The barbarians speak: how the conquered peoples shaped Roman Europe.

CUNLIFFE, BARRY

PETER S. WELLS. The barbarians speak: how the conquered peoples shaped Roman Europe. xii+335 pages, 45 figures, 2 tables. 1999. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press; 0-691-05871-7 hardback $29.95 & 18.95 [pounds sterling].

Peter Wells' new book takes as its theme the Roman-native interaction in the central part of peninsular Europe from about 100 Bc to about AD 300. The region is well chosen, covering as it does the Rhine and Upper Danube frontier zones, thus including the two provinces of Germania and parts of Belgica, Raetia and Noricum as well as Free Germany between the Rhine and Oder. The time-frame also permits the retelling of several familiar stories, among them Caesar's conquest of Gaul between 58 and 51 BC and the slaughter of the three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9. More to the point, the choice of region allows the author to range wide through a wealth of high-quality archaeological data, much of which has become available only in the last 30 years or so. This he does expertly and to very good effect.

The arrangement of the book is straightforward. It begins with a very brief overview of European prehistory, dwelling on the later stages when much of the region had become dominated by large urban-like agglomerations generally referred to as oppida. Then follows a description of the period of the Roman conquest from the time that Caesar began his Gallic campaign in 58 Dc to the moment of Tiberius' recall of Germanicus in AD 16. The background thus sketched, the author turns to his main themes. First, the identities of the indigenous peoples are carefully considered, with all due heed to the distorting and stereotyping effects of the extant Roman texts, and then the nature of the frontier zone is explored -- the army, forts, vici and the systems of supply and production which sustained them. Then follow two nicely balanced chapters, relying heavily on archaeological evidence, the one dealing with the persistence and variety of native traditions, the other with the effects of change brought about by the Roman military presence. The stress throughout is on the variety of the indigenous responses to the opportunities offered by the Roman world -- elements of the `new' cultural package are accepted, rejected or reinterpreted by native societies to suit their own social imperatives. The author's emphasis is deliberate, to redress the balance of the still-popular historical model which sees `Romanization' as a levelling-up opportunity wherever it is imposed. He is surely right to stress the strength of the native traditions and the freedom of societies to make their own choices, but he might perhaps have devoted a little time to a consideration of the very real constraints imposed by the Roman systems of law and taxation since both were powerful creative forces.

The frontier zone experienced a period of 150 years of comparative peace (AD 16-166) but the Marcomannic Wars of the late 2nd century introduced a change in trajectory. One of the more interesting manifestations of this is the so-called `Celtic Renaissance' -- the reappearance of La Tene-style decoration on small items of dress attachments. It is tempting to see this as a deliberate attempt to re-engage with the past -- to use the outward and visible signs of ethnicity as a means of legitimizing and restating one's ancestry and rights at a time of increasing stress. These themes are explored in some detail through pottery production, burial rite and ritual behaviour.

The book ends with two chapters focusing on the developments in Free Germany. The first concentrates on the symbiotic relationship of the Roman and `barbarian' zones and the way in which the opportunities offered by the Roman proximity were selectively utilized by Germanic societies, while the final, brief, chapter is devoted to the new tribal confederacies which emerged in the North European Plain -- the Alamanni, Franks, Saxons, Langobardi, Burgundians and Goths -- and which were, in the later 3rd century, to begin to impact on the frontier zone eventually leading to its total destruction. Here, one misses the in-depth discussion that this fascinating phenomenon deserves. What might have led to the angry mobility of it all -- population pressures, changing climatic conditions, a decline in the supply of prestige goods, the escalation of endemic warfare in the social system? But perhaps this is better considered as the beginning of another story.

The barbarians speak is written in a straightforward manner, mercifully free of jargon, designed for the general reader. For many, particularly those brought up in the tradition of text-dominated Roman history, it will be something of a surprise to find cherished absolutes challenged by a careful use of archaeological evidence, but for archaeologists working in this period, particularly in Britain, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, there will be much that is familiar. The great value of the book is that it makes easily accessible a wide range of data, conveniently referenced in the Bibliographic Essay at the end, and it introduces some of the current debates that have begun, at last, to revitalize Roman archaeology.

BARRY CUNLIFFE Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford