111 Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

Edward James (300-900)

General I f the impecunious teacher of early medieval history can afford only one book from 1988. it should probably be W. Goffart, The ncirrators of barbarian history ( A D 550-800): Jorrlanes. Gregorv of Toirrs. Be&. und Paid the Deacon (Princeton U.P.. f24.40). The topic is, of course, absolutely central to Italian, Frankish and Anglo-Saxon history. and while Goffart does offer some theories on the motivation of these writers which will not be accepted by all. each separate study is overflowing with ideas and references. A. Gurevich. Medieval p o p l a r ciiltiire: probleriis of belief (indperception (CUP. f27.50). translated from Russian. is a subtle investigation, inspired by modern literary theory. which should be of interest to all medievalists. particularly in its chapters on hagiography and peniten- tials. The first chapter looks at the methodological problems of reconstructing popular culture 'from Caesarius of Arles to Caesarius of Heisterbach'. J.H. Burns (ed.), The Crrtiibrirlgc History of Medievd Politicul Tholight, c.350-c. 1450 (CUP, f60) has useful, brief, chapters on the early medievol period from such experts as R.A. Markus, P.D. King, D. Luscombe and J.L. Nelson.

There are a number of relevant conference proceedings. R. Hodges and B. Hobley (eds), The rebirth offoivtis iti the west, A D 700-1050 (C.B.A. Res. Rep., 68. f25) is ;I somewhat mixed bunch of papers: some (by R. Hodges, C. Bruhl, H. Galinie and others) restate arguments published elsewhere. while most of the others do not look at general problems but at individual case-studies. Nearly half the book relates to a handful of English towns (London, Ipswich. Chester, York). I t is, however. a useful guide to recent work, and a reminder of how much the subject has changed during the 1980s. Another conference on 'Rom und der Norden' is published in R S m Qiiartnlschr. f . c1iri.d. AItertwnskunde 11. Kircheri- gesch., 83: i t includes J.G. Deckers on the origins of the cult of the martyrs in Cologne. A. Wolff on the earliest Christian buildings under Cologne cathedral, R. Seeliger on Einhard's Roman relics and R. Klein's interesting article on 'Hinc barbaria. illinc Ronianin . . . Zum Wandel des Romdenken im spatantiken und fruhmittelalterlichen Gallien', which argues that the medieval view of Rome originates with Venantius Fortunatus. The most enterprising conference was in Bradford in 1985, published as R.F.J. Jones, J.H.F. Bloemers. S.L. Dyson and M. Biddle (eds), First Millenniirm Papers: Western Eirrope in the Firsf Millenrtiirm A D (BAR Int . Series 401. f 18); the highlights include L. Hedeager. 'The evolution of Germanic society. 1 - 400 AD'; R.F.J. Jones. 'The end of the Roman countryside in Spain'; J.L. Bintliff and A.M. Snodgrass on 'The end of the Roman countryside: a view from the East'; and B.K. Young, 'Sacred topography and early Christian churches in late antique Gaul'.

K.F. Drew. Law and society in enrly rncdievd Europe (Variorum, Coll. Stud.. 271. f32) brings together all her valuable papers on barbarian law. and includes two new ones on the family in Frankish and Visigothic law. A.K.G. Kristensen. 'Free peasants in the early Middle Ages: freeholders. freedmen, or what?' (Medievd Scandinavia. 12) is a convenient conspectus of an academic minefield. ideal for giving to students unable to look at the (mostly) German origins. M.J. Enright,

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I X ANNUAL BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL LITERATURE 74

'Lady with a mead-cup: ritual. group cohesion and hierarchy in the Germanic war- band' (Friihmi/telalterlicheti Stirdien. 22) examines the role of queendladies such as Beowulf's Wealhtheow in the poetry. and speculates about the actual position of such women in Germanic society. M. Lauwers. 'La mort et le corps des saints: la scene de la mort dans les Vitoe du haut moyen Pge' (Moyen Age. 94) will be of interest of archaeologists as well as to historians studying attitudes to death. Finally, there is a Festschrifr for the distinguished late Roman and early medieval historian E.A. Thompson, which makes up most of vol. 32 of Nottingharn Med. Studs. (f5). I t includes a bibliography. and R.A. Markus on 'E.A. Thompson and the study of late antiquity': individual articles are referred to below.

Late Roman and Patristic P. Brown. The body und society: men. wonicn and sexiral renunciation in early Cliris/iunity (Faber. f32.50) received, no doubt deservedly, more public notice than most books on this period at the time of its publication; i t is characteristically full of perceptive comment and rich in telling quotations. and is, among other things, a n important contribution to the growing literature on women's history in this period. And it can now be read by monoglots alongside A. Rousselle. Porncia: On Desire and the Body in Antiquity (Blackwell. f25). a classic which lies behind Brown's own work. R. Macmullen. Corruption and the decline of Rotne (Yale U.P.. f 18.Y5) adds to our list of monocausal explanations for Roman collapse (Boak's depopulation. Jones's overtaxation etc) and does so in a typically thought-provoking and (largely) convincing way: there is an excellent opening chapter discussing the concept of the decline of Rome. and some of its historiography. H. Wolfram. History 01 /he Gorlis (California U.P.. $3Y.95) is a translation of the 1979 German original: a dense, not always readable nor author- itative book. but exhaustive and an inescapable resource for the specialist. J.E. Stanbaugh, The uncienr Roman city (Johns Hopkins U.P.. f22.50 and pbk f9.60) looks at (and probably glamourises) the physical environment of the ancient city, concentrating on Rome and a few other cities; there are some excellent axonometric plans.

California U. P.'s 'Transformation of the Classical Heritage' series. under the general editorship of Peter Brown. still continues to produce scholarly and important books. R. A. Kaster. Gitardicrtrs of langiiuge: the gruniriiuriuri und socie/y in late atitiqitity (California U.P.. $65) not only includes a substantial prosopography of late antique grammarians (and other teachers of letters other than rhetoricians), but also a study of what grammarians did - singling out two, Pompeius (Africa. c.500) and Servius (Rome. c.4oc)) - and what their social role and position was. C. Straw, Gregory the Great: Perfeclion in ltriperfectioti (ibid.. f20) uses skills of literary theory and anthropology to produce a subtle and convincing analysis of Gregory's spirituality. L.S.B. MacCoull. Dioscurus of Aphrodire: his work and his world (ibid.. f 17.25) is a workmanlike study of this sixth century lawyer and poet. I have not seen R.L. Rike. Apex Otmiirni: Religion in the Res Gestoe of Atntnianus Marcellinus (ibid.. $27.50).

M. de Maio, J . Zeuge and N. Zotov. 'Ambiguitas Constantinana: the caeleste signa of Constantine the Great' (Byzantion. 38) reexamine the evidence for Constantine's vision, and conclude intriguingly that it was based on an actual astro- nomical event: the alignment of three planets in a particular constellation. C.S. Lightfoot. 'Facts and fiction: the third siege of Nisibis (AD 350)' (Historia, 37). is a discussion of tactics relating to Nisibis, whose fall to the Persians in 363 was seen by contemporaries as Rome's greatest humiliation. W. Goffart, 'The map of the bar- barian invasions: a preliminary report' (Not/ . Med. S/uds., 32) continues his welcome assault on accepted images of the invasions with a study into the 19th century origins of the familiar map of lines and arrows 'whirling furiously over the plains of Europe'. M.F. Hendy. 'From public to private: the western barbarian

LATE ANTIQUITY AND T H E EARLY MIDDLE AGES I0

coinages as a mirror of the disintegration of late Roman state structures' (Viator. 19) is an excellent interpretative survey of barbarian coinage and its role in the economy. with many valuable references. C. Wickham. 'Marx. Sherlock Holmes and later Roman commerce' (1. Rortici:7 Stiirls.. 78) is a review article of the 941 pages of volume 111 ( L e Merci. Gli insediamenti) of the four volume Societb rornatia e irnpero tardoaritico, ed. A. Giardina (RomeIBari: Laterza. 1986): a detailed, perceptive and sympathetic account of a work that, perhaps. few of us will tackle.

P. Meyvaert. 'The enigma of Gregory the Great's Dialogues' (1. Eccl. Hist.. 39) stoutly defends the authenticity of the Dialogues against F. Clark's attempt in The Pseudo-Gregorian Dialogues (Leiden: Brill. 1987) to prove them a seventh-century creation; see also A. de VogiiC, 'Grkgoire le Grand et ses Diu1ogiie.Y d'apres deux ouvrages recents' ( R . Hist. Eccl.. 83). C.P.E. Springer. The Gospel us epic in late antiquity: the Prischale Curtiten of Seduliits (Leiden: Brill, f21.55) analyses the poem as a literary artefact. but also examines its popularity during the Middle Ages. B.R. Rees, Pelagiiis: a reliicttint heretic (Boydell, f29.50) is at times a rather discursive but always readable and thoughtful. general introduction to Pelagian thought. S. and G.G. Strournsa. 'Aspects of anti-Manichaean polemic in late antiquity and under early Islam' (Harvrird Tlieol. Rev., 81) is particularly interesting because of the question of continuity into the early Islamic period. W.H.C. Frend, Archaeology rind Itistory in the stiiily of eorly Christi~~tiity (Variorum, Collected Studies 282. 134) is his third Variorum collection, with essays ranging from Britain to Egypt. but with a strong concentration on North Africa.

Byzantium and Early Islam M. Whitby. The Emperor Muitrice r ind Iiis Iiistorian: Tlieophyluct Siniocutta on Persirin rind Brilkan wtirfire (OUP. f37.50) offers an important supplement to M. and M. Whitby's translation of Theophylact Simocatta: a study of Maurice's reign. .seen through and alongside ii study of Theophylact himself. and in consequence a significant contribution to our knowledge of early Byzantine warfare. See also T. Olajo. Les sources rle TliPopliylricte Sitiiocritta. hi.storieri (Leiden: Brill, $22.45). S.A. Harvey. 'Remembering pain: Syriac historio- graphy and the separation of the churches' (Byzantiott. 38) emphasises the millenarian approach of Monophysite historians to the question of post-Chnlcedonian history. H. Kennedy and J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz. 'Antioch and the villages of northern Syria in the 5 th and 6th centuries A.D.: trends and problems' (Not t . Med. stud^., 32) is a very useful survey and discussion of the considerable amount of archaeological and historical work on this topic. B.N. Flor,ia and G.G. Litavorin. 'Christianization of the nations of central and south-east Europe and the conversion of Old Rus' (Byzantinosluvica. 49) is very general, but is a handy intro- duction to research in languages inaccessible to most western scholars. J .J . Norwich. Byzantiirm: the early centuries (Viking, f 17.99 ) covers the period from Constantine I to Irene: literary rather than scholary, but a readable student introduction to the subject. W. Treadgold, The Byzantine Revival. 780-842 (Stanford U.P., $49.50) is certainly scholarly. but rarely readable: it is a detailed and compendious narrative. A. Rippin (ed.). Approuches to the Hbtory of the Interpretation of the Qirr'on CUP. f35) is ii collection of essays which is only in- directly useful for this period.

Italy and Spain Settiinane di Stirdio . . . . the annual Spoleto conference pro- ceedings, devotes volume 34 to Bisanzio, Ronia e I'ltalia tiell'ulto riietlioevo. Of particular note are the opening address by G. Dagron on 'Rome et I'Italie vues de Byzance (IVe-Vlle siecles)' and T.S. Brown. 'The interplay between Roman and Byzantine traditions and local sentiment in the exarchate of Ravenna'. B. Pferschy, 'Cassjodors Variae: individuelle Ausgestaltung eines spitromischen Urkunden- formulars' (Archiv. f. Diplornatik. 32. 1986) is a detailed study of language and

20 ANNUAL BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL LITERATURE 74

formula in Cassiodorus's extensive bureaucratic collection. There is a section on incastellamento in G. Noye (ed.). Strirctures de /'habitat et occirpation du sol duns les pays mkditerrankens (Coll. Ecole franc. de Rome, 105). including an introduction by C. Wickham on 'L'incastellamento ed i suoi destini, undici anni dopo i l Latiiun di P. Toubert'. and R. Hodges on the San Vincenzo project. LdStly, two extremely important monographs. C.J. Wickham, The mountains and the city: the Tuscan Appennines in (he early Middle Ages (OUP. f40). deals with the valley of the Garfagnana. north of Lucca. from 700 to 1200. and the Casentino. north of Arezzo, in the twelfth century: a rich and subtle social and political study. which gives a rare feeling for the realities of local life in this period. J-C. Picard. Le souvenir des Pv2qiie.r. SPpiilturcs. li.~te.r kpiscopnles et cdre des Pv2qiie.r en Jtalie du Nord des origines au Xe siecle (Rome: Bibl. Ec. franc. Athenes et Rome, 268) is history of a very different kind. but just as rewarding.

A. Ferreiro. The Visigorlts in Goirl andSpuin, A D 418-711: a bibliography (Brill, €63.10) is. despite its price. an indispensable reference work for the specialist. D. Claude. 'Untersuchungen zum Untergang des Westgotenreiches (7 11-725)' (Nisi. Juhrb.. 108) is an important investigation of the sources and problems (in which the valuable footnotes totally dominate the text). J. Fontaine. Traditioli et actualitP chez Isidore de SPville (Variorum. €34) collects together some of this scholar's path-breaking studies. C. Smith, Clrristinns arid Moors irr Spain. Vol. I 711-1150 (Ark and Phillips. €19.95) provides a valuable collection of texts. with SpanisMLatin facing English. K.B. Wolf, Cliristirrn niartyrs in Mirslirn Spain (CUP, €22.50) is an intriguing study of the 'martyrdom movement' in Cordoba in the 850s. looking at the motives of the martyrs and of their historian Eulogius. who defended them against the many Christians who regarded their actions as unnecessary and unnecessarily provocative.

Late Roman and Merovingian Gaul There is at least one person for whom the publication of E. James. The Franks (Blackwell. €16.95) was a welcome event. R. Van Dam has provided excellent translations of Gregory of Tows: Glory of the Martyrs and Gregory of Toitrs: Glory of the Confessors (both Liverpool U.P.. €8.50). which, with Thorpe's History of the Franks and James's Life of the Fathers, means that only the 'Miracles of St Martin' await their modern translator. R. Van Dam. 'Images of St Martin in late Roman and early Merovingian Gaul' (Viator. 19). is an excellent study of how Martin's image changed. and how his life and miracles were used in different ways, and suggests that Van Dam might well supply us with that missing part of Gregory P. Perin. 'La tombe de Clovis', in Media in Francia: Receiril de Mklanges offert u K. F. Werner (Paris: Herault) reexamines the evidence for the whereabouts of the burial of Clovis in Ste-Genevieve. Paris, and concludes, tantalisingly, that it may be intact under the present rue Clovis. M. Sot. *Heredit6 royale et pouvoir sacre avant 987' (Atinales E.S.C., 43) returns to the problems of the legithising of the Frankish monarchy, from Clovis onwards. A.L.F. Rivet, Gallia Narbonensis: Southern Gar11 in Roman Times (Batsford. f25) is. compared to Wightman, Gallia Belgica, a strangely disappointing book. in which general thematic discussion is overshadowed by exhaustive discussion of individual cities. A rather more interesting local study. or set of studies. is provided by C.L. Crumley and W.H. Marquandt (eds). Regional Dynornics: Birrgltridian Landscapes in His/oricul Perspective (Academic Press. 1987, €66. pbk €26.50). detailing results of an interdisciplinary study carried out mostly during the 197(k; of particular interest here is W.E. Berry, 'Southern Burgundy in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages', which. among other things. looks at the complicated problems surrounding the origins of parishes. Also on this region and in English are D. Boyson. 'Romano- Burgundian society in the age of Gundobad: some legal. archaeological and historical evidence', an intelligent discussion of the varied evidence relating to

LATE ANTIQUITY ANDTHE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 21

Burgundia, c.1500, and I.N. Wood, 'Clermont and Burgundy: 51 1-534'. which unravels some of the chronological problems in the account of Gregory of Tours (both in Not/. Med. S/ i id .~. , 32).

I. Pagani. 'Ionas - Ionatus: a proposito della biographia de Giona de Bobbio' (Snrdi Medievali. 29) examines, and rejects. the common assumption that Jonas of Bobbio is the same man who became Jonatus, abbot of Marchiennes in 643, and thus removes one of the props for the dating of his Vita Colirnibmi. S . Bonde and C. Maines, 'The archaeology of monasticism: a survey of recent work in France, 1970-1987' (Specdirm. 63) is a useful assemblage of references, covering the whole of the Middle Ages. B. Marta, 'Helenae conparanda regina - secunda Isebel. Dar- stellung von Frauen des merowingischen Hauses in friihmittelalterlichen Quellen' (Mifteil. Ins/. Osrerreich. Gesch.. 96) and I . Heidrich. 'Von Plektrud zu Hildegard. Beobachtungen zum Besitzrecht adliger frauen im Frankenreich des 7. und 8 . Jahrhunderts und zur politischen Rolle der Frauen der fruhen Karolinger' (Rhein. Vier/eljohrsbla//er, 52) are both significant contributions to our knowledge of women in Frankish politics.

Carolingian Europe W. Davies. Sttiall worlds: the village conitnirnify in early riiedieval Brittany (Duckworth. f29.50) is a near miraculous reconstruction, on the basis of the Redon charters. of village life in ninth-century Brittany. set into its full economic and political background: engrossing and very important. W. Pohl. Die A waren: Eiri Sfeppenvolk in Mirfelciiropa. 567-822 n. Clir. (Munich: Beck, DMYR) is an extremely thorough and sound study - the first in anything like this detail - of the Avars. the main rival to Frankish in the East up to Charlemagne's time. E. Searle. Predafory kinsliip and fhe creaiion of Norrriuri power. 840-1046 (California UP.. f21.50) has a short introductory section on the Vikings in France. but is relevant here also for its attack on widespread assumptions about Carolingian instit.utionn1 continuity in Normandy. C. Gillmor. 'War on the rivers: Viking numbers and mobility on the Seine and Loire, 841-886' (Virrtor. 19) looks carefully at the logistics and argues tha t it is unlikely that the Vikings had the advantage either of numbers or surprise. C-D. Droste. Dus Polypriclieii von Morireriendcr. Krifische Erliriori i t n d Anulyse (Trierer Hist. Forsch.. 14) makes a significant text very much more accessible. J.J. O'Meara. Eriirgerici (OUP, f29.50) is the first general intro- duction to Eriugena for a long time. Half of it consists of a summary of the Peripliyseori; other chapters look at Eriugena as teacher, controversialist, trans- lator and. especially useful. exegete and poet - these last two chapters include a complete translation of his Homily and of two poems. The bibliography includes a dozen or more items by the leading Eriugena scholar, E. Jeauneau. whose works have conveniently been brought together as Eliides krigkniennes (Paris: Etudes august.. 1987, F450). H.M. Hine. 'Seneca and Anaxagoras in Pseudo-Bede's De M i d i Celesris Terresfrisqire Cons/i/irrione' (Vinror. 19) is on the classical back- ground to one of the more interesting scientific texts of the later ninth century (probably), from the region of Reichenau and St Gall.

The Anglo-Saxons J.M. Wallace-Hadrill. Bede's ecclesiasficul liisfory of /he English people: an hisforical cornrnenrury (OUP. f30) is intended as a supplement to Plummer's notes on Bede, rather than as their replacement. That perhaps, rather than its posthumous character (additional notes;annoyingly at the end of the volume, have been added to JMWH's text by T. Charles-Edwards and P. Wormald), contributes to the feeling of disappointment with which I greeted it. I t will never- theless have to stand open on the desk, next to Plummer and to Colgrave and Mynors, when making any serious study of early Anglo-Saxon England. B.S. Bachrach, 'Gildas, Vortigern and constitutionality in sub-Roman Britain' (Nor!. Med. Studs., 32) argues that Vortigern may have claimed imperial status; in the

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same issue as M.E. Jones, 'The appeal to Aetius in Gildas' argues for a redating o f the appeal to the time of Aegidius. a decade or more later. C.L. Neuman de Vegvar. The Northunibrian Renaissance: A Study in the Transmission of Style (Susquehanna U.P.. f40) is a brave first attempt to sum up the whole Northumbrian Renaissance; inadequate historical knowledge and poor archaeological judgement i s made up for by i ts competitiveness. i t s much surer touch with mansucripts and sculptures, and its many black and white illustrations. H. Edwards, The charters of the early West Saxon kingdom (BAR Brit. Series 198. f22) studies. archive by archive and MS by MS, the surviving charters; a thorough and very useable work, as i s P. Wormald. 'A handlist of Anglo-Saxon lawsuits' (Anglo-Saxon England, 17). P. Sims-Williams. 'St Wilfrid and two charters dated AD 676 and 680' ( J . Eccl. Hist., 39). argues for the authenticity o f these two AD-dated charters associated with Wilfrid. D. Parsons. Books and buildings: architectural description before and after Bode (Jarrow Lecture 1987: Jarrow 1988. f1.25) is an admirable essay in how to bring written and material evidence together.

C.J. Arnold. An archaeology of the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (Routledge, f27.50) is a continuation o f his Rornun Britain to Srrxon England (19x4). carrying the study on from 500 through to 700. and being in effect the t int brave synthesis since E.T. Leeds. Determined to get away from the old-fashioned 'Beowulf and brooches' attitudes of the past. which he discusses in the first chapter, he covers such topics as 'the land's wealth'. 'elusive craftsmen'. 'the topography o f bel ief and 'mighty kinsmen'. I t is stimulating. often illuminating, frequently inaccurate, not uncommonly infuriating; but he has tried. R.N. Bailey and R. Cramp. Corpus of Anglo-Suxon Stone Scirlptirre. vol. 2. Cirniberlaiid. Westrnoreland and iancashire North of the Sands (OUP, fS3) is another archaeological catalogue of considerable importance for historians. Professor Bailey's scholarly eminence should also make readers of Bailey. E. Cambridge and H.D. Briggs, Dowsing c ind Church Archneology (Wimborne. Dorset: Intercept. f 14.95) pause and take serious note. After an excellent brief introduction to church archaeology, i t examines the Anglo- Saxon church plans recovered by dowsing. and confirmed. or otherwise, by excavation: 'we believe that archaeologists should now seriously consider adding dowsing to their battery o f remote-sensing devices. on the simple grounds that i t appears to work.' D.A. Brooks. 'The case for continuity in fifth-century Canterbury reexamined' (Oxford J . of Arc/i(teol.. 7) follows up the author's earlier general study on the urban continuity problem in the same journal (5 . 19x6). D. Hooke (ed.). Anglo-Saxon Settlements (Blackwell. f35) has more thoughts on towns to add to those in the Hodges and Hobley volume (see above). but also has some interesting contributions on the countryside. on i t s settlement and organization; i t i s not intended as a survey o f the whole topic, but merely a series o f individual studies. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 7. devoted to 'Women and Archaeology'. has an article by K. Brush on 'Gender and mortuary analysis in pagan Anglo-Saxon archaeology'. S. Ridyard. The Royal sainls of Anglo-Saxon England: a study of West Saxon arid East Aiiglian cirlts (CUP, f30) looks in detail at the cults of Edburga (an appendix contains an edition of her Life), the children o f Edgar. St Edmund and the cults o f Ely. but also has much of interest to say about the sources and about general problems of interpretation.

Finally, there are a number o f books whose focus i s earlier. later. or elsewhere, but which sti l l have noteworthy things to say about Britain in this period. P. Drewett, D. Rudling and M. Gardiner, Thesouth-east to A D I000 (Longman, f13). the latest in Longman's 'Regional History o f England' has some one hundred clear and well- illustrated pages on 400 to IOOO. J . Blair (ed.). Minsters and parish churches: the local church in transition. 900-1200 (Oxford U. Committee for Archaeology. €25) . i s of relevance to anyone interested in the earlier period. R.P. Abels. Lordship and Military Obligarions in Anglo-Saxon England (California U.P., f19.95). which goes

LATE ANTIOUITY ANDTHE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 23

right up to 1087. ernphasises the role of lordship and landholding in the recruitment of armies. and treads cautiously and illuminatingly in the minefield. And R. Hodges, Primitive and Peasant Mrrrkets (Blackwell. f27.50, pbk €8.50) is of universal ap- plication. but has much of interest to say about the Anglo-Saxon period.

The Celtic World One of the more exciting books this year, illustrating some of the wide range of modern methodological approaches to 'Dark Age Studies' is S.T. Driscoll and M.R. Nieke (eds). Power and politics in enrly medieval Britain and Ireland (Edinburgh U.P.. €27.50). which has chapters on Anglo-Saxon England as well as Scotland. Ireland and Wales. M.R. Nieke and H.B. Duncan look at Dalriada. L. Alcock at potentates in Celtic Britain. R . Hodges and J. Moreland at 'Power and exchange in Middle Saxon England', R.B. Warner at 'The archaeology of early historic Irish kingship' and so on. Probably the most interesting chapters are J.D. Richards, 'Style and symbol: explaining variability in Anglo-Saxon cremation burials' and the concluding discussion of the relationship between history and archaeology in the early historic period. by S.T. Driscoll. M. Richter, Medievrrl Irelund: the endirririg trudition (Macrnillan. €35. pbk f9.99) is a translation of the 1983 German original, and rivals the mythical curate's egg: i t runs from prehistory to the Tudors. but is much fuller and more interesting in its central section on early medieval Ireland where i t stands as a more accessible introduction for the non-specialist than any of its rivals. M.,Richter, 'Die Kelten im Mittelalter' (Hi.yt. Z d . , 246) likewise ranges very widely. from the Gallic inscription of Chamalieres to Flann O'Brien. and is very up-to-date. but similarly his survey concentrates on the early Irish, and is at its best when he does so.

M. Herbert. loria. Kells and Derry: the hisrory untl hagiogruphy of the tilatinstic funiilio of Colirr~btr (OUP, f35) is an important addition to that smull number of major modern monographs on early Irish history. I t traces the history of the monastic firniilirr created by Columba down to the twelfth century, studies the various 'Lives' of ColumbdColum Cille and Adomnlin. and provides an edition and translation of the Irish Life of Colum Cille (c. 1170). The database of medieval Latin from Celtic sources. ed. K. Devine el nl. (Dublin: Royal Irish Acad., I Rf 10.50) is an introduction to the online database a t Queen's University, Belfast. M. Esposito, Latin Leirrriing in Merlitrevul Irelurid (Variorum. f34) is a welcome collection of this great scholar's essays. D.N. Dumville, 'Two approaches to the dating of the Navigutio Suiicti Brendarri' (Studi Mcdievrrli, 29) argues that the text can be no later than the third quarter of the eighth century. P. Russell. 'The sounds of a silence: the growth of Corrnac's glossary' (Cumb. Med. Celtic Stiirl.7.. 15) is a fascinating introduction to the knotty problems of the early Irish glosses. especially that attributed to Cormac Mac CuillennGn. Finally, H.B. Clarke, 'Gaelic. Viking and Hiberno-Norse Dublin'. in A. Cosgrove (ed.), Dirblin throrrgh the ages (Dublin: College Press) provides ii succinct guide to recent thought on the origins of Dublin.