Woolf Greg. Becoming Roman. The Origins of Provincial Civilization in Gaul

Cambridge University Press, 2003. — 314 p.Under the emperors' rule, the cultural lives of all Rome's subjects were utterly transformed. This book is a study of this process – conventionally termed 'Romanization' - through an investigation of the experience of Rome's Gallic provinces in the late Republic and early empire. Beginning with a rejection of the concept of 'Romanization' it describes the nature of Roman power in Gaul and the Romans' own understanding of these changes. Successive chapters then map the chronology and geography of change and offer new interpretations of urbanism, rural civilization, consumption and cult, before concluding with a synoptic view of Gallo-Roman civilization and of the origins of provincial cultures in general. The work draws on literary and archaeological material to make a contribution to the cultural history of the empire which will be of interest to ancient historians, classical archaeologists and all interested in cultural change. This book studies the processes conventionally termed "Romanization" through an analysis of the experience of Roman rule over the Gallic province of the empire in the period 200 BC-AD 300. It examines how and why Gallo-Roman civilization emerged from the confrontation between the iron-age cultures of Gaul and the civilization we call classical. It develops an original synthesis and argument that will form a bridge between the disciplines of classics and archaeology and will be of interest to all students of cultural change.This amazing book:
• Draws on both literary and archaeological material
• Includes original views on acculturation
• Relevant to the study of Romanization in all areas, not only GaulGreg Woolf is Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews. He is co-editor, with Alan K. Bowman, of Literacy and Power in the Ancient World (1994).ContentsList of illustrations page
Preface
AbbreviationsOn Romanization
Roman power and the Gauls
The civilizing ethos
Mapping cultural change
Urbanizing the Gauls
The culture of the countryside
Consuming Rome
Keeping faith?
Being Roman in GaulList of works cited
Index