134-6852-1. - J. Wacher: The Towns of Roman Britain. Pp. 480, 186 ills. London: B. T. Batsford, 1995 (2nd edn, 1st edn 1975). £47.50. ISBN: 0-7134-7319-3.

Abstract

The main focus of the London volume is on work conducted by the Department of Urban Archaeology (of which M. was a founder member) between its inception in 1973 and its demise in 1991, although the work of others is referred to where necessary. It is a synthesis bringing together information which has either not appeared elsewhere (70% of the DUA's excavations are, as yet, unpublished) or is hidden in the variety of publications in which it did appear. The main part of the book (Chapters 4-7) charts the chronological history of the Roman town. Some people may think that much which is still speculative concerning the history of Roman London has been stated as fact but M. has addressed this accusation on p. 12, where he points out that the book provides 'an (I stress an not the) interpretation of the archaeological evidence for the town's history' (the brackets and italics are M.'s own). If one can overcome any concern for mixing archaeology and history then M.'s work is of great use; it presents the non-specialist with an easily digestible account while at the same time providing much thought-provoking material to open up discussion among other archaeologists. One of the main drawbacks of this book is the complete lack of references. This could easily have been remedied by dividing the Further Reading section between chapters and then addressing certain topics. This lack of references and the amount of explanation of archaeological terms and practices label this as a book for the general reader although the specialist may be appeased by the incorporation of specific London examples to illustrate certain points. For example, Chapter 3 contains an examination of modern dating techniques but holds the interest of the specialist by showing how stratification, coins, pottery, and dendrochronology have actually been used in London. There is a similar approach in Chapter 9, where different methods of reconstruction are illustrated (literally) using examples from London. Chapter 11 ('Citizens') was written with Francis Grew and covers the evidence from inscriptions for the people who lived in Roman London. One such person was a brickmaker who wrote an inscription on the wet clay of a tile. The author of this chapter states that the brickmaker 'was clearly more or less literate and numerate' (p. 117). This may be an understatement, however, since we are told in R. G. Collingwood and R. P. Wright, The Roman Inscriptions of Britain, vol. II, fasc. 5 (Stroud, 1993), 2491.147 that this inscription is 'a rhyming couplet of accentual iambic dimeters'. Since this chapter gives us the names of some continental merchants taken from dipinti on amphorae, I would have liked to have seen some mention in this chapter of lead sealings, which once secured packages. While it is true that the majority of the London examples bear only the initials of tria nomina rather than full names, there are at least two examples which provide more information as to the name of the sealing authority. One of these names the Tertinii family (RIB 2411.304) ...