Alexandra Croom – författare

There is plenty of information about military dress in Roman Britain and the rest of the Roman Empire, but the evidence for civilian dress has not been comprehensively looked at since the 1930s.In this richly illustrated survey, Alexandra Croom describes the range and style of clothing worn throughout the Western Empire and shows how fashions changed between the first and the sixth centuries. After a short introduction to the evidence (from archaeology, art and literature), and to the manufacture of clothing and its use in status display, she systematically treats male and female dress, looking at the tunic, toga (for men), mantle (for women) and cloaks; underwear, footwear and specialist wear; hats, hairstyles and jewellery. The book concentrates on the clothing work in the Mediterranean region, but includes a section on provincial fashions.A fine and varied corpus of illustrations (including colour plates) helps to bring the everyday world of the Roman Empire to life.

Between 1975 and 1984 almost the entire area of the Roman fort of Segedunum in Wallsend was excavated under the direction of Charles Daniels, senior lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at Newcastle University. It is these excavations which form the subject of this publication. This comprehensive report on the structural remains (Vol. 1) and finds (Vol. 2) show clearly that Daniels’ work represented one of the most ambitious and prolonged programs of fieldwork attempted on the northern frontier up to that point and has made Wallsend one of the most fully investigated of Roman forts in Britain. In most areas the remains were not excavated down to natural and so the remains revealed were predominantly those of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, with some late Roman features. Volume 1 describes first the stratigraphic sequences and excavation of the stone and timber buildings of the fort’s central range: the granary, hospital, headquarters (principia), commanding officer’s house (praetorium), the forehall fronting the principia and granary, and a long narrow building, perhaps a workshop, on the north side of the eastern via principalis. In the case of all but the praetorium these buildings were fully exposed. Later chapters cover the buildings in the northern third of the fort, revealed to be a group of six infantry barracks which underwent several phases of rebuilding and refurbishment including partial replacement by a stable block. Parts 4 and 5 examine the cavalry barracks in the southern part of the fort (retentura) and excavations of sections of the fort defenses on all four sides, particularly of discrete structures such as towers and gates.Volume 2, on the predominantly 2nd–3rd century material culture from the site, looks at the stonework, pottery, coins and small finds recovered. The stonework and ceramic building material provides information on the appearance of the fort and include a very rare stone latrine seat and a bench support. The pottery comprises samian, mortaria, including a large collection stamped by Anaus, amphorae and coarse wares. Other classes of artifact occur in comparatively small numbers, including colorless glass tablewares of the second and third centuries, 295 coins and c. 1000 small finds including some post-Roman pieces. Finally there is a detailed assessment of animal bone assemblages from a cistern and the Commanding Officer’s house.EPUB3: Reflowable