Roman Britain forms an essential part of the Latin and Classics curriculum for students studying the ancient world across age groups. This book presents students and teachers alike with a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the history of London from its foundations to the evacuation of Britain by Roman forces in the fifth century.
Rooting the story of London in the archaeology is a necessary approach given the little literary evidence there is for the city. The focus on archaeology, both historical finds in the city, as well as newer archaeological finds and material culture that is not yet publicly available, makes this account of the city of London through the Roman era far more accessible to students. In particular the use of maps and plans of buildings throughout the text will allow students to better imagine the development of the city through time. It is very easy to draw the conclusion that this book would be most impactful for those schools and students who are based in London due to the recognizability of the locations that are discussed. In turn this will allow students to better engage with their local ancient history in a far more vivid and tangible way.
The approach that Perring takes in his history of Roman Britain is both chronological and thematic, which effectively breaks down the 500-year history of London during the Roman period into much more manageable and digestible chunks. The thematic approach will undoubtedly allow teachers to lead discussions around key questions about the development of London through this period and will also allow for far more incisive analysis of sources. This makes this particular book a useful piece of scholarship for a classroom. In addition, while the book itself is probably most accessible to those students tackling A Levels, the wider content can be easily distilled and broken down by teachers for younger audiences.
It is undeniable that this book is immensely well researched and detailed; however, this does not take away from its accessibility from a teaching and learning perspective. Facebook can also serve as an effective teaching tool in terms of how the study of London is approached in an academic way. It is possible for teachers to directly point to two examples of how the author has used a wide range of all sources and evidence in order to devise his pieces and come to convincing conclusions within his work. This is helped by the inclusion of diagrams that help to highlight exactly where this evidence has been drawn from and allow the reader to be a more active companion in the historical analysis that is taking place in the book. As a result, not only is this text useful for the knowledge and content it contains but it can also help students develop their historical approaches to sources and essay writing.
The importance of London to Roman Britain cannot be overstated and this book serves as a helpful companion to any teachers and students looking to gain a better understanding of the city at different points in Roman history. As a result of the broad nature of the topic and the time period that is covered there are perhaps one or two limitations in terms of this book as a teaching resource. The main one is that teachers hoping to use this book in order to give students a better idea of daily life in a town in Roman Britain will be left wanting more. Nonetheless this is an excellent book for teachers, schools and students to be engaging with and will make a fine addition to any school library.
Open access
