It is always a pleasure to read a book by Lindsay Allason-Jones and the title, reminiscent of the book by Jerome Carcopino, Daily Life in Ancient Rome (1970), whetted my appetite. In theory, the book could be compared to Joan Liversidge's epic work Britain in the Roman Empire (1968) which, for me, is still a very valuable insight into life in Roman Britain. However Liversidge's work was a detailed compendium, while A.-J. provides only an overview or summary and as such, it is frustratingly short (due to the format of the Daily Life through History series).

The present book is clearly and concisely written. Her introduction states that the book is ‘a short introduction’, but it is not clear as to its target audience. The book is divided into two historical (Romans in Britain and Life during the Final Years) and five themed chapters (Military Life; Town Life; Country Life; Domestic Life and Religious Life). These themes were perhaps prescribed by the format of the series, but I had hoped that there might actually be more about daily life. Although ‘Military Life’ nicely describes aspects of a soldier's daily work, it is confined to one page in the chapter, while in the other chapters there is no indication, for example, as to who the people were or whether they suffered from particular degenerative diseases due to their daily lives. This is unfortunate as A.-J. also states that the aim is to cover ‘the lives of the entire population of the province’. Burial is one of the prime sources of evidence.

In ‘Town Life’, where were all the craftsmen that were needed in the life of a town, as detailed in The People of Roman Britain by Anthony Birley (1979)? Not just the purveyors of food and grocers, but shoemakers and tool-makers who left their maker's marks on their tools. More was needed about the builders, carpenters, masons and labourers required in the fast-growing towns where building sites must have been a regular occurrence. More should have been said about the quality of inner city life, where cramped conditions, rising damp and dumped rubbish would have led to noise, smells and insanitary conditions adding to the drudge of daily life.

As to more specific points, several of many that could have been made. A clear distinction was drawn between the London Mithraeum used by merchants and those on Hadrian's Wall used by the military (122). The London Mithraeum was set up by Ulpius Silvanus, one-time military man of the Second Legion (RIB 3) and, as there was a military presence in London throughout the period the temple was in use, a mix of military, administrators and merchants should be supposed. Nor is there general local agreement that a new port was established at Shadwell, east of Londinium, where the river was deeper. Define the word ‘port’. More generally, the mention of different sites sometimes has a county in parenthesis (Dorchester, Dorset) but not, for example, North Wraxall or Park Brow. If this is aimed at a lay audience, these should have been expanded.

Although the author could not hope to achieve the detail of previous books, it is a very useful summary, but the references to source material are only occasionally noted. I would love to know, for example, the source for the statements about the discovery of a massive bronze horse's leg from London (63, but is this the gilded bronze arm of a life-size statue of an emperor or deity discovered in 2000?) or that the houses of London had wall veneers of Purbeck, Rutland and Oxfordshire oolites and slate, as well as a range of empire-wide coloured stones (90). The lack of either source material or archaeological evidence is one of the weaknesses of the book.

I would suggest that many of the faults lie with the published format. The 22 black-and-white plates, bound centrally, and 4 maps were insufficient. Colour plates would have been more appealing to the level of reader and the book needed more diagrams, illustrations of specific objects and an appendix of the sites mentioned. It is sometimes difficult, too, to judge the level of knowledge of the reader and at times too much background knowledge is assumed. This book, however, is a good starting point and most suitable for GCSE, A level, 1st year university students or interested adults. Overall it is a good introduction and should be obligatory on school and pre-university reading lists.