Katalin Escher. Genese et evolution du deuxieme royaume burgonde (443-534). Les temoins archeologiques.

Katalin Escher. Genese et evolution du deuxieme royaume burgonde (443-534). Les temoins archeologiques. KATALIN ESCHER. Genese et evolution du deuxieme royaume burgonde(443-534). Les temoins archeologiques (BAR International Series 1402 (I& II)). 1102 pages, 47 illustrations, tables, 2 CD-ROMs (2 volumes).2005. Oxford: Archaeopress; 1-84171841-6 paperback 115 [poundssterling]. Some time in the early 440s (the usual date, as in KatalinEscher's title, of AD 443 being less certain than one mightimagine) the Roman patricius and magister militum Magister militum (Latin for "Master of the Soldiers") was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the emperor , Aetius settled someBurgundians in an area called Sapaudia apparently centred on Lac Leman lem��an?n. Archaic1. A sweetheart; a lover.2. A mistress.[Middle English leofman, lemman : leof, dear (from Old English and Vindonissa (Windisch). Quite who these Burgundians were is a matterof debate. Historiam and archaeologists (like Escher) have been wont tocall this the Second Burgundian Kingdom, the first being that createdaround Worms in c. 413 and destroyed in the 430s by Aetius and the Huns,these events giving rise to the medieval Nibelungenlied ,Wagner'sinterminable operas and therefore A Bad Thing. The Burgundians of theso-called Second Kingdom do not, however, ever appear to have linkedthemselves with the Kingdom of Worms and may instead have originated ina different band of Burgundians from the Paris basin As a modern administrative r��gion of France, it is known as the ?le de France As the territory at the political centre of the Kingdom of France, it is known as the ?le de France. As a hydrological basin, it is largely the basin of the River Seine. . Furthermore it ishighly unlikely that Aetius intended to found a Burgundian'kingdom' when he stationed these troops on the northernreaches of effective Roman authority. Thus, both the numeration numeration,in mathematics, process of designating Numbers according to any particular system; the number designations are in turn called numerals. In any place value system of numeration, a base number must be specified, and groupings are then made by powers of the and thetitle of the 'Second Kingdom of the Burgundians' arepotentially misleading. In many ways that sums up the Burgundian realmin southeastern France, which, in spite of the survival of a great dealof evidence in diverse forms, remains perversely obscure. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] None of that reduces the interest and importance of the Burgundianpolity. This kingdom incorporated a diverse range of economic andecological zones and, as one might expect from the realm's locationbetween what one might crudely think of as the Mediterranean world and'north-western Europe', it incorporates a mix of differentforms of archaeological data, rarely found together. Furnished burialsare known, and so are a large number of funerary fu��ner��ar��y?adj.Of or suitable for a funeral or burial.[Latin fner inscriptions. Theregion's urban centres show greater traces of continuity than thosefurther north, with well-excavated examples of late Roman monumentalbuildings in the cathedral complexes of Geneva Geneva, canton and city, SwitzerlandGeneva(jənē`və), Fr. Genève, canton (1990 pop. 373,019), 109 sq mi (282 sq km), SW Switzerland, surrounding the southwest tip of the Lake of Geneva. and Grenoble. Thisprovides the opportunity to investigate in detail a range of alternativeresponses to the gradual evaporation of effective imperial governmentnorth of the Alps in ways not dependent upon the tired old divisionsinto 'Romans' and 'Barbarians'. While (as in theirlaw code) the Burgundians were quite keen on stressing their'barbarian' credentials, it is clear that the Rhonevalley's senatorial sen��a��to��ri��al?adj.1. Of, concerning, or befitting a senator or senate.2. Composed of senators.sen aristocracy was in cahoots with thempractically from the time of their first settlement (the details ofwhich continue to be the subject of fierce debate). The Burgundian kingswere especially eager to bolster their rule through the employment ofRoman titles, and Mark Handley has shown interesting attempts to createlocal urban identities from the inscriptions of Vienne and Lyon. Thefurnished burials of the region have yet to be subjected to the sametypes of modern social analysis as have been employed in other regionsand could yield interesting results. Because of its location between theFranks and Ostrogoths, the kingdom is usually thought of as doomed tofailure but this teleological tel��e��ol��o��gy?n. pl. tel��e��ol��o��gies1. The study of design or purpose in natural phenomena.2. The use of ultimate purpose or design as a means of explaining phenomena.3. reasoning begs enormous questions aboutthe nature of fifth- and sixth-century polities and the reasons fortheir cohesion, or lack of it. The 'Second Kingdom of theBurgundians' is therefore a fascinating subject open to numerousinteresting avenues of research. Sadly, one will not find many of these explored in KatalinEscher's monumental compendium of information. What, by contrast,one will find is about as thorough a listing of data, as existed in2005, as one could ever hope for. After a lengthy methodologicalintroduction, Escher details what is currently known of the survival ofthe Roman landscape: roads, bridges, aqueducts, towns, villas and otherrural settlements, churches, industries and manufactures (all curiouslygrouped under 'le domaine monumental'). Then 'le domainefuneraire' is subjected to a similarly thorough survey: cemeteries;burial rites (including, interestingly, a small number of cremations),reused and double burials, all with examples listed. The subsequent 435pages (the remainder of volume 1) contain exhaustive descriptions of theartefacts belonging roughly to the Burgundian period found in this area.Weaponry, jewellery, belt-sets, 'everyday objects', vessels ofall sorts, and lamps: all are meticulously catalogued, thoroughlyreferenced and include discussion of the latest thinking about datingand provenance. There are numerous distribution maps, not all wellreproduced but generally clear enough. Volume 2 opens with a discussion of the numismatic nu��mis��mat��ic?adj.1. Of or relating to coins or currency.2. Of or relating to numismatics.[French numismatique, from Late Latin numisma, numismat-, evidence and asumming up of the archaeological evidence and the conclusions to bedrawn from it. There follows a survey of the history of the kingdom,largely based on the recent analyses of Justin Favrod. The discussionlists fully the authorities who have proposed the various divergentreadings of the exiguous ex��ig��u��ous?adj.Extremely scanty; meager.[From Latin exiguus, from exigere, to measure out, demand; see exact. written data, but is largely restricted tofrancophone authors, so that the numerous important studies of, forexample, Ian Wood Sir Ian Wood is the Scottish billionaire and chairman of the UK-based engineering company, Wood Group. He was born in Aberdeen where he was educated at Robert Gordon's College and graduated from Aberdeen University in 1964. are almost entirely ignored. Indeed there is little ornothing in English in the otherwise exemplary, eighty-page bibliography.Granted, Anglophone researchers have not invested as much effort in theBurgundians as, for example, in the Goths or the Franks, but what hasbeen written by historians and epigraphers has often been of highquality and a number of significant perspectives have therefore beenomitted. Following the bibliography there is--in keeping with theremainder of the oeuvre--a full catalogue of all the documentaryreferences to the Burgundian kingdom. Many have, naturally, been rippedfrom their context, which poses some problems for real understanding.Nevertheless, this is a most valuable resource including a number ofextracts in French translation which have not hitherto been availableeasily or at all. Rounding off the package are two CD-ROMs which are atreasury of information, with details of all the sites and objects fromthe region, often with photographs, maps and plans. To be blunt, this is hardly a gripping read. In terms of analysis,the reader who does stay awake will struggle to find much oforiginality. The frameworks employed are, fundamentally, thoseculture-historical paradigms that still dog the archaeology of theMerovingian world: Romans vs. barbarians; the identification of membersof particular ethnic groups, understood as real genetic entities, fromtheir brooches; and so on. However, Escher's book does present inclear, detailed and systematic form pretty much all the availableevidence for this neglected kingdom. This is not a work which movesforward our understanding of the fifth-century transformations ofwestern Europe by very much, but anyone who wishes to address the manyfascinating issues raised by the development and fate of the Burgundianrealm will give enormous thanks to Katalin Escher for the vast amount ofpainstaking work she has completed. She has provided an essentialfoundation for new research on the Burgundian kingdom and I salute forher that. GUY HALSALL Department of History, University of York This article is about the British university. For the Canadian university, see York University. The University of York is a campus university in York, England. , UK (Email: grwh2@york.ac.uk)