Andrei Gandila is Assistant Professor of History and Director of Ancient and Medieval Studies at the University of Alabama, Huntsville. His numerous publications include articles in Byzantinische Zeitschrift, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Numismatic Chronicle, Revue Numismatique, American Journal of Numismatics, and Archaeologia Bulgarica.
'The book's brisk survey of imported pottery, oil lamps, and jewelry documents the broad appeal of Roman culture in northern barbaricum, and provides context for the intensive investigation of gold, silver, and bronze coinage. Excavated coins document contractual exchange among political elites as well as low-level social interactions, yet their popular reception remained as exotic objects rather than economic currency. Richly documented and closely argued, this book offers a fresh historical analysis of emerging cultural identities in the early Balkans. Recommended.' M. Rautman, Choice 'The book's brisk survey of imported pottery, oil lamps, and jewelry documents the broad appeal of Roman culture in northern barbaricum, and provides context for the intensive investigation of gold, silver, and bronze coinage. Excavated coins document contractual exchange among political elites as well as low-level social interactions, yet their popular reception remained as exotic objects rather than economic currency. Richly documented and closely argued, this book offers a fresh historical analysis of emerging cultural identities in the early Balkans. Recommended.' M. Rautman, Choice