The first volume in the new thematic series TRAC Themes in Roman Archaeology (published by Oxbow Books), is titled ‘Romans’ and ‘Barbarians’ Beyond the Frontiers: Archaeology, Ideology & Identities in the North, edited by Sergio Gonzalez Sanchez and Alexandra Guglielmi.

The volume is available to order on the Oxbow Books website for the special price of £28.50.

This thematic volume brings together a group of renowned international experts to discuss different aspects of interactions between ‘Romans’ and ‘barbarians’ in the North-western regions of Europe. The content of the volume was derived from two sessions held at TRAC 2013 (London) and TRAC 2014 (Reading) on the overarching topic of ‘Roman’-‘barbarian’ interaction beyond the northern frontiers of the Roman Empire. The volume contains papers from both TRAC sessions as well as solicited papers from other relevant scholars within the field. Through a comparative approach, this volume aspires to produce a coherent and long-lasting work of reference on this rapidly growing field of study within Roman Archaeology, not by presenting a single unitary state of the question of trans-frontier interactions, but by reflecting on the variety of theoretical approaches and the methodological complexities present in different regions of north-western Europe. The aim is to bridge the gap between distinct academic communities and their interpretative frameworks, which are often dictated by the singularity of their cultural backgrounds and inherited archaeological discourses.

Contents:

Series Foreword – Darrell J. Rohl

Preface: Towards New Frontiers and Beyond – Sergio González Sánchez and Alexandra Guglielmi

1. Introduction: Imperial Limits and the Crossing of Frontiers – Richard Hingley

2. Of Barbarians and Boundaries: The Making and Remaking of Transcultural Discourse – Karim Mata

3. Roman Britain from the Outside: Comparing Western and Northern Frontier Cultures – Andrew Gardner

4. Et tu, Hibernia? Frontier Zones and Culture Contact – Ireland in a Roman World – Jacqueline Cahill Wilson

5. A World of Warcraft: Warrior Identities in Roman Iron Age Scandinavia – Xenia Pauli Jensen

6. Modern Perceptions of Roman–Scandinavian Relations: Research History and Interpretations – Thomas Grane

7. Romans and Roman Finds in the Central European Barbaricum: A New View on Romano-Germanic Relation? – Hans-Ulrich Voȕ and David Wigg-Wolf

8. Two Emperors – One Border: The Roman Limes before 1914 – Wolfgang Moschek

9. The Political Organisation of the Civitates of the Three Gauls and the Myth of Republican Exceptionalism – Aaron Irvin

10. Conclusion and Final Discussion: A View from the South – David Mattingly