It's AD 84 when Bran, a prince of the Carvetii tribe, is captured by the Romans. A legion of soldiers is marching east, to build a military road. It's hostile country, and Bran is to go with them as a hostage to ensure the legion's safety ... but no one is safe in newly conquered Britain.

Addressing a marginalized era of Greek and Roman history, Taken at the Flood offers a compelling narrative of Rome's conquest of Greece.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

“A great book that summarizes pieces of Roman military history that are often not mentioned or difficult to find sources for . . . an entertaining read.”—War History Online As Rome grew from a small city state to the mightiest empire of the west, her dominion was contested not only by the civilizations of the Mediterranean, but also by the “barbarians”—the tribal peoples of Europe. The Celtic, the Spanish-Iberian and the Germanic tribes lacked the pomp and grandeur of Rome, but they were fiercely proud of their freedom and gave birth to some of Rome’s greatest adversaries. Romans and barbarians, iron legions and wild tribesmen clashed in dramatic battles on whose fate hinged the existence of entire peoples and, at times, the future of Rome. Far from reducing the legions and tribes to names and numbers, The Roman Barbarian Wars: The Era of Roman Conquest reveals how they fought and how they lived and what their world was like. Through his exhaustive research and lively text, Ludwig H. Dyck immerses the reader into the epic world of the Roman barbarian wars. “I was reminded, as I picked up this superb book, of that magnificent scene from Gladiator when they unleashed hell on the Barbarian hordes at the beginning of the film. Dyck has produced a book that celebrates the brilliance of the Roman commanders and of Rome itself from its foundation to its eventual demise.”—Books Monthly “Dyck’s details of ancient battles and the people involved provide as much sword-slashing excitement as any fictional account.”—Kirkus Reviews “His vivid prose makes for a gripping read.”—Military Heritage

'The toga was often to be seen among them': with these words the Roman Historian Tacitus describes the Britons adopting the Roman way of life at an early stage of their long history as Roman provincials.

Part of the million-selling MY STORY series that brings the past into the real world, giving it a truly human touch. It's AD 84 when Bran, a prince of the Carvetii tribe, is captured by the Romans. A legion of soldiers is marching east, to build a military road. It's hostile country, and Bran is to go with them as a hostage to ensure the legion's safety ... but no one is safe in newly conquered Britain.

The purpose of this book is to take what we think we know about the Roman Conquest of Britain from historical sources, and compare it with the archaeological evidence, which is often contradictory. Archaeologists and historians all too often work in complete isolation from each other and this book hopes to show the dangers of neglecting either form of evidence. In the process it challenges much received wisdom about the history of Roman Britain. ??Birgitta Hoffmann tackles the subject by taking a number of major events or episodes (such as Caesar's incursions, Claudius' invasion, Boudicca's revolt), presenting the accepted narrative as derived from historical sources, and then presenting the archaeological evidence for the same. The result of this innovative approach is a book full of surprising and controversial conclusions that will appeal to the general reader as well as those studying or teaching courses on ancient history or archaeology.

First Published in 2004. The span of time, when most of Britain was under Roman influence, stretched from 55 BC to c. AD 500, when control had passed into the hands of Germanic peoples, many of whom had been living here already for over a century as troops or allies of the Roman army. Five and a half centuries is a considerable portion of our national history. If one counts back from today, it brings one to about 1440, at the end of the Middle Ages, a period totally remote from our present world. This revised edition takes into account aerial archaeology and major rescue excavations.

My series of stories dealing with the wars of England would be altogether incomplete did it not include the period when the Romans were the masters of the country. The valour with which the natives of this island defended themselves was acknowledged by the Roman historians, and it was only the superior discipline of the invaders that enabled them finally to triumph over the bravery and the superior physical strength of the Britons. The Roman conquest for the time was undoubtedly of immense advantage to the people--who had previously wasted their energies in perpetual tribal wars--as it introduced among them the civilization of Rome. In the end, however, it proved disastrous to the islanders, who lost all their military virtues. Having been defended from the savages of the north by the soldiers of Rome, the Britons were, when the legions were recalled, unable to offer any effectual resistance to the Saxons, who, coming under the guise of friendship, speedily became their masters, imposing a yoke infinitely more burdensome than that of Rome, and erasing almost every sign of the civilization that had been engrafted upon them. How far the British population disappeared under the subsequent invasion and the still more oppressive yoke of the Danes is uncertain; but as the invaders would naturally desire to retain the people to cultivate the land for them, it is probable that the great mass of the Britons were not exterminated. It is at any rate pleasant to believe that with the Saxon, Danish, and Norman blood in our veins, there is still a large admixture of that of the valiant warriors who fought so bravely against Caesar, and who rose under Boadicea in a desperate effort to shake off the oppressive rule of Rome.

"It is a fair sight." "It may be a fair sight in a Roman's eyes, Beric, but nought could be fouler to those of a Briton. To me every one of those blocks of brick and stone weighs down and helps to hold in bondage this land of ours; while that temple they have dared to rear to their gods, in celebration of their having conquered Britain, is an insult and a lie. We are not conquered yet, as they will some day know to their cost. We are silent, we wait, but we do not admit that we are conquered." "I agree with you there. We have never fairly tried our strength against them. These wretched divisions have always prevented our making an effort to gather; Cassivelaunus and some of the Kentish tribes alone opposed them at their first landing, and he was betrayed and abandoned by the tribes on the north of the Thames. It has been the same thing ever since. We fight piecemeal; and while the Romans hurl their whole strength against one tribe the others look on with folded hands. Who aided the Trinobantes when the Romans defeated them and established themselves on that hill? No one. They will eat Britain up bit by bit." "Then you like them no better for having lived among them, Beric?" "I like them more, but I fear them more. One cannot be four years among them, as I was, without seeing that in many respects we might copy them with advantage. They are a great people. Compare their splendid mansions and their regular orderly life, their manners and their ways, with our rough huts, and our feasts, ending as often as not with quarrels and brawls. Look at their arts, their power of turning stone into lifelike figures, and above all, the way in which they can transfer their thoughts to white leaves, so that others, many many years hence, can read them and know all that was passing, and what men thought and did in the long bygone. Truly it is marvellous." "You are half Romanized, Beric," his companion said roughly. "I think not," the other said quietly; "I should be worse than a fool had I lived, as I have done, a hostage among them for four years without seeing that there is much to admire, much that we could imitate with advantage, in their life and ways; but there is no reason because they are wiser and far more polished, and in many respects a greater people than we, that they should come here to be our masters. These things are desirable, but they are as nothing to freedom. I have said that I like them more for being among them. I like them more for many reasons. They are grave and courteous in their manner to each other; they obey their own laws; every man has his rights; and while all yield obedience to their superiors, the superiors respect the rights of those below them. The highest among them cannot touch the property or the life of the lowest in rank. All this seems to me excellent; but then, on the other hand, my blood boils in my veins at the contempt in which they hold us; at their greed, their rapacity, their brutality, their denial to us of all rights. In their eyes we are but savages, but wild men, who may be useful for tilling the ground for them, but who, if troublesome, should be hunted down and slain like wild beasts. I admire them for what they can do; I respect them for their power and learning; but I hate them as our oppressors."