Book Review
ASPECTS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CENTRAL AND GALLIC EMPIRES
by Dr. Richard Bourne
The full title is "Aspects of the Relationship between the Central and Gallic Empires in the Mid to Late Third Century AD with Special Reference to Coinage Studies". Richard started this work as his post graduate thesis at the University of Durham and it has subsequently been published in the British Archaeological Reports International Series.
A thorough review of the current state of Gallic Empire studies with particular reference to the numismatic evidence which forms the majority of the extant evidence.
This evidence, however, is hard to assess and Richard has attempted to make a start in translating that numismatic data into historical language. Not an easy task but one that is essential if we are to fully understand this period. In his conclusions, Richard says that further research of the local barbarous radiates will produce a payback and suggests that an agreed methodology needs to be formulated for recording finds and the classification of these unofficial issues. This would need to enlist the help of detectorists, as well as academics, if we are to make the most of the evidence. I look forward to reviewing the guide to this methodology in the future - perhaps by Richard! The previous attempt was of course devised by C H V Sutherland and published as an appendix in Coinage and Currency in Roman Britain (1937).
This BAR report is essential reading for students of the Gallic Empire and its coinage and is recommended.
For completeness this is the publisher's abstract:
"Relations between the separatist regime of Marcus Postumus (in about 260 AD) and the Central Empire have been the subject of academic speculation but notably little direct research. It has been postulated that there was no ‘closed border’ policy between the two empires, and that the apparent exchange of currency substantiates this view. This volume examines the hypothesis, as well as investigating whether the Central Empire coinage was excluded from circulation within the realms of the Gallic Empire, and, similarly, whether the coinage from the Gallic provinces did not circulate widely outside the areas of their control during the lifetime of the regime. The study is intended as a contribution to the development of a reliable method of translating numismatic data into historical language. The appendices include a concordance of the epigraphic sources, hoard tabulations, and a bibliography of hoards and find sites."
Published by Archaeopress 2001
ISBN 1 84171250 7
Price £ 30
Available from all good bookshops (you will have to order) or direct from:
Hadrian Books
122 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7BP
England
Tel +44 1865 310431
Fax +44 1865 316916
e-mail: bar@hadrianbooks.co.uk
Customers in North America can order through the office at The David Brown Book Co. in Connecticut which is the American Branch of Oxbow Books in Oxford, UK.
The David Brown Book Company
P O Box 511,Oakville, CT 06779
Tel: (800) 791-9354 or (860) 945-9329
Fax: (860) 945-946
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