An Archaeology of Identity: Soldiers and Society in Late Roman Britain (UCL Institute of Archaeology Publications) - Tapa dura

"Identity in Roman Britain was not simple and it was not set in stone. One notable example was that of the Roman soldier during the decline of the Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. As lines of authority collapsed and he became less and less relevant, the Roman solider had a number of available options, including withdrawing, defecting to another armed force, or going native. Gardner (archaeology of the Roman Empire, University College, London) makes good use of the theories of Giddens and others to examine how people create and maintain their identities in terms of nationality, gender, class and ethnicity. He then compares these theories to practice as expressed by portable and architectural material culture and texts. The result is quite different than we expected about the fates of these complex identities and serves as a model for more comparisons of identity with artifacts." --Book News, Inc.

What happened to Roman soldiers in Britain during the decline of the empire in the 4th and 5th centuries? Did they withdraw, defect, or go native? More than a question of military history, this is the starting point for Andrew Gardner’s incisive exploration of social identity in Roman Britain, in the Roman Empire, and in ancient society. Drawing on the sociological theories of Anthony Giddens and others, Gardner shapes an approach that focuses on the central role of practice in the creation and maintenance of identities―nationalist, gendered, class, and ethnic. This theory is then tested against the material remains of Roman soldiers in Britain to show how patterning of stratigraphy, architecture, and artifacts supports his theoretical construct. The result is a retelling of the story of late Roman Britain sharply at odds with the traditional text-driven histories and a theory of human action that offers much to current debates across the social sciences.