Shaping 'cultural' identity and ethnicity : Roman Auxilia serving in the Northern military zone of Britannia and a critical examination of their representation in museums
Museums are increasingly obliged to take note of Government policy regarding issues of social engagement, access and diversity within museum collections and how they relate to developing new audiences, particularly those of minority ethnic origin, in order to attract or maintain funding. This thesis examines this by using foreign recruited Roman Auxiliary soldiers as an extensive case study to show that their potential to reveal diversity could have the effect of attracting people of a range of ethnic backgrounds to museums, who might not otherwise attend, as well as demonstrating that ancient Britain was much more diverse than general opinion supposes. It will also show just how challenging many museums find this proposition. To explore these issues, this thesis examines archaeological and epigraphical evidence of auxiliary regiments, or Auxilia, in the northern frontier region of Britannia for indications of different ethnic and cultural identities and then critically examines their representation in modern museums of the area. Evidence will be drawn from the 1st to 4th centuries CE. A catalogue of all evidence concerning named auxiliary regiments has been constructed, along with indexes of museums in the
Galer, M.
Shaping 'cultural' identity and ethnicity : Roman Auxilia serving in the Northern military zone of Britannia and a critical examination of their representation in museums. Museums are increasingly obliged to take note of Government policy regarding issues of social engagement, access and diversity within museum collections and how they relate to developing new audiences, particularly those of minority ethnic origin, in order to attract or maintain funding. This thesis examines this by using foreign recruited Roman Auxiliary soldiers as an extensive case study to show that their potential to reveal diversity could have the effect of attracting people of a range of ethnic backgrounds to museums, who might not otherwise attend, as well as demonstrating that ancient Britain was much more diverse than general opinion supposes. It will also show just how challenging many museums find this proposition. To explore these issues, this thesis examines archaeological and epigraphical evidence of auxiliary regiments, or Auxilia, in the northern frontier region of Britannia for indications of different ethnic and cultural identities and then critically examines their representation in modern museums of the area. Evidence will be drawn from the 1st to 4th centuries CE. A catalogue of all evidence concerning named auxiliary regiments has been constructed, along with indexes of museums in the
shaping cultural_identity ethnicity roman serve northern military zone britannia critical_examination representation museum museums increasingly oblige take note government_policy regard issue social_engagement access diversity_within museum_collection relate develop_new audience particularly minority ethnic origin order attract maintain funding examines use foreign recruit roman auxiliary soldier extensive case_study show potential reveal diversity could effect attract people range ethnic_background museum might otherwise attend well demonstrate ancient britain much diverse general opinion also_show challenge many museum proposition explore issue examines archaeological epigraphical evidence auxiliary regiment northern_frontier region britannia indication different ethnic_cultural identity critically_examine representation modern museum area evidence_drawn catalogue evidence_concern name auxiliary regiment construct along index museum