Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Note on translations used
- Introduction
- 1 The Middle to Late Iron Age transition
- 2 Coin and the representation of individual authority
- 3 The Southern and Eastern kingdoms
- 4 Classical imagery and ideology in Britain
- 5 The location of Britain in the Roman world
- 6 Legends and language
- 7 Dynasties and identities
- 8 Conclusion and epilogue: from Britain to Britannia
- Appendix: A brief introduction to Iron Age coinage in Britain
- References
- Index of coin types
- General index
- NEW STUDIES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Note on translations used
- Introduction
- 1 The Middle to Late Iron Age transition
- 2 Coin and the representation of individual authority
- 3 The Southern and Eastern kingdoms
- 4 Classical imagery and ideology in Britain
- 5 The location of Britain in the Roman world
- 6 Legends and language
- 7 Dynasties and identities
- 8 Conclusion and epilogue: from Britain to Britannia
- Appendix: A brief introduction to Iron Age coinage in Britain
- References
- Index of coin types
- General index
- NEW STUDIES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
Summary
Many years ago I saw a production of Shakespeare's play Cymbeline set in Britain shortly before Britain was invaded by the Claudian Legions. The British court was filled with Roman officials, British princes travelled to and from Rome, and even the British soothsayer at the end had a vision of the Roman god Jupiter in his sleep instead of an ethereal Celtic deity. All of this jarred with the image of Late Iron Age Britain I had grown up with, where Caesar's conquest of 55/54 BC was but a sham. The Britons might have been beaten, but unlike the Gauls they soon stopped paying their tribute to Rome and a further century had to pass until the Emperor Claudius invaded and Britain finally fell under Roman dominion. Now I am not so sure. I think Shakespeare was right, I think the British court was probably riddled with Romans and I think Cunobelin probably did worship Roman gods. In this book I set out to explain why.
I began to write this book with a number of clear aims and values. First, I wanted to write a positive work of synthesis, not something which simply attacked and deconstructed the work of previous generations. Second, I believed that in this period where prehistory met history, the work had to be thoroughly interdisciplinary, combining the best of archaeological, historical and numismatic research.
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- Information
- Coins and Power in Late Iron Age Britain , pp. xi - xiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2000