Overview

Blood of the Provinces is the first fully comprehensive study of the largest part of the Roman army, the auxilia. This non-citizen force constituted more than half of Rome's celebrated armies and was often the military presence in some of its territories. Diverse in origins, character, and culture, they played an essential role in building the empire, sustaining the unequal peace celebrated as the pax Romana, and enacting the emperor's writ.Drawing upon the latest historical and archaeological research to examine recruitment, belief, daily routine, language, tactics, and dress, this volume offers an examination of the Empire and its soldiers in a radical new way. Blood of the Provinces demonstrates how the Roman state addressed a crucial and enduring challenge both on and off the battlefield - retaining control of the miscellaneous auxiliaries upon whom its very existence depended. Crucially, this was not simply achieved by pay and punishment, but also by a very particular set of cultural attributes that characterized provincial society under the Roman Empire. Focusing on the soldiers themselves, and encompassing the disparate military communities of which they were a part, it offers a vital source of information on how individuals and communities were incorporated into provincial society under the Empire, and how the character of that society evolved as a result.

Full Product Details

Author:   Ian Haynes (Chair of Archaeology, Newcastle University, Chair of Archaeology, Newcastle University, Professor, Chair of Archaeology, Newcastle University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.80cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.30cm
Weight:   0.682kg
ISBN:  

9780198795445

ISBN 10:   0198795440
Pages:   448
Publication Date:   15 December 2016
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Abbreviations List of figures List of tables 1: Introduction Blood of the Provinces Section 1: The Auxilia and the Structures of Imperial Power 2: The formative years: from the Late Republic to the Death of Tiberius 3: Together under the name of Romans : The auxilia from Claudius to Trajan 4: A New Provincialism: Hadrian and the Antonine Revolutions 5: Shifting Fortunes: The auxilia under the Severans Section 2: The Human Resource: The Recruitment of the auxilia and its Consequences 6: The Captive Body: Individual Recruitment 7: Geopolitics: How Rome selectively exploited the manpower of the provinces 8: Recruitment and the limits of localism 9: Ethnic exceptionalism? Examining special recruitment practices Section 3: A Home from Rome: Daily Life in the auxilia 10: Military Service and the Urban Experience 11: Incorporation through routine: the power of everyday life Section 4: Through the Eyes of Believers: Religion, Ritual Activity and Cult Practice 12: Sacred space and sacred time in the iauxiliar 13: Centralising cult 14: Distinct cult communities within the auxilia Section 5: Arms and the Men: Equipment, Tactics and Identity 15: Armoury of the Bricoleur? The disparate origins of auxiliary equipment 16: Status, competition and military adornment 17: Between Roman and Barbarian: Auxiliary soldiers on the Battlefield 18: Disarming ethnicity? Ethnic fighting traditions in the alae and cohortes Sectiion 6: Pen and Sword: Communication and Cultural Transformation 19: The Spoken Word 20: The Written Word Section 7: Auxiliary Veterans and the Making of Provincial Society 21: Veterani and other veterans 22: Conclusion: Embodying Rome Bibliography Index

Reviews

In summary this is a high quality book of tremendous importance for the study of the auxilia in the early empire. The extensive bibliography of some thirty-seven pages is exhaustive and there are a limited number of typographical errors. The work is certain to become the new reference for any study on that topic. --Francois Gauthier, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Author Information

Ian Haynes is Professor of Archaeology at Newcastle University. He has worked on Roman sites in Britain, Italy, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic, and is currently project director of excavations at Maryport, Cumbria. Professor Haynes was formerly chair of the archaeology committee of the Roman Society and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and a trustee of both the Clayton Trust and the Vindolanda Trust.

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