Looking Down
Brian Dobson takes an aerial view of Roman Britain
Roman Britain from the Air by S. S. Frere and J.K. St. Joseph
xvii + 232 pp. (Cambridge University Press)
This volume is one of the Cambridge Air Surveys, and the plates are chosen from the Cambridge Collection of Aerial Photographs. The result is an outstanding assembly of notable photographs, some familiar, some not so familiar. The balance in photographs and text is 60 per cent military to 40 per cent civil. The text is not simply a collection of captions. Every site receives at least 50 words, and a note of the basic references, and the majority receive more extended treatment. The introductions to the various sections, although not intended to produce an account of the history and archaeology of Roman Britain, are interesting and though-provoking.
The range of topics is: geographical features and Iron Age hill forts, marching-camps, siege-works, legionary and vexillation fortresses, frontiers, auxiliary forts, small military works, cities and towns, villas, villages and native agricultural sites, temples and tombs.
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