Mike C Bishop. 2013. “Handbook to Roman Legionary Fortresses”, Pen and Sword Military, 208pp (hb). ISBN 978-1848841383, rrp £19.99.
This is an unusual and forward-looking book.
An offering from the British Publisher “Pen and Sword Books” which, as the name suggests, specialises in publishing books on military history, it is written by Dr Mike Bishop, an archaeologist by training, who not only co-authored “Roman Military Equipment” but also co-founded the “Journal of Roman Military Studies”. As such, the book will obviously appeal to those with an interest in Roman Military History but may also appeal to those with a wider interest in Roman History. The book is unusual in that it appears to be the very first to detail every known Legionary Fortress.
Dr Bishop indicates in the Preface that his inspiration for this book arose simply because he needed such a reference book for his studies yet one did not exist. Dr Bishop therefore set out to track down every known Roman Legionary Fortress and has done an excellent job in doing so. For this task, it was necessary – perhaps for the very first time – to attempt a categorisation; standard terminology, and classification (proto, early, and late) of such Fortresses. This, Dr Bishop has done very well particularly in achieving standardised illustrations. The book is indexed and has an extensive Bibliography.
Of more general interest to readers, this book explains the history and development of legionary bases, their defences, internal buildings, infrastructure, and extramural buildings. It has a small number of photographic illustrations. Overall, the book gives a real feel of what was involved in the construction and use of these Fortresses.
This handbook really comes into its own, however, as a Gazetteer. Some 96 Fortresses are mapped and listed and when looking at the map it is possible to get a very real picture of the viewpoint from Rome of the limits of the Roman Empire. The vast majority of the sites are in Europe but there are 4 in England and those perky Welsh Tribes merited 5 Fortresses. Scotland has only 1 true ‘Fortress’ – Inchtuthil (unfinished and then demolished).
For each of the Fortress the Handbook provides a Latitude and Longitude; Situation; Height (ASL); Country; Region; Province; Length; Width; Area; Proportion; Cardinal Orientation; Phases & Dating; Literary References; Legionnaire Units attested epigraphically; Modern References and Modern Finds.
This book is very forward-looking in that it has been linked to a Website which is also linked to Google Maps (a little tricky to implement but doable). This allows for discussion of the sites and any new finds to be added. As we all know, many very substantial structures which existed in the Roman Period have now been reduced to mere traces on the ground which can often be quite difficult to find. What this Handbook and Website together offer is a means of tracing those remains. Armed with a mobile telephone, enthusiasts of all things Roman who find themselves in Europe would be well able to trace the remains of the Legionary Fortresses and gain a real understanding of what it must have been like to serve at the forefront of the Roman Empire.
Review by Richard N M Anderson
11 August 2016