The Coinage of Roman Britain.

By Richard Reece.
Stroud: Tempus, 2002
160pp, 46 b/w figures, 44 colour illustrations.
ISBN 0752425234

Reviewed by Rebecca Harrison

Introduction
The Text
Conclusion

 Introduction

Roman Britain has been the subject of many off-putting tomes over the years: dry, uninspiring, and often inaccessible to readers. This is a shame given the popularity of the subject. Consequently a book entitled 'The Coinage of Roman Britain' may dissuade many from the start. Reece, however, is deliberately trying to counter this situation. Writing as an expert on Roman coinage, he tries to make the subject accessible to anyone with a level of interest.

 The text

The subject matter of this book is 'coins of the Roman period found in Britain', i.e. coins which were minted throughout the empire and came to Britain, and copies that were made in Britain. Any attempt to place the coinage of Roman Britain in a wider context must be done both qualitatively and quantitatively. In other words, the coins must be described in words and discussed in numbers. Reece realises that this is not to everyone's taste. The text is consequently divided into six chapters and two appendices. All statistics and tables of numbers are banished to the appendices. Reece's reason for doing this is commendable; he feels that many people who are interested in the past will be deterred by reams of numbers. To cater for the smaller number of anoraks, like myself, who are interested in statistical issues he provides a range of suggested further reading.

In chapter one Reece quickly covers coinage in the Roman Empire: the West, from Augustus to 294; the East, from Augustus to 294; and the Roman Empire from 294 to after 400. This serves to put Britain into a wider context of the Roman Empire. Reece focuses on Britain in chapter two, looking at the coinage that was supplied and the copies of official coins which have been found in Britain, largely, it seems on military sites. This is again covered chronologically, from AD 41 up to the fifth century. In chapters three and four, Reece discusses the contexts that discoveries of Roman coins take, notably in hoards or finds from excavations and field-walking. The pros and cons of each are discussed. Hoards can provide valuable information regarding supply, circulation and preservation, but they are inherently biased. Site finds can be analysed more contextually, first, in terms of how they fit the wider pattern of coins produced by Rome and supplied to Britain; and second in terms of comparisons with other coins found across Britain. By the time the reader reaches this stage in the book they already have some background on the first of these points (from chapters one and two), and they are about to get (in chapter four) some insight into the second point.

Having discussed the types of coinage available, as well as more specific matters such as which coinage issues came to Britain and how coins were hoarded and lost, the final two chapters cover how coins were used, and how Britain differs from the rest of the world. In chapter five ('The use of Roman coins') the rules for interpreting coins are discussed, along with the use of written sources in their interpretation. It is interesting to note that in addition to their obvious use as money, coins were also distributed on annual occasions and particular events to the army and certain state officials. Consequently an individual's collection of coins would form a 'photograph album' or record of the individual's state service. In chapter six ('Britain and abroad'), Britain is compared with the rest of the Roman world. By this time the reader has sufficient knowledge to greater understand Britain's position in the empire in terms of coinage.

The book ends with two appendices and a section on 'Further Reading'. The first appendix ('Archaeology') gives information about how coins are actually found and recorded on an excavation. The contents of the second appendix are apparent from the title, 'Numbers'. In this appendix Reece compares coins from Cirencester and Verulamium. He uses this as a means of demonstrating the methods by which coins are analysed quantitatively, a process which must be done before they can be discussed qualitatively.

 Conclusion

This is not a detailed account of the coinage of Roman Britain. Reece is aiming to put coinage into the context of Roman Britain rather than to give extensive details about the actual coins themselves. It is an introductory guide to the types of coins found in Roman Britain, with interpretation and contextual information setting the coins into a wider picture. As such, there should be sufficient appeal here to both the novice and more knowledgeable of readers and personally, I enjoyed reading it.

Rebecca Harrison (biography)

Rebecca Harrison is currently completing her Ph.D. at Sheffield entitled 'Investigating the evolution of language. How the study of handedness in nonhuman primates can contribute to the debate on the origins of language'. She also has an M.Phil, titled 'Imperial imagery in Roman Britain'.