Overview

The artists of Ancient Rome portrayed the barbarian enemies of the empire in sculpture, reliefs, metalwork and jewellery. Enemies of Rome shows how the study of these images can reveal a great deal about the barbarians, as well as Roman art and the Romans view of themselves.

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9780750935173

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There never was a more self-confident empire than the Roman one. Convinced of their superiority over all comers, the Romans stepped out and conquered the world. The root of their self-assurance lay in their perception of those they conquered. They were inferior. They were the barbarians. By looking at Roman art, Ferris pinpoints the stereotyping that characterised the Roman view of others. His minute study of monuments, statues, columns and plaques across Europe and the Middle East reveals a new angle on how Romans loathed, feared or admired their opponents. He presents images of dignified Gauls, vicious Dacians and brutal Germans and reveals just how widespread the representation of barbarians was in Roman art. Portraying them usually exaggerated the might of Rome and Ferris's study clearly shows how this exaggeration was vital to a Roman society which considered itself besieged by outsiders and, as time passed by, at the mercy of enemies within. (Kirkus UK)

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Iain Ferris is a research fellow in the Deapartment of Ancient History and Archaeology at Birmingham University. He teaches archaeology at Birmingham and is an advisor to the archaeology department at Birmingham and is an advisor to the archaeology department at Bradford University. He has written many excavation reports and articles on Roman society and Roman art. He lives in Selly Oak, Birmingham.

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