WRITTEN BY - SIMON ELLIOTT
GENRE - ROMAN HISTORY IN BRITAIN
PUBLISHED BY - PEN & SWORD BOOKS
PUBLICATION DATE - AVAILABLE NOW
Very much a story of the Roman Empire in transition, and a
complex one at that, Simon Elliott’s “Roman Britain’s Pirate King” tells a
convoluted yet riveting story worthy of a film plot, which eventually culminates in the
fourth Roman invasion and occupation of Britain.
Elliott begins by setting the scene with a timeline of the various Roman dynasties that led up to the “Crisis of the 3rd Century” and the shift from Principiate to Dominate and the appointment of Diocletian as Emperor. The author is an expert on the often complex structure of Roman rule, and this is a bonus as we are taken on a whistle-stop tour of the many Roman emperors throughout this volatile period. He then goes on to explore the transitional period of the Roman military and navy, with a wealth of detail about their command structure, equipment, weapons and daily life. In the third chapter, Elliott examines how these changes affected Roman Britain, exploring the lasting legacies of the key players, including the very first Mint in Britain.
The ‘’meat” of the book recounts the turbulent rise and dramatic fall of Carausius and his establishment of a separate empire in Gaul and Britain in the 3rd century AD. The story of his downfall at the hands of Constantius Chlorus, who would then meet his own fate courtesy of Allectus after many twists of fate, wouldn’t be out of place in an episode of “Game of Thrones”. There is a lot of interesting detail about Britain, and especially the early occupation and layout of London, in this era.
Numismatics, the study of coins, has played an important role in the accurate sourcing of data for this period of history, and Elliott has devoted a whole chapter to it. There are also several colour photographs of coins in the colour plates section. Coins were a simple yet effective way for Roman leaders to cement their claims to power: one such object, the Arras medallion minted by Chlorus features the first ever visual representation of London. Conversely, reliable original written material is scarce, however Elliott makes skilful use of modern research. The book includes a beautiful colour plate section displaying Pen & Sword’s usual quality photo reproduction, featuring coins, replicas of ships, model soldiers in accurate dress and ancient sites. There is also an index and bibliography.
As Simon Elliott states in his introduction, the subject of his latest book is admittedly complex, and so he has structured it in such a way as to provide the reader with all the necessary background information before he tells the story itself. As I’ve come to expect from Elliott’s work the story is absorbing and fascinating; he has such a masterly command of history that I never felt lost in this book; it is a mix of forensic detail, deep analysis and intelligent conclusions. Just like his previous, iconoclastic book “Alexander the Great versus Julius Caesar” (see my review of this book here), “Roman Britain’s Pirate King” is a concise, absorbing and thoroughly researched triumph that shines a light on a little-known period of history and the people who created it.
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