Relativism and the Frontiers of Empire: Critical Perspectives on Roman Soldiers, Communities and Military Landscapes

Roman forts are among the most visible remains of empire, but they tell only part of the story of the people who lived around them—and of the scholars who have interpreted them. Edited by Anna Walas and Andrew Birley, Relativism and the Frontiers of Empire revisits assumptions that have shaped Roman frontier studies, including inherited colonial ways of thinking and the habit of seeing events mainly through an imperial military lens.

The essays move between the legionary base at Lambaesis in North Africa, the garrison community at Dura-Europos on the Euphrates and the landscape around Hadrian’s Wall. Objects, religious activity, sanitation and relationships between soldiers and neighbours become evidence for how frontier societies worked. Just as importantly, the contributors ask whose perspectives modern archaeology has privileged, and which experiences have been pushed to the margins.