BALSDON, J.P.V..D., — Romans and Aliens.

University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1979. X,310p. Original black gilt titled cloth with dust wrappers. Dust wrappers to front slightly pinched, causing light damage of the cloth underneath it. Remains of -probably a library sticker to tail spine. Remains of two stickers on free end paper. Library stamp on colophon page. ‘The underlying theme of the book is the attitude of the Romans to other peoples, and the views that those peoples took of Rome. (…) Balsdon (…) goes well beyond the question of mutual attitudes. There are discussions of such matters as the social structure of Roman society, slavery and manumission, the acquisition of citizenship, foreigners’ knowledge of Latin and Romans’ knowledge of foreign languages. The final chapter contains a mass of information on the habits of both Romans and foreigners in, inter alia, food, homosexuality, circumcision, and death. (…) He had amassed a vast amount of disparate material and successfully sorted it under various headings. (…) Balsdon does not argue a case, but rather paints a picture based on the array of evidence that he had collected. He writes in that vivid style which was his hallmark, giving the impression of complete confidence in his mastery of the subject. (…) The amateur will learn more from this book than from anything else of its type and there will be few professionals who will fail to add a good deal to their knowledge. It is a fine memorial to the career of a distinguished historian and it evinces a notable sympathy for the oppressed.’ JOHN BRISCOE in The Classical Review (New Series, 1981, pp.133-134).