Reviews for The Roman Empire and the Dark Ages

The average rating for The Roman Empire and the Dark Ages based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-12-25 00:00:00 William Mcgowan While this book is ostensibly for young students (grades 6 to 8), I'd recommend it to anyone with a love of history and an interest in the everyday objects from the daily lives of everyone from peasants to kings. The title aside, the actual scope of the material covered ranges from the Celtic tribes who settled England (c. 600 BC) to a medieval town of 1300AD. The book illustrates how the Celts weren't quite the savages many of us were taught, save their utter inability to be at peace with each other (which puts them in good company with the rest of the human race over the entirety of recorded history). Their farming techniques and tools were at least on par with the Romans and were far more efficient - they even used roller bearings in the wheels of their wagons! They introduced the use of iron into northern Europe, shod their horses and, most barbaric of all: they invented soap. My favourite sections covered: The villa (2000 square meters alone), and vineyard of a very wealthy Roman family. Vindolanda, the northernmost Roman frontier fort in Britain, built approx. AD 79-84. The life expectancy of men was 36, women 28. One of the main activities at Vindolanda was harvesting bracken which served as a flooring over the earthen floors. Thanks for this great innovation, Rome! The Vikings (of course), and a medieval town house. The term "Dark Ages" seems a bit unfair considering that a merchant who sold bad wine could be forced to drink it in public. Sounds rather enlightened to me. Beautifully and clearly illustrated. My hat is off to the artist for the great exploded diagrams of the castle keep and manor house.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-10-10 00:00:00 Arlene Gaines Fairly technical reference book that really only a historian would enjoy. I did...