The ordinary people who made up the largest section of the population in the cities and towns in the Roman world were largely ignored by contemporary writers and have often been marginalised in traditional studies of Roman urbanism, but research into their patterns of work and social interaction have increased markedly in recent years. This book has come out of a conference on 'Roman Working Lives and Urban Living' held at the University of Durham in 2001. The conference was planned as a forum for people researching urban space and architecture, commercial and retail structures, organisation of craft activity and social theory. The twelve papers presented here have been organised into two categories: Urban living and the settings for working lives and People at work: Owners, and artisans, crafts and professions . The range of topics and variety of approaches in the papers emphasise the wealth of the material available, and it is hoped that this will stimulate further research into the lives of the 'silent voices' of Roman urban society.

The Augustan elegiac poet Sextus Propertius composed four books of elegies; erotic, political, and personal, in the first two decades of the reign of the emperor Augustus. Propertius unique combination of passionate commitment to love and life with profound Hellenistic learning and wit has endowed his elegies with a vividness and variety which still fascinates after two thousand years. Of the four books of Propertius, Book 2 has always presented the most impenetrable, difficulties of text and interpretation. Paolo Fedelis major commentary on the book, written in lucid and elegant Italian, brings to bear on it the learning and judgement acquired in a lifetime of engagement with and experience of the work of Propertius. Its thorough and detailed treatments of the elegies of Book 2 will greatly improve the accessibility of these complex and tantalising poems to both scholars and students. Translation and Commentary in Italian

Excavations at Beddington have uncovered a long occupation sequence which includes Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age fields, a Late Iron Age enclosed settlement and early Roman finds. A villa was established at the site in the late 2nd century AD and included a house, bathhouse and five other buildings, two of which were barns, although there was no direct evidence of crop or livestock production. In the late 3rd century AD wings were added to the house, the bathhouse was modified and the barns were replaced by a large aisled structure. Unlike many other villa sites there is no evidence for continued occupation in the post-Roman to early Saxon period.

This collection of fourteen papers focuses on Classical poetry and historiography, with contributions coming from scholars from all over the UK and America. Contents: Greek and Roman Poetry: The Pleasures of the Ancient Text, or The Pleasure of Poetry from Plato to Plutarch ( David Konstan ); The Eschatology of the Epitaphs in the New Posidippus Papyrus ( M W Dickie ); The Legal and Social Framework of Plautus' Cistellaria ( Peter G McC Brown ); The Ancient Etymology of Carmen ( Alex Hardie ); Etymologising and the Structure of Argument in Lucretius Book 1 ( Robert Maltby ); Teucer's Imperium (Horace Odes 1.7. 27) ( W Jeffrey Tatum ); Hercules and Augustus in Propertius 4.9 ( S J Harrison ); Elegy after the Elegists: from Opposition to Assent ( Gianpiero Rosati ); 'Toto notus in orbe'? The Epigrams of Martial and the Tradition of the Carmina Latina Epigraphica ( Alfredo Mario Morelli ); Hannibal at Gades: Silius Italicus 3.1-60 ( B J Gibson ); Problems of Text and Interpretation in Juvenal Satire 6 ( Frederick Williams ). Greek and Roman Historiography: The Aristeia of Brasidas: Thucydides' Presentation of Events at Pylos and Amphipolis ( J Gordon Howie ); Concluding Narratives: Looking to the End in Classical Historiography ( John Marincola ); Textual Notes on Tacitus' Annals ( A J Woodman ).

Discovered in 1992, the Hoxne Treasure is perhaps the richest cache of gold and silver coins, jewellery and tableware from the entire Roman world. The core of this volume is the catalogue of the 15,000 late 4th- and early 5th-century gold and silver coins, together with an in-depth discussion of the production and supply of late Roman coinage. Hoxne's silver coins are particularly interesting, and the book also contains ground-breaking discussions of the silver content of Roman currency as well as of the peculiarly British phenomena of coin clipping and copying. The value of the Hoxne Treasure in shedding light on an otherwise dark period of British history also calls for a broader, non-numismatic perspective, and the volume includes an important chapter dealing with the social significance of precious metals in the later Roman empire, particularly their role in the gift-exchange networks that defined and maintained late Roman imperial society.

In 1998 Anna Marguerite McCann received the Gold Medal of the Archaeological Institute of America for her distinguished archaeological achievements. This volume includes the papers presented at a special colloquium held in her honour, along with essays by other colleagues and friends. The volume is divided into two thematic parts: the first reflects Anna McCann's general interests in ancient art and archaeology, especially Greek and Roman sculpture; the other, her specific expertise in underwater and port archaeology and technology.

Excavation ahead of redevelopment by London Underground Limited uncovered flint tools and debitage characteristic of the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods and Early Bronze Age. Activity resumed in the Late Bronze Age. A neonate skeleton of Early Iron Age date was recovered from a rubbish pit near a probable roundhouse. Two crouched adult inhumations are atypically early Roman. Two horse burials and a dog skeleton are also of Roman date. Thereafter, occupation ceased until post-medieval times. Overall, the work provides invaluable information relating to the development of the landscape beneath the suburbs of modern east London.

St Albans has a long tradition of archaeological investigation dating back to the 18th century. What has been lacking however, is a detailed synthesis and interpretation of the accumulated information. This book is intended to meet that need, and comes out of a project set up by English Heritage in 1992 designed to promote 'intensive' urban archaeological strategy. This volume is a critical assessment of the current archaeological information from an area of 12 square kilometers centred on medieval and modern St Albans and its Roman predecessor, Verulamium. There is evidence of scattered occupation in the area from the Mesolithic period onwards, but it was only towards the end of the 1st century BC that a settlement was established to the south of the modern town. This was superseded by the development of the Roman town of Verulamium on the south side of the River Ver, but by the 8th century settlement had become focused on the shrine of the late Roman martyr, Alban, on the hill to the north of the river. In the late Saxon period an Abbey was established close to this shrine, and after the Norman conquest, settlement concentrated in the area north of the Abbey. Most of the monastic buildings were demolished shortly after the dissolution of the monastery in 1539, but on the whole St Albans retained its medieval form until the 19th century. The papers in this volume look at the development of this important city throughout its long history, bringing its Roman and Medieval past to life.

The recent renaissance of interest in the history of dress and its cultural importance is celebrated in this collection of interdisciplinary essays. The sixteen contributors present on-going research into the study of the clothed body in ancient Egypt and the Aegean, Classical Greece, Rome and Late Antiquity. Through literary and artistic evidence and film, they discuss how dress articulates and defines an individual within his or her given society, at the same time highlighting common themes in scholarship, methodological differences between disciplines and periods, as well as contrasting definitions of what constitutes the clothed body. Essays discussing Aegean Bronze Age fashions, costume design in filmed biblical epics, clothing in Aristophanic comedy, Greek and Roman female undergarments, the symbolism of the Roman toga, and the spectacle of images of Byzantine dress, are just some of the diverse subjects covered in this study.

As Peacock and Williams have noted, amphorae provide us "not with an index of the transportation of goods, but with direct witness of the movement of certain foodstuffs which were of considerable economic importance ..

Contents: The Study Group for Roman Pottery Research framework document for the study of Roman pottery in Britain, 2003 (Steven Willis); A large group of 2nd-century pottery from Ironmonger Lane, in the City of London: IRL 95, context 58 (R P Symonds et al); Quantifying status: some pottery data from the Upper Thames Valley (Paul Booth); Can you trust a correlation coefficient? (Clive Orton and Ash Rennie); The distribution and exchange of pink, grog-tempered pottery in the East Midlands: an update (Jeremy Taylor); Guidelines for the archiving of Roman pottery; The early Roman pottery industry in Cologne, Germany: a new kiln site in the Oppidum Ubiorum (Maureen Carroll); A Roman pottery kiln at Abernant Farm, Caerleon, Gwent (NGR ST 3680 9140) (P V Webster, K F Hartley, A G Marvell and S H Sell); Wroxeter: after Barker, after Webster (C Jane Evans); Reviews; Obituaries; Bibliography (and index to entries).

The fourteenth Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference was held at the University of Durham Department of Archaeology, March 2004. The papers present and discuss information drawn from as wide a range of geographical regions of the Roman Empire as the scope of theoretical and methodological approaches applied. An equally wide selection of subject matter is illustrated, including the ancient economy, historiography and modern perceptions of the Roman world, production, supply and consumption of material culture, social identities and the experience of social space and the landscape. Contents: Preface; The economy of Roman Britain: Representation and historiography (Kevin Greene) ; Reconstructing syntheses in Romano-British cremation (Jake Weekes) ; Metalworking and Late Roman power: A Study of towns in Later Roman Britain (Adam Rogers) ; Not at random: Evidence for a regionalized coin supply? (Fleur Kemmers) ; Regional identities and the social use of ceramics (Martin Pitts) ; Social and economic aspects of glass recycling (Daniel Keller) ; Interaction and exchange in food production in the Nijmegen frontier area during the Early Roman period (Annemiek Robeerst) ; Brickworks and ladders: Explaining intra-regional diversity of late prehistoric and Roman landscapes in the territory of the Parisi (Mick A Atha) ; Beyond the temple: Blurring the boundaries of 'sacred space' (Eleanor Ghey) ; The cupae of Iberia in their monumental contexts: A study of the relationship between social status and commemoration with barrel-shaped and semi-cylindrical tombstones (Charlotte Tupman) ; The quick and the dead in the extra-urban landscape: The Roman cemetery at Ostia/ Portus as a lived environment (E J Graham) ; Houses, GIS and the micro-topology of Pompeian domestic space (Michael A Anderson) ; Unifying aspects of Roman fortresses (Mark Driessen) .

In 1998, in advance of housing development, a survey and later excavation (1999) were carried out at Beck Row near Mildenhall in Suffolk. With the aim of recovering environmental data and any archaeological features as well as investigating peat hollows and ditch systems, the excavation revealed further evidence dating from the late Iron Age and Roman periods. In particular a large timber aisled building of agricultural function, possibly a malt house, was revealed. This report publishes the findings from the site and includes specialist reports on small finds, pottery, building materials, stone and flint artefacts, faunal and environmental data.

The construction of the Wickham Market bypass (A12) in Suffolk provided the opportunity to investigate more fully a Roman `small town' already known through fieldwalking, small-scale investigations, chance finds and metal detecting activities. This report publishes the findings from the 1973-74 geophysical survey and excavations at the site. The introduction provides a background history to the site which was first occupied before the Roman invasion and subsequently developed until the 4th century when it was abandoned. Evidence for pottery manufacture and ironworking were detected from the nature and quantity of finds which are reported here alongside the coins, small finds and zoological data.

This is an account of the archaeological work begun in 1985 in response to the development of Stansted as Londons third airport. Originally it was conceived as a medieval landscape project, focusing on the three known sites in the area two of which were thought to be Domesday Manors supplemented by fieldwalking of the entire development area. By 1991 the fieldwalking programme, coupled with large-scale excavations and watching briefs, had transformed our understanding of the settlement landscape of north-west Essex, with the discovery of extensive archaeological deposits dating back to the Neolithic. The earliest occupation was characterized by Neolithic flint work, and the earliest identified structures were Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age, with one of the largest pottery collections of this date from Essex recovered from a single rubbish pit complex. Both enclosed and open settlements of Middle Iron Age date were excavated. One of these had an impressive entrance-way and substantial corner structures. A complete defended settlement of the Late Iron Age (75-25 BC) was recorded. It contained a sequence of roundhouses placed around a central square structure, interpreted as a shrine. There is evidence for internal planning of the enclosed space and for the economy of the settlement, including luxury imports. Roman settlement was represented by a series of sites with cobbled surfaces and enclosures, dating from the 1st to 4th centuries. A 1st to 2nd-century cremation cemetery comprised family groups of burials. Two of the burials contained spectacular grave goods including bronze, glass and pottery vessels as well as many other items. Environmental evidence demonstrated that agricultural activity continued in the Saxon period although no settlement sites were identified. Occupation flourished in the medieval period, with several sites containing buildings of 12th and 13th century date. The most important of these was a complete farmstead, including barn, dwelling-house, kitchen and byre. All of the medieval sites were abandoned in the late 13th to 14th century. Detailed analysis was undertaken on the upstanding post-medieval buildings, largely 17th century in origin, prior to their removal, and excavation of the below ground remains followed. The report ends by describing the construction of the Second World War airfield and its subsequent transformation as a major international airport.

Excavations and surveys in Snettisham, north-west Norfolk, in 1991, 1994 and 1998 revealedthe widespread remains of a Roman industrial area, including two pottery kilns, quarry pits (one of which contained timber steps), metalworking remains, structual debris, field boundaries and a rutted road. A description of the archaeological deposits is followed by a series of specialist reports on the finds and environmental evidence, including dress accessories, household equipment, coins, items associated with pottery manufacture, tools for textile working, structural material and miscellaneous metal objects.