This stimulating book will, it seems to me, attract two distinct clienteles – the school student at GCSE or equivalent level and the more general reader looking for an overview of Roman history and culture (in its widest sense).
For the former group, James Renshaw has concentrated on the topics that tend to reoccur at intervals on GCSE specifications for Classical Civilisation and the Roman Civilisation option of the Latin examinations of both OCR and Eduqas, often expanding on and attractively illustrating the information in the Cambridge Latin Course and other coursebooks. These include such perennial favourites as the Roman Army, Entertainment and Leisure (with the section on the amphitheatre being particularly well illustrated and satisfyingly gory), Religion and Pompeii. There are plentiful suggestions for further reading of both ancient and modern sources, although I think students would need considerable guidance on how best to access many of these and which are most valuable. Each section has a ‘Review and Reflect’ box. Some of the questions therein are straightforward GCSE-style questions (e.g. ‘In what ways can Roman chariot racing be compared with modern sporting events?’) whilst others will cause a more than slight flutter of hesitation (e.g. ‘How do the attitudes to workers in Roman times differ from those held in different parts of the world today?’). The book itself is supported by its own website with links to sources, quizzes, extra illustrations etc.
The more general reader will find a comprehensive survey of Roman history from its earliest beginnings to the abdication of the last emperor in the west in 476 CE, in over 130 pages. There are reassuring caveats about the unreliability or limited range of sources at various times. There then follows a chapter on the running of the Empire, with its administrative structure explained and some of the problems identified (Boudica, Judaea in the 60s CE). There are also well-presented sections on Architecture and Transport. Other topics discussed passim include the position of women in Roman society, education, the domus versus the insula, the changing tastes of theatre audiences and attitudes to slaves, freedmen and freedwomen. The book ends with Appendices on currency, clothing, names and the calendar. This general reader might just ponder why virtually a quarter of the book is taken up with Pompeii and Herculaneum but those places tell us a tremendous amount about the Romans – as does this book!
Open access
