Relativism and the Frontiers of Empire

This volume explores Rome’s frontiers through the lens of cultural relativism, integrating post-colonial and positional approaches. It emphasizes the scholar’s standpoint in shaping knowledge and recontextualizes frontier studies within broader cultural frameworks.

Relativism and the Frontiers of Empire captures a moment in the development of agendas in the study of Rome’s frontiers, whilst highlighting the legacy of a classic anthropological concept. The volume adopts the theme of cultural relativism as an umbrella term, which allows opening to a range of post-colonial, positional and relational approaches that rely on contextualising frontiers within their cultural frameworks and recognising the significance of the standpoint of the scholar in production of knowledge; the two key tenets of anthropological cultural relativism.

Dedication
Relativism and the Other in the Study of Rome’s Frontiers – Anna Walas and Andrew Birley

Part 1: Roman Frontiers Repositioned

The Demise of Roman Frontier Studies? – David J. Mattingly

Frontiers and the Roman Empire: A Comparative Perspective – Andrew Gardner

From French Conquest to Algerian Independence: French Foreign Legion and the Roman Legionary Base at Lambaesis – Anna Walas

The Frontiers of the Concept: Are Romanization and Islamization Comparable? – José Cristóbal Carvajal López

Reflections on ‘Writing the Legions’: Roman Military Scholarship – Rebecca H. Jones

Visualising Roman Military Bases in Cities: The Challenge of Rome’s Castra Nova – Ian Haynes

Part 2: De-Colonial Approaches to Relations on Rome’s Frontiers

Speak Softly and Carry a Big Cross: Diplomacy, Evangelism and Ignorance on Justinian’s African Frontier – Andy Merrills

The Malevolent Spirit of the Red Sea – Michel Reddé

Torcs Transformed: A Fresh Look at Late Iron Age and Romano-British Beaded Torcs – Fraser Hunter

Expressions of Cultural Affiliation Reflecting the Dynamic Creation of Roman Auxiliary Communities – Elizabeth M. Greene

Part 3: Relativist Deconstructions of Imperial Culture

Sculpture from Old Carlisle, Cumbria, and What It Tells Us about Life in the Hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall – Lindsay Allason-Jones

Setting the Frame: Further Thoughts on the Suovetaurilia Scene on the Bridgeness Distance Slab – David J. Breeze, Christof Flügel and Erik P. Graafstal

Tracing the Life of a Dipinto: A Revision of the Iarhibol Dipinto from the Military Clerical Office in Dura-Europos – Lucinda Dirven

Effluvia of Empire: Sanitation and the Roman Army – Simon Esmonde Cleary

Part 4: Cultural Relativism and Belonging on the Frontiers

The Roman Military on the Syrian Euphrates: Small Finds in Roman Global Worlds – J. A. Baird

The Men of Dura-Europos: A Demographic Profile of the Cohors XX Palmyrenorum – Carol van Driel-Murray

Ceramics and Social Practice on Roman Military Sites – Penelope Allison

Frontiers and Dehumanisation: Mobility, Materiality and Religious Activity in Frontier Zones – Adam Rogers

Part 5: Relativism and Cultures of Violence

Which Side Does Sir Dress? – M. C. Bishop

Differentiation and Conflict on the Northern Frontier – Alexander Meyer

The Enemy You Know: Evidence for Complex Relationships and Interpersonal Conflict on the Northern Frontier of Roman Britain – Andrew Birley

Simon James, Bibliography

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Dedication
Relativism and the Other in the Study of Rome’s Frontiers – Anna Walas and Andrew Birley

Part 1: Roman Frontiers Repositioned

The Demise of Roman Frontier Studies? – David J. Mattingly

Frontiers and the Roman Empire: A Comparative Perspective – Andrew Gardner

From French Conquest to Algerian Independence: French Foreign Legion and the Roman Legionary Base at Lambaesis – Anna Walas

The Frontiers of the Concept: Are Romanization and Islamization Comparable? – José Cristóbal Carvajal López

Reflections on ‘Writing the Legions’: Roman Military Scholarship – Rebecca H. Jones

Visualising Roman Military Bases in Cities: The Challenge of Rome’s Castra Nova – Ian Haynes

Part 2: De-Colonial Approaches to Relations on Rome’s Frontiers

Speak Softly and Carry a Big Cross: Diplomacy, Evangelism and Ignorance on Justinian’s African Frontier – Andy Merrills

The Malevolent Spirit of the Red Sea – Michel Reddé

Torcs Transformed: A Fresh Look at Late Iron Age and Romano-British Beaded Torcs – Fraser Hunter

Expressions of Cultural Affiliation Reflecting the Dynamic Creation of Roman Auxiliary Communities – Elizabeth M. Greene

Part 3: Relativist Deconstructions of Imperial Culture

Sculpture from Old Carlisle, Cumbria, and What It Tells Us about Life in the Hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall – Lindsay Allason-Jones

Setting the Frame: Further Thoughts on the Suovetaurilia Scene on the Bridgeness Distance Slab – David J. Breeze, Christof Flügel and Erik P. Graafstal

Tracing the Life of a Dipinto: A Revision of the Iarhibol Dipinto from the Military Clerical Office in Dura-Europos – Lucinda Dirven

Effluvia of Empire: Sanitation and the Roman Army – Simon Esmonde Cleary

Part 4: Cultural Relativism and Belonging on the Frontiers

The Roman Military on the Syrian Euphrates: Small Finds in Roman Global Worlds – J. A. Baird

The Men of Dura-Europos: A Demographic Profile of the Cohors XX Palmyrenorum – Carol van Driel-Murray

Ceramics and Social Practice on Roman Military Sites – Penelope Allison

Frontiers and Dehumanisation: Mobility, Materiality and Religious Activity in Frontier Zones – Adam Rogers

Part 5: Relativism and Cultures of Violence

Which Side Does Sir Dress? – M. C. Bishop

Differentiation and Conflict on the Northern Frontier – Alexander Meyer

The Enemy You Know: Evidence for Complex Relationships and Interpersonal Conflict on the Northern Frontier of Roman Britain – Andrew Birley

Simon James, Bibliography

Anna Walas is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London. She holds a PhD in Roman Archaeology from the University of Leicester and previously studied at the University of Cambridge and the Jagiellonian University. She is also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Leicester and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham.

Andrew Birley holds a PhD in Roman Archaeology from the University of Leicester and is the current Director of Excavation and the CEO of the Vindolanda Trust. He is the former Chair of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Archaeological Committee and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and Scotland.

• Edited by Anna Walas
• Edited by Andrew Birley

'... this book is a thought-provoking tribute to Simon's work over the last three decades, and is recommended to anyone interested in Roman Frontier Studies.' – Alistair McCluskey (2026): Current Archaeology 436

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