bd062d8ae83b0b4c6dc9dd8628fc6f06 jstore

7/29/2019 bd062d8ae83b0b4c6dc9dd8628fc6f06 Jstore

1/4

Roman Brick and Tile by Gerald BrodribbReview by: J. J. RossiterPhoenix, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Spring, 1992), pp. 82-84Published by: Classical Association of CanadaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1088782 .

Accessed: 10/06/2013 03:27

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Classical Association of Canada is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to

Phoenix.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 129.93.16.3 on Mon, 10 Jun 2013 03:27:28 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cachttp://www.jstor.org/stable/1088782?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/1088782?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=cac


2/4

82 PHOENIXSeveres: n saitqu'elle orrespondour a grandele uneveritableenaissance,et I'on ne peuts'etonnerue les bienfaits es empereurs,t la prosperit6eChypre cetteepoque,se soient raduits ar un developpementrbanistiqueremarquable,ont e nympheee Soloi,mais aussi sa voie portiquest sonagoradall&e onstituentestemoignagesrandioses.

Cet ouvragede grandevaleurscientifique ait honneur out ensemblea son auteuret a l'archeologie, Chypre t a la Facult6 des Lettresdel'Universite aval.UNIVERSITfEAVAL MAURICE EBELQUEBEC

ROMAN RICKANDTILE. By GERALDBRODRIBB.Wolfeboro: lan SuttonPublishing.1989. Pp. xi, 164.CONSIDERINGHE HUGEQUANTITYf brick nd tile that was used in con-structionhroughoutmuchoftheRomanworld, heamountofspecializedstudywhichhas beendevoted o these commonbuildingmaterials s sur-prisinglymall. Anyattempt, herefore,o produce systematic lassifica-tionofthemanydifferentinds fbricks nd tilesusedbyRomanbuildersshouldcomeas welcomenews o anyonenvolved nthe excavation rstudyofRomanbuildings.Brodribb'smain aim here s to provide concisety-pology fthe argerangeofceramic uildingmaterials sedbythe Romans(Chapters1-4); this ncludesnot ust themore ommon bjects uchas rooftiles,box-tiles,nd wallbricks, ut also other ess well-knownevices uchas "armchair oussoirs" nd "double-boxes." n addition,he offershortdiscussions f brick nd tilemarkingsstamps,graffiti,tc.; Chapter5) andof some important elatedtopics, ncluding abricand texture Chapter6) andmanufacturing ethods Chapter 7). The result at first ight s acompactand useful-lookingandbook, newhichwillprobably e of somevalue to archaeologists orkingn thefield.On closer nspection, owever,this is a book whichdisappoints xpectations.This is partlybecause theparameters fthestudy re never ery learlydefined,ut also because thetext s marredbydozens of minor rrors ndtypographicallips.The workappears to have evolved n three distinctphases. The coreof the book lies in a careful lassification one by the author ome yearsago of the largevolumeof brickand tile recovered rom he excavationofa small Roman bathbuilding t BeauportPark in southernEngland.1FromhereBrodribb as expanded he tudy oincludemuch ftherecordedbrick nd tile from therRomano-Britishxcavations. A surveyof brick

1G. Brodribb, "A Surveyof Tile from the Roman Bath-House at Beauport Park,Battle, E. Sussex," Britannia 10 (1979) 139-156.

This content downloaded from 129.93.16.3 on Mon, 10 Jun 2013 03:27:28 AMAll use subject toJSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/4

BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTESRENDUS 83and tile forms rom vertwo hundredRoman sites in Britain Appendix1) provides hemain basis for nalysis. By and largeBrodribbdeals withthisRomano-British aterialvery ompetently.he onlyminor rustrationperhaps s that the sites used forquantification urposes n theAppendixare notidentifiedherebyname.The author'sattemptto broaden the studystill further, owever, oinclude referenceo brickand tile in otherparts of the Roman Empire,is less successful.For the treatment ere s highly neven. Pompeii,forexample,receives ome attention,whileOstia, one ofthemostdefinitivelybrick-builtities n theRomanworld,s largelyneglected.A singlemosaicfrom omanAfricas citedas evidence or heuseofchimney-pots31). Butmanyothermorerelevantmosaics e.g., the mosaicfrom l Alia inTunisiawhich howsa vaultedbath-housewithnumerous xhaustflues)2 re notdiscussed. The use ofancient uthors s evidencefor echnical ocabularyis also inconsistent.While some of the Latin names givenforbrick ndtileformstegula,bessalis,pedalis,etc.) are attested n well-known riters(Pliny,Vitruvius, eneca),others, iketubulus uneatus 79), appearto beinventionsn thepartof theauthor.Moreover therpertinenterms uchas supertegulumperhapsa ridge-tile r chimney-pot; regory fTours,Hist. Franc. 4.50) and bessalisrotunda Faventinus,De diversisfabricisarchitectonicae6) are missingfrom he text. Bath-house erminologysparticularlyoose. The words aconicumand sudatorium re both mis-spelled (88, 153); the termcella soliaris is strangelymis-translateds a"slipper oom" 93), where n reality roomcontaining soliumor bath-tub is meant cf.CIL VIII 10607). One must also wonderwhy here s nomentionn either ext or bibliographyfJ. M. Degbomont's uthoritativestudyofRomanhypocaust ystems ndmaterials.3Throughout he typology xamplesof untidyeditingabound. Thereseems no reason,forexample, whyquotationsfromRoman authorsaresometimesgiven n Latin,sometimes n English, ometimes n Latin andEnglish the lattersurely he mostusefulformat, iventhebook's likelyreadership). Othereditorialslips are mainlyirritatinge.g., the Latinword mbrexpluralizedas imbrixes, 3; the oddlybilingualMusee delleTerme,21). In some cases, however, heyare positivelymisleading, iketherepeatedmis-conversionf bs. to kgs.whengiving heweights f rooftiles 11).The concluding hapters n tilemarkings nd productionmethods, l-thoughbrief nd for he mostpartsecondary, ointto a number f nter-esting, nd,as Brodribb ightlymphasizes, argelyunresolved uestions.

2T. Sarnowski,Les Representationsde villas sur les mosai'ques africainestardives(Warsaw 1978) Fig. 28.3J. M. Degbomont, Le Chauffage par hypocauste dans l'habitat privd2 (Libge 1984).



4/4

84 PHOENIXWhat was the purposeof brick-stampsnd signatures? What do tally-markssignify?The questionsare well defined,nd a few nterestingn-sights re offered. he author uggests, or xample, hat thetallymarksfound n Romantilesmayhavebeenappliedas "additive"numerals i.e.,theycould be read eitherway up) in much the same way as carpenters'marks nmorerecent imes.Again thefocus s almostentirelyn RomanBritain,whichmeans thatmajor topicssuch as Italian brick-stampsrehardlymentioned.The discussion fRomano-British ilns s too brief obe ofanyreal value.As a concise classificationf brick nd tile forms ound t Romansitesin Britain, hisbook,despite ts carelessediting,will doubtlessbe of someuse to Romano-Britishrchaeologists.However, s a moregeneral tudyof brick nd tile n theRomanworld which s what the authorhas rashlyattempted omake t,andwhatthe title f thebook eadsone toexpect)thebookfallsfar hort fthe mark. It wouldhavebeenbetter f heprovincialfocushad been more trictlydhered o and morehonestly eflectedn thetitle.

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA J. J. ROSSITER


bd062d8ae83b0b4c6dc9dd8628fc6f06 jstore

Documents