Thomas Grunewald – författare

This wide-ranging and informative survey of ''outsider'' groups in the Roman Empire will contribute greatly to our understanding of Roman social history.

Examining men such as as Viriatus, Tacfarinus, Maternus and Bulla Felix, who were called latrones after clashing with the imperial authorities, special attention is given to perhaps the best-known ''bandit'' of all, Spartacus, and to those who impersonated the emperor Nero after his death. Topics covered include:

* Whom did the Romans see as bandits (latrones)? * What did they understand as robbery (lactrocinium)?* How pressing was the threat that the bandits posed?* How did their contemporaries perceive the danger?

We are shown that the term latrones was not just used to refer to criminals but was metaphorically and disparagingly applied to failed political rebels, rivals and avengers. The word also came to represent the ''noble brigands'', idealising the underdog as a means of criticising the winning side. The author therefore presents ''the bandit'' as a literary construct rather than a social type.

This wide-ranging and informative survey of ''outsider'' groups in the Roman Empire will contribute greatly to our understanding of Roman social history.

Examining men such as as Viriatus, Tacfarinus, Maternus and Bulla Felix, who were called latrones after clashing with the imperial authorities, special attention is given to perhaps the best-known ''bandit'' of all, Spartacus, and to those who impersonated the emperor Nero after his death. Topics covered include:

* Whom did the Romans see as bandits (latrones)? * What did they understand as robbery (lactrocinium)?* How pressing was the threat that the bandits posed?* How did their contemporaries perceive the danger?

We are shown that the term latrones was not just used to refer to criminals but was metaphorically and disparagingly applied to failed political rebels, rivals and avengers. The word also came to represent the ''noble brigands'', idealising the underdog as a means of criticising the winning side. The author therefore presents ''the bandit'' as a literary construct rather than a social type.

Germania inferior, province between the civilizations: Celtic periphery, immigration area for the Germanic tribes, Roman dominion. The South fertile and rich in raw materials, the North barren and inhospitable. Roman cities and native settlements, villas and farms; too Roman for the Germanic inhabitants, too Germanic for the Romans. Who did actually inhabit the province? To what social conditions did the regional environment give rise? What economic exchange was there between town and country, between the native inhabitants, the Romans and the free Germanic peoples? Archaeologists and historians now have more sophisticated tools and can provide new, more precise answers to these questions. The North of the province in particular has been explored more thoroughly, and the results of that research form the basis of this volume. The papers resultet from a colloquium with German and Dutch archaeologists and historians. They draw up an account of the current state of the art and show the perspective for future research.