Breeze, D. 2008. “Edge of Empire: the Antonine Wall, Rome’s Scottish Frontier”, 128 page softback, many full colour plates and illustrations, Birlinn Ltd, rrp £14.99, ISBN: 9781841587370.  Reviewed by Dr. Philip Rance, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

Breeze, D. 2008. “Edge of Empire: the Antonine Wall, Rome’s Scottish Frontier”

Few, if any, authors could be better qualified to write a book about the Antonine Wall than David Breeze, former Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland. To him we owe two other volumes devoted to the Antonine Wall, as well as numerous publications on Roman Britain and Roman frontiers.[1] He has also been at the forefront of initiatives to encourage interest in and raise the international profile of this monument. While the Antonine Wall can lay claim to superlative status as Rome’s most northerly frontier, it has inevitably lain in the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall, largely owing to its less substantial remains, smaller dimensions and far shorter occupational history (c.142-160s). This disparity was somewhat redressed in 2008 when the Antonine Wall was inscribed in UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites, and joined Hadrian’s Wall (1987) and Obergermanisch-Raetischer Limes (2005) in the trans-national Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, established in 2005. Breeze prepared the successful bid and now leads the team implementing a heritage management plan for the frontier.[2] The book under review originated in the midst of that application process. The date of publication lies between the submission of the nomination documents to UNESCO in January 2007 and the decision of the World Heritage Committee in July 2008. Accordingly, the two forewords by Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland, and Gabriele Papadia de Bottini, Italian Consul General in Scotland, commend the application and anticipate its approval.

The most striking feature of the book is the quantity and quality of its illustrations, notably the landscape and aerial photography of David Henrie newly commissioned by Historic Scotland. Indeed, although more than a “picture book”, the juxtaposition of illustration and text evokes the image-led format of an informative slide show, whereby the presentation of selected scenes and artefacts both encapsulates general themes and permits closer engagement with different categories of source material. These include archaeological sites, inscriptions, coins and sculptures ‒ here the author makes good use of the peculiarly ornate distance slabs that distinguish this frontier. Breeze explains what and how we known about the construction and history of the Antonine Wall, introducing its main components ‒ wall, ditch and military way ‒ and examples of its principal structures: forts (Rough Castle, Bar Hill), bath-houses (Bar Hill, Bearsden), fortlets (Kinneil), rampart ‘expansions’ (Bonnyside East) and latrines (Bearsden). Breeze considers the motivation and function of the Wall, in his view essentially demarcation rather than defence, and the implications of its brief occupation and abandonment. He also treats the subsequent impact and legacy of the monument, its reuse, rediscovery and mapping; preservation and management, as well as educational, recreational and heritage perspectives. The book concludes with recommendations for visiting sites, museums and archives, as well as a short but useful section on further reading.

The text prompts some minor quibbles. Josephus’ report of a six-abreast marching column is contrasted with Arrian’s directive for a column of fours, with the remark “perhaps the difference reflected local conditions” (p. 48); evidence for an intervening transition from a six- to eight-man contuberniumprovides a more likely context.[3] A reference to soldiers’ “wives” (p. 77) is strictly inaccurate given the legal prohibition on the marriage of servicemen. The map on p. 112 should read “Obergermanisch<->Raetische<r> Limes”. The bibliographic reference to Arrian’s two military opuscula contains badly jumbled Greek.

It is difficult to locate this publication within the extensive (and recent) literature relating to the Antonine Wall or, more broadly, the Roman presence in Britain and Roman frontier studies. Nor is the intended or long-term readership obvious. Breeze offers a comprehensive, lucid and attractive introduction to both the broad historical framework and specific sites and artefacts, which avoids conveying simplistic and/or anachronistic conceptions of the function and purpose of a ‘frontier’ in antiquity. The book is particularly successful at anchoring the Antonine Wall within its landscape and environment, both current and historical, and relating its history and characteristics to the particular circumstances of the reign of Antoninus Pius. On the other hand, this book will probable retain greater historiographic interest and longer-term significance as an artefact in its own right, that is to say, as a by-product of the World Heritage Site application process. As such, it may serve as an exemplar for the promotion of future bids to join the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.

[1] D.J. Breeze, The Antonine Wall (John Donald, Edinburgh 2006); idem, The Antonine Wall (Historic Scotland, Edinburgh 2009); see recently e.g.idem, Roman Frontiers in Britain (London 2007).

[2] See D.J. Breeze, The Antonine Wall. The North-West Frontier of the Roman Empire: proposed as a World Heritage Site (Historic Scotland, Edinburgh 2005); D.J. Breeze and S. Jilek (edd.), Frontiers of the Roman Empire: the European Dimension of a World Heritage Site (Historic Scotland, Edinburgh 2008).

[3] E.L. Wheeler, ‘The Legion as Phalanx’, Chiron 9 (1979) 303-18 at 312-13..

Reviewed by Dr. Philip Rance, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (prr@fastnet.co.uk; Philip.Rance@campus.lmu.de)