Roman Imperialism and Local Identities Louise Revell Books
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In this book, Louise Revell examines questions of Roman imperialism and Roman ethnic identity and explores Roman imperialism as a lived experience based around the paradox of similarity and difference. Her case studies of public architecture in several urban settings provides an understanding of the ways in which urbanism, the emperor and religion were part of the daily encounters of the peoples in these communities. Revell applies the ideas of agency and practice in her examination of the structures that held the empire together and how they were implicated within repeated daily activities. Rather than offering a homogenized "ideal type" description of Roman cultural identity, she uses these structures as a way to understand how these encounters differed between communities and within communities, thus producing a more nuanced interpretation of what it was to be Roman. Bringing an innovative approach to the problem of Romanization, Revell breaks from traditional models and cuts across a number of entrenched debates such as arguments about the imposition of Roman culture or resistance to Roman rule.
Roman Imperialism and Local Identities Louise Revell Books
Revell's book is very much a study of its time: The early 21st century. It is a revision of her dissertation (sometimes rather obviously), which was a quality examination of how provincial architectural spaces were employed. Revell doesn't take the "This is a Romano-British styled building, combining ___ Mediterranean features and ___ British features" approach. Instead, she explores the archaeological data from various locales, and reads from it how the structures were used in their time. From these, she makes a number of quality statements about the manifestation of local identities in certain locales, avoiding the pitfalls of "Romanization", "resistance", and other traditional and modern catchwords. She instead presents a good picture of the use of various sites and structures, and how local identities were performed through them (and not Britain/Gaul as a whole).Revell divides her study according to type of structure, addressing public buildings, religious sanctuaries, before discussing identity and status more generally. She demonstrates a sensitivity to archaeological detail and creativity of interpretation. Additionally, her discussion is limited to the evidence provided by selected case-studies, and therefore maintains appropriate limits.
Revell questions both "What is Roman?" and "What is local?", taking the responsible approach that there was no monolithic "Roman" or "British" or "Gallic" identity. Instead, she explores the manifestation of Roman and local identity at various sites, and provides the necessary qualifications in her interpretation. However, I was glad to see that she is not afraid to make claims and to interpret the evidence. Too often in post-colonial studies, scholars discuss the problems of interpretation, the problems of Romanness, the problems of nativeness, and never actually provide an interpretation of the evidence. It is a difficult thing to do today, for fear of being challenged by a number of preeminent scholars. However, Revell does so skillfully.
In her own words from the section "Addressing the Divine", "Roman religion needs to be examined as a discourse functioning within both the context and the power structures of the empire as a whole, and the particular local conditions of any specific community" (115) and she then addresses other scholars' arguments before presenting a discussion of local identity manifested through religious practice.
The only fault of Revell's study is that it is still too close to her dissertation. She needed to take more time to revise her dissertation into a monograph, a daunting and difficult task - to her credit. However, she's presented a quite compelling study, and one that has significantly influenced the direction of my own dissertation!
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Tags : Amazon.com: Roman Imperialism and Local Identities (9780511499692): Louise Revell: Books,Louise Revell,Roman Imperialism and Local Identities,Cambridge University Press,0511499698,Classical Greek & Roman archaeology,Classical history classical civilisation,SOCIAL SCIENCE Archaeology
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Roman Imperialism and Local Identities Louise Revell Books Reviews
Revell's book is very much a study of its time The early 21st century. It is a revision of her dissertation (sometimes rather obviously), which was a quality examination of how provincial architectural spaces were employed. Revell doesn't take the "This is a Romano-British styled building, combining ___ Mediterranean features and ___ British features" approach. Instead, she explores the archaeological data from various locales, and reads from it how the structures were used in their time. From these, she makes a number of quality statements about the manifestation of local identities in certain locales, avoiding the pitfalls of "Romanization", "resistance", and other traditional and modern catchwords. She instead presents a good picture of the use of various sites and structures, and how local identities were performed through them (and not Britain/Gaul as a whole).
Revell divides her study according to type of structure, addressing public buildings, religious sanctuaries, before discussing identity and status more generally. She demonstrates a sensitivity to archaeological detail and creativity of interpretation. Additionally, her discussion is limited to the evidence provided by selected case-studies, and therefore maintains appropriate limits.
Revell questions both "What is Roman?" and "What is local?", taking the responsible approach that there was no monolithic "Roman" or "British" or "Gallic" identity. Instead, she explores the manifestation of Roman and local identity at various sites, and provides the necessary qualifications in her interpretation. However, I was glad to see that she is not afraid to make claims and to interpret the evidence. Too often in post-colonial studies, scholars discuss the problems of interpretation, the problems of Romanness, the problems of nativeness, and never actually provide an interpretation of the evidence. It is a difficult thing to do today, for fear of being challenged by a number of preeminent scholars. However, Revell does so skillfully.
In her own words from the section "Addressing the Divine", "Roman religion needs to be examined as a discourse functioning within both the context and the power structures of the empire as a whole, and the particular local conditions of any specific community" (115) and she then addresses other scholars' arguments before presenting a discussion of local identity manifested through religious practice.
The only fault of Revell's study is that it is still too close to her dissertation. She needed to take more time to revise her dissertation into a monograph, a daunting and difficult task - to her credit. However, she's presented a quite compelling study, and one that has significantly influenced the direction of my own dissertation!
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