LIMITS OF EMPIRE: Rome's Borders

1-229790

Examines the frontiers of the Roman Empire, looking at the way they were constructed and manned and how that changed over the years. Besides the physical barriers - from the walls in Britain to the Fossatum Africae in the desert, it looks at the traders and the prices that were paid for the traffic of goods. Describes how civil settlements - vici - grew up around the forts and fortlets and what life was like for soldiers, sailors, and civilians. The book presents artifacts of the period and provides a guidebook to top Roman museums and a gazetteer of visitable sites.

By AD 117 and the accession of Hadrian, the empire had reached its peak. It held sway from Britain to Morocco, from Spain to the Black Sea. And its wealth was coveted by those outside its borders. Just as today those from poorer countries try to make their way into Europe or North America, so those outside the empire wanted to make their way into the Promised Land - for trade, for improvement of their lives, or for plunder. Thus the Roman borders became a mix - just as our borders are today - of defensive bulwark against enemies, but also control areas where import and export taxes were levied, and entrance was controlled. Some of these borders were hard such as Hadrian's Wall and the line between the Rhine and Danube. Other areas used great rivers as natural borders that the Romans policed with their navy.