Roman Frontier Studies is a field within Classics that has received significant interest and attention both inside and outside academia. Since the early 1950s the community of Limesfreunde[1] and the scholarship on the Limesforschung have grown considerably. In its early stage in the nineteenth century, Roman Frontier Studies focused exclusively on the archaeological work that uncovered the physical remains of the limes in Britain, Germany, and Austria. Later, archaeological excavations were carried out in Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East which resulted in a better understanding of how the Roman frontier was organized. Some of this research has been disseminated through the Congress of Roman Frontier Studies, which was established in 1949 and has just recently met for the 25th Congress in the Netherlands.[2]
The current academic research on the Roman frontier benefits not only from this larger archaeological database but also from new interdisciplinary approaches. The field has expanded its initial focus on archaeology and the Roman military and has increasingly concentrated on the investigation of social and economic aspects connected to the frontier; transboundary movements of people; the contacts between the border areas and other regions of the Roman Empire; the impact of the frontier on the populations living in the border areas and on the societies dwelling in the barbaricum beyond the limes; and so on.
This increased academic interest and research mirror the efforts to preserve the Roman limes carried out by UNESCO. Three sites (Hadrian’s Wall, the Upper German-Raetian limes, and the Antonine Wall) have been added to the list of World Heritage Sites. In addition, since the early 2000s, a new initiative, the “Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site” has worked towards creating a transnational World Heritage Site throughout European, Middle Eastern, and North African countries.
All these academic trends in Roman Frontier Studies, alongside interest in the Roman limes, are discussed at various degrees of analytical depth in Limits of Empire: Rome’s borders. With this book, Simon and Jonathan Forty offer an introduction to the Roman frontier to a general audience. The authors analyze the establishment and development of the Roman frontiers focusing mostly on the physical remains of the limes while also touching on some of the economic and social aspects connected to the frontiers such as trans-frontier trade, tariffs, the establishment of civil settlements in the border area, etc.
The 200-page narrative is divided into an introduction and five chapters, followed by a glossary, bibliography, photo credits, and index. The first three chapters describe the expansion of the limes, border troops, and border engineering. The fourth and longest chapter consists of a survey of all the various border areas of the Roman Empire starting from the northern province of Britannia and ending with the frontier in the African provinces of Mauretania and Numidia. The last chapter discusses border life.
In the introduction, the authors lay out the general themes of their book: the definition of limes, the Roman army, infrastructure in the border zones (roads, watchtowers, etc.), and the ancient literary and epigraphic sources. The first three chapters consist of a basic overview of the history of Rome and the expansion of the borders. The main purpose of this part is to give an historical background to readers who might not be familiar with the main events in Roman history. Chapter one is a brief exposition of the expansion of the Roman borders from the mid Republic up to the deposition of Romulus Augustulus in 476 CE. Two timelines and five maps help navigate the chronology and geography of Republican and Imperial Rome. In chapter two, the authors sketch the history of the Roman army and the various reforms that transformed the army throughout the centuries. Specific aspects such as recruitment, auxilia, and the navy are also included in this outline. Chapter three focuses on engineering and describes military infrastructure found around the limes, such as different types of forts (castella, burgi, vigilaria), the palisades and ditches, roads and bridges.
Chapter four presents the history and the analysis of the archaeological remains of all the sectors of the limes, starting with Britannia. Hadrian’s Wall, the Antonine Wall, and the Saxon Shore forts are examined in detail. However, it is the German sector of the limes that receives the most detailed and longest analysis, which includes a description of the remains in Germania Inferior and Superior, and the Obergermanisch-Raetische limes between the Rhine and the Danube. This part is followed by a description of the Danubian limes from Noricum to Moesia Inferior, the eastern border from the Caucasus region to the limes Arabicus, concluding with the long frontier in North Africa stretching from Egypt all the way to Mauretania Tingitana. This long chapter is well organized: the are 10 subchapters, one for each sector of the limes, facilitating the reading of this chapter packed with details and information. Each subchapter has a very brief historical outline of the sector, followed by numerous pictures with descriptions of specific sites along the part of the limes being examined. There are probably a hundred archaeological sites and structures photographed and described, from Vindolanda in Britain, to several reconstructed watchtowers in the Odenwald mountains region in Germany, to the remains in El-Kharga in Egypt. The abundant information contained in this chapter can even be used as a guide for people who are interested in exploring sections of the limes. The narrative, in fact, resembles a walking tour of the major archaeological sites along the Roman frontier, starting at Hadrian’s Wall and ending at Sala (Rabat) in Morocco. The chapter also has insets with various general information such as the manufacturing of weapons (p. 90), a list of all the sections of the Upper German-Raetian limes (p. 101), the auxilia attested in Mauretania Tingitana (p. 186) etc. This chapter, which represents the core of the book, showcases the traditional approach to Roman Frontier Studies focusing mainly on archeological data and military aspects. The last and shortest chapter, instead, deals with social aspects, such as the civilian settlements near military camps and fortifications (vici and canabae) and the status of veterans. The discussion of these topics is unfortunately very brief. Other topics that are current in academic debates, such as cross border relations and mobility, the impact of the Roman frontier on provincials and natives living in the border zone, are not discussed in this chapter and are briefly mentioned in the other chapters. The concise bibliography at the end lists only works in English.
This book is a nice addition to the literature aimed at a general readership. The authors do not engage in scholarly debates concerning specific aspects of the Roman frontier but present a readable and well-organized overview of the subject. They provide the necessary background information and explanations of archaeological and historiographical terms in order to facilitate the reading. They also include information and material concerning the accessibility of the sites such as information boards of the Odenwald limes (pp. 102-103), a signpost of the limes of Germania Inferior (p. 88), reconstructions made by artists and displayed in local museums (p. 93), and several pictures of reconstructed watchtowers and forts. It will be most useful to a general audience (rather than specialists), and intellectually curious people as well as undergraduates. A few years ago, I taught a course on Borders, Walls, and Migration in the Ancient World and this book would have been perfect for that class.
The quality of the production and editorial work is overall good.[3] The book is lavishly crafted, containing numerous high-quality pictures and maps which enable the reader to engage with the analysis of evidence more closely.
In the end, the book is accessible to those who have no insightful knowledge and familiarity with the history of the Roman frontiers. While those well-versed in Roman history might find glitches in it, the general reader will value this book as an enjoyable read, an ideal introduction to the Limesforschung.
Notes
[1] See Simon James, “Review: Limesfreunde in Philadelphia: a Snapshot of the State of Roman Frontier Studies,” Britannia 36 (2005), p. 501.
[2] The 25th Congress took place in Nijmegen on 21-28 August 2022.
[3] There are a few typographical errors, some of which are entirely forgivable. The spelling of ancient personal names in a few cases is unusual, such as Theodesius for Theodosius the Elder. A few cross references are incorrect, such as the one on page 37 in which a reference to the navis lusoria is given as page 50 when instead it should be page 46.