The book under review had a long gestation, starting with a MA thesis submitted at McMaster University and completed for publication just over a decade later. Its theme is a classic subject in the field of Roman provincial history and Latin epigraphy, with a long established tradition. Since the 1950s, this has been a favourite subject for Serbian, Bulgarian (together with the Polish team from Novae) and Romanian scholars, since the ancient province of Moesia partially covers these three countries. Important publications can be easily found in the bibliography at the end of the book (pp. 113–21). Unfortunately, however, no titles in Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian (with the exception of M. Zahariade's book on the Late Roman limes of the Scythia province, Moesia Secunda, Scythia și Notitia Dignitatum [1988]) or Polish are cited, but only publications in international languages, which is a major shortcoming, since many important contributions have been published in the regional languages.
The chosen chronological frame is rather curious. Nothing significant changed in the Moesian provinces in ad 235. W. justifies his cut-off date through the missing ‘datable evidence’ (p. 3) after that time, which is not wholly correct. There are many epigraphic documents that could be precisely dated to the reigns of Maximinus Thrax, Gordianus III and even Gallienus (the statue of the emperor set up by the II Reducum cohort in the Sostra fort) (AE 2007, 1222; see also AE 2009, 1222 and 2012, 1259). The Moesian military system changed dramatically only during Aurelian's reign, when the Dacian legions, XIII Gemina and V Macedonica, were transferred south to the Danube at Ratiaria and Oescus, respectively. The book does not include a chapter on the classis Flavia Moesica, the Roman military fleet in the region, the navy being only mentioned in the discussion of the military detachments attested north of the Black Sea (pp. 59–60).
The book is divided into six chapters, preceded by a short introduction (pp. 1–8) and followed by concluding remarks (‘The Value of Traditional Roman Military History’), six appendices, a bibliography and a general index (an index of the sources used can be found in appendix 4). Every chapter ends with ‘Concluding Thoughts’ that help the reader to see the overall picture, which can sometimes be blurred by the details of the description of the military events. The first three chapters are chronological, while the other three deal with specific details of Roman military organisation on the Lower Danube frontier.
There is not much to say on the first chapter, ‘The Lower Danube from 27 bc to ad 81’, since the evidence is scarce, compared with the second century ad, and difficult to date accurately. The general picture provided by W. is correct, while some of the details contain minor errors. For instance, the VII Macedonica legion (pp. 13–14, the future VII Claudia pia fidelis), is attested in the area by two inscriptions, one found in the Thracian Chersonesus (AE 1938, 141, Lysimachia [today Bulayir]: LEG VII MACED / COH VI / 7 C MARI), and the other found in the north, not far from Thessalonica, at Plagiari (CIL III 7386 = IK 19, 43, Plagiari: LEG VII MACED / 7 M CAECILI / CHO X). One would have expected W. to have emphasised the direct evidence that attests a unit in a specific province. Moreover, surprisingly there is no reference to the X Fretensis legion, attested in an inscription at Amphipolis (AE 1936, 18, Amphipolis: Imp(eratore) Caesare divi f(ilio) Aug(usto) L(ucio) Tario Ruf(o) pro pr(aetore), leg(io) X Fret(ensis) pontem fecit). It was commanded by L. Tarius Rufus (cos. suff. 16 bc).
The second chapter, ‘The Lower Danube from ad 81 to ad 161’, is a courageous attempt to bring together the entire epigraphic evidence on the dislocation of the legions and auxiliary units in both Moesian provinces in a period of turmoil, caused by the Domitianic wars on the Middle and Lower Danube and by Trajan's bellum Dacicum. The system was only settled after ad 118 through Hadrian's measures. W. seems not to be fully aware (some remarks can be found on p. 80, in the last chapter) that the Moesian provinces must always be treated together with the Dacian provinces, as a single military zone, as Hadrian's administrative and military reforms fully attest.
The third chapter, ‘The Lower Danube from ad 161 to ad 235’, is shorter, since the evidence diminishes during the periods of Marcus Aurelius and the Severi (the military diplomas, in the first place, which form the bulk of the evidence for the auxiliary units in the late first century and the first half of the second century ad). Nevertheless, where evidence does exist, W. fails to give a coherent picture. There is, for instance, enough evidence that the V Macedonica legion left Moesia after ad 162, being sent on the Parthian expedition and thereafter transferred directly to the Dacian front (the soldier in the inscription that records his career during these expeditions and the transfers is named T. Valerius T. f. Pollia tribu Marcianus and not Tiberius Valens, p. 44, CIL III 7505 = ILS 2311 = ISM V 160). After ad 162, a vexillation lead by a centurion of the I Italica legion was in charge of the Troesmis fortress (directly attested in ad 173, CIL III 6176 = ILS 1108 = ISM V 146). During the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, a municipium civium Romanorum overlapped with the former legionary base. Regarding the auxiliary units, some errors also occur. There is now enough evidence that there were two distinct V Gallorum regiments, one in Moesia Superior and the other in Dacia Superior. Cohors III Campestris was accommodated in the Drobeta fort up to the Severan period, when it was moved to Porolissum in Dacia Porolissensis. It is listed on the Dacia and Dacia Superior imperial constitutions up to ad 124, and thereafter is listed among the units of Moesia Superior (starting with ad 132). The unit never left Drobeta, but the fort was assigned to the governor of Moesia Superior for obvious strategic reasons. Before ad 179, when the unit reappeared among the auxiliary regiments of Dacia Superior, the area was once again under the authority of the governor of the three Dacian provinces (probably already from ad 168, when Marcus Aurelius unified the military command of the three Dacian provinces into the hands of the legatus Augusti pro praetore trium Daciarum).
While the fourth chapter, ‘Vexillations and the Black Sea’, collects the existing evidence on the topic, the last two chapters (Chapter 5: ‘Troop Emplacement in the Moesias’ and Chapter 6: ‘Rome's Strategy on the Lower Danube’) summarise the evidence discussed in the previous chapters, trying to provide an overview of ‘Rome's strategy’, to use W.’s own words (see the discussion of the concept on p. 77).
The book is a useful guide to the military history of the Lower Danube during the Early Roman period, but some of the minor shortcomings or omissions in the evidence can mislead a reader who has no previous knowledge of the subject. The general conclusions are correct, although, in my opinion, the close strategic relationship between Moesia and Dacia (and Pannonia) should have been emphasised more. W. partially reaches his goals mentioned in the introduction, but some of the epigraphic documents deserved more attention.
