Imperial policy on the western frontier of the Roman Empire was the means by which the government controlled the frontier residents. This book takes a topical approach to this study of the frontier: subjects covered include the army, farming, commerce, manufacturing, religion and Romanization.

Discusses Rome's challenges in governing over different cultures, organizing an army made of non-Romans, inculcating Roman values and religion, feeding the army, trading, urbanizing, and industrializing. To make this work accessible to readers who lack an extensive background in Roman history, all Latin expressions are defined in the course of the discussion, a glossary is included, and modern as well as contemporary Latin names of places are used. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Slovakia was situated at the edge of the classical world but still was a close neighbour of the Roman Empire. The Roman influence left distinct traces not only at the territories along the frontier but also in its broader fore field.

With its succinct analysis of the overriding issues and detailed case-studies based on the latest archaeological research, this social and economic study of Roman Imperial frontiers is essential reading. Too often the frontier has been represented as a simple linear boundary. The reality, argues Dr Elton, was rather a fuzzy set of interlocking zones - political, military, judicial and financial. After discussion of frontier theory and types of frontier, the author analyses the acquisition of an empire and the ways in which it was ruled. He addresses the vexed question of how to define the edges of provinces, and covers the relationship with allied kingdoms. Regional variation and different rates of change are seen as significant - as is illustrated by Civilis' revolt on the Rhine in AD 69. He uses another case-study - Dura-Europos - to exemplify the role of the army on the frontier, especially its relations with the population on both sides of the border. The central importance of trade is highlighted by special consideration of Palmyra.

This study investigates the development of urbanism in the north-western provinces of the Roman empire. Key themes include continuity and discontinuity between pre-Roman and Roman ‘urban’ systems, relationships between juridical statuses and levels of monumentality, levels of connectivity and economic integration, and regional urban hierarchies.

This book examines Gibbon's interpretations of empire and the intellectual context in which he formulated them against a background of the eighteenth- and late twentieth-century knowledge of late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Gibbon's ideas of empire, his understanding of monarchy and the balance of power, his sources and working methods, the structure of the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, his attitude towards the barbarians, the contrasting treatments of the eastern and western Empire, his appreciation of past civilizations and their material remains, his audience and their reactions - contemporary and Victorian - are considered in the light of the latest research on eighteenth-century intellectual history on the one hand and on late antiquity, Byzantium and the Middle Ages on the other. The book breaks new ground in taking the form of a dialogue between experts on the fields about which Gibbon himself wrote, and eighteenth-century intellectual historians.

A History of the Roman People provides a comprehensive analytical survey of Roman history from its prehistoric roots in Italy and the wider Mediterranean world to the dissolution of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity ca. A.D. 600. Clearly organized and highly readable, the text's narrative of major political and military events provides a chronological and conceptual framework for chapters on social, economic, and cultural developments of the periods covered. Major topics are treated separately so that students can easily grasp key concepts and ideas.

Shows how Europe's barbarians, strengthened by centuries of contact with Rome on many levels, turned into an enemy capable of overturning and dismantling the mighty Empire.

Previously published in hardcover as War: The Definitive Visual History War has been central to the rise and fall of civilizations since the dawn of time. The history of warfare first emerges from legend in Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, around 3,000 years before the birth of Christ. The first armies that we know about fought in Sumeria, Ancient Egypt, and Syria. From these first battles, fought with spears or axes on horseback or on foot, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Warfare traces the campaigns and conflicts that have shaped world history and examines the evolution of military tactics and technology. The story of the development from these primitive battles to the global conflicts of the 20th century and the modern "War on Terror" is the story of humanity itself, reflecting the same political, cultural and technological forces that have defined human history. From longbows to laser-guided missiles; from chariots to jet aircraft; and from Samurai warriors to SAS soldiers, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Warfare provides the definitive visual chronicle of this intense, brutal, and often heroic tale. War combines a coherent and compelling spread-by-spread historical narrative with a wealth of supporting features on weapons and technology, strategy and tactics, the experience of war, and history's fighting elites to recount the epic 5,000-year story of warfare and combat through the ages.