The Ruin of Roman Britain by James Gerrard

The Ruin of Roman Britain by James Gerrard

Regular price
Checking stock...
Regular price
Checking stock...
Summary

This book examines the process of change that transformed Roman Britain into a patchwork of early medieval kingdoms. It also discusses new archaeological and historical evidence to argue against warfare and economic collapse as explanations. Instead, emphasis is placed on how elites attempted to maintain their control and power in a time of change.

The feel-good place to buy books
  • Free US shipping over $15
  • Buying preloved emits 41% less CO2 than new
  • Millions of affordable books
  • Give your books a new home - sell them back to us!

The Ruin of Roman Britain by James Gerrard

How did Roman Britain end? This new study draws on fresh archaeological discoveries to argue that the end of Roman Britain was not the product of either a violent cataclysm or an economic collapse. Instead, the structure of late antique society, based on the civilian ideology of paideia, was forced to change by the disappearance of the Roman state. By the fifth century elite power had shifted to the warband and the edges of their swords. In this book Dr Gerrard describes and explains that process of transformation and explores the role of the 'Anglo-Saxons' in this time of change. This profound ideological shift returned Britain to a series of 'small worlds', the existence of which had been hidden by the globalizing structures of Roman imperialism. Highly illustrated, the book includes two appendices, which detail Roman cemetery sites and weapon trauma, and pottery assemblages from the period.
James Gerrard is a Lecturer in Roman Archaeology at Newcastle University. He previously held a position at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in Cambridge and worked extensively in commercial archaeology. His research focuses on the end of Roman Britain and particularly the impact of the fall of the Western Roman Empire on the use and production of material culture, and he has published widely on late Roman pottery, coins and hoarding, including the internationally significant hoard of metal vessels discovered at Drapers' Gardens in the City of London in 2007. His publications include Debating Late Antiquity in Britain AD 300-700 (with Rob Collins, 2004) and a major excavation monograph A Roman Settlement and Bathhouse at Shadwell (with A. Douglas and B. Sudds, 2011). He is a member of the Institute for Archaeologists and the Study Group for Roman Pottery, and is a Fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781316625682
ISBN 10 1316625680
Title The Ruin of Roman Britain
Author James Gerrard
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Year published 2016-09-15
Number of pages 366
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.