The Roman Provence Guide (Interlink Guide)

Wow, the Romans were ruthless conquerers, and knew what they were doing when it came to infrastructure. This book makes history interesting, if it weren't already. Highly recommended if you are traveling to the south of France, and want to find pieces of 2000 year old history off the beaten path - There are many more acqueducts aside from the Pont du Gard, there are inconspicuous ancient Roman bridges still in use over rivers, many many gates to cities, old Roman baths that had heated floors.... Greeks were the original merchants of Marseille! Who knew!

This is a thoroughly enjoyable book. It is well written, easy to read and totally fascinating. It won't sit on your night table for long. Your spouse will ask you to please turn off the light and go to bed. I should have taken notes as I read since I live part of the year in Provence and now I want to go on a "treasure hunt". We are all aware that the Romans were in Provence but how many of us really knew what they were doing and why they built so many roads, bridges and aqueducts, theaters and where we can go to see these amazing artifacts.If you are planning a trip to Southern France, buy this book. If you live in Southern France, buy this book. If you enjoy history, buy this book.

We have visited this region in Southern France several times and saw many of the Roman ruins there. This book gave us the total history behind them. Lots of good pictures, too.

Lots of history of Romans in Gaul, enticingly written, makes you want to visit all the many, many sites discussed. A great intro for visiting Provence or just armchair enjoyment. Pix are all B&W; this is not a coffee table book but a portable edition small enough to travel with. Seems like quite thorough coverage of the huge Roman heritage in Provence in both physical and historical terms.

Just got back from a trip to Provence where i saw many of the antiquities described in this book. Might have been nice to have read before, but it's a joy to read all the details and history of Roman Provence. Edwin Mullins is a wonderful writer - thorough and evocative, he provides a great deal of historical context with an elegant and frequently humorous writing style. Highly recommend this book and will now be looking for others by Mr. Mullins.

We are taking a history tour of Roman Provence this June. This is an easy read, with a lot of history included.

Best book I read in preparation for my trip to Provence. Gave brief history of Romans in southern France and good history of Roman sites.

Excellent. I read this before going to France. It was very helpful towards planning what to skip and what I definitely had to go and see.

Edwin Mullins’ “The Roman Provence Guide” is a very informative and enjoyable view of the 6 centuries of Roman presence in Provence from the 1st century BC until the 5th century AD.The book begins with a brief history of the Roman conquest which was attained via a number of military victories over the semi -nomadic Germanic tribes who either occupied or invaded this territory. To cement their hold on Provence the Romans then gave the land ownership to victorious soldiers, who then implanted Roman villa organization in the rural areas, expanded agriculture using the existing population and the defeated soldiers as slaves. As agriculture expanded, commerce and trade was also enhanced, and cities developed whose civic authority maintained the Roman governance structure.The major emphasis is on what Mullins calls “triumphalism”, the building of monuments to mark significant events or to glorify various Roman figures including the emperor himself. He does this by describing the various triumphal arches, temples, aqueducts, amphitheatres, coliseums, highways and bridges and the stories behind them. The Roman genius at engineering is part and parcel of the infrastructure that enabled Roman hegemony over a far-flung empire.Mullins is an excellent writer and his popularizing style makes this knowledge accessible to the non-specialist reader. The book is called a guide, and it would indeed be an excellent guide for a tour of the Roman archaeological sites in southern France. A fascinating story well told.