Visions of the Roman North: Art and Identity in Northern Roman Britain

Iain Ferris

• Publisher: Archaeopress Archaeology
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781789699050
• eBook ISBN: 9781789699067
• Topic: History
• Index: History

Visions of the Roman North: Art and Identity in Northern Roman Britain is the first book to present an analysis of art from the northern frontier zones of Roman Britain and to interpret the meaning and significance of this art in terms of the formation of a regional identity at this time. It argues that a distinct and vibrant visual culture flourished in the north during the Roman period, primarily due to its status as a heavily militarized frontier zone. Artworks from forts and the frontier-works of Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall, along with funerary monuments from military and civilian cemeteries, are analysed and discussed. The book also explores religious sculpture depicting classical deities, Romano-British gods and goddesses and eastern deities such as Mithras in terms of the use of imagery in various belief systems and in terms of the establishment of individual and group identities.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Image Credits
• Dedication
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• A Land Apart
• Figure 1 Group of Mithraic artworks on display in the Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle. (Photo: Author).
• Figure 2 Statue of Mars from York. Late third to early fourth century AD. Yorkshire, Museum, York. (Photo: Image courtesy of York Museums Trust: http://yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk).
• Figure 3 Tombstone of a Romano-British woman holding a fan from Carlisle. Second century AD. Tullie House Museum, Carlisle. (Photo: Copyright Tullie House Museum, Carlisle).
• Figure 4 Tombstone of Vellibia Ertola from Corbridge, Northumberland. Later third century AD. Corbridge Site Museum. (Photo: Slide archive of the former School of Continuing Studies, Birmingham University).
• Figure 5 Leg from a life-size bronze equestrian statue from Milsington, Roxburghshire, Scotland. Undated. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. (Photo: Author).
• Figure 6 Silver arm and plaque from a small statue of Victory from Tunshill, Lancashire. Second to fourth century AD. British Museum, London. (Photo: Copyright Trustees of the British Museum).
• Figure 7 Mosaic panel depicting the She-Wolf with the twins Romulus and Remus from Aldborough, North Yorkshire. Late third or ourth century AD. Leeds City Museum. (Photo: Author).
• Shadowplayers
• Gods and Mortals
• Artifice and Transcendence
• The Good Soldier
• Building an Image
• Image and Identity
• Remembering and Forgetting
• A Landscape of Possibilities
• Further Reading
• Further Reading
• Index
• Back cover