Elizabeth Legge Books in Order

Elizabeth Legge traces the architectural development of Rome’s Castra Praetoria, from its establishment under Sejanus to later changes and demolition. The study examines how the barracks concentrated military forces and reflected shifting demands on imperial power.

This archaeological study reconstructs Agrippa I’s life and reign using buildings, coins, and ancient accounts. Elizabeth Legge examines his relationships with Roman rulers and Judaean communities, then investigates the political circumstances and competing explanations surrounding his sudden death.

Elizabeth Legge examines Britain’s transition from Roman rule through figures including Ambrosius Aurelianus and Flavius Aetius. Archaeological remains and historical accounts inform a discussion of resistance, political continuity, and the relationship between material evidence and later legend.

Elizabeth Legge reads Old Testament narratives through archaeology, geography, and regional politics. Essays revisit figures and episodes including Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and Daniel, exploring how material circumstances and structures of authority may illuminate their historical settings.

This study examines séances, ghost stories, and spiritualist claims through cultural history, folklore, and religion. Elizabeth Legge considers how communities interpret supernatural experiences and negotiate belief and doubt, placing the practices within their broader social settings.

These essays examine Jesus within the archaeological and political setting of first-century Judaea. Elizabeth Legge combines textual analysis, material evidence, and Herodian history to propose reconstructions of his life and the forces that shaped its course.

A collection of essays traces Rome’s rise as a naval power through maritime archaeology and technological change. Ships, rams, wrecks, and cultural attitudes reveal how adaptation at sea contributed to the expansion of Roman influence across the Mediterranean.

This study explains how microorganisms and pollution damage archaeological metals and stone. Examples from shipwrecks, monuments, and excavated objects connect biochemical processes with preservation problems, including the roles of biofilms, salt water, and strategies for conservation.

Elizabeth Legge examines how cinema constructs the ancient world through narrative, design, politics, and psychology. Discussing biblical epics and films such as Gladiator, she explores what their portrayals of power and identity reveal about the cultures producing them.

Legge reassesses Julius Caesar’s political intentions within the institutions and pressures of the late Roman Republic. Examining his leadership and the circumstances of Rome’s crisis, she challenges interpretations that present him simply as a power-seeking tyrant.

This collection examines how the Julio-Claudian and Herodian dynasties constructed political authority and public legitimacy. Studies of Caligula’s relationship with Agrippa and the Malhata fortress connect imperial politics with archaeological evidence from the Roman-Judaean frontier.

This collection explores Roman medicine through archaeological evidence, historical texts, and modern clinical perspectives. Essays examine women physicians, military care, gladiators, poisoning, and other forms of healing, connecting medical knowledge with the practical conditions of ancient life.

Elizabeth Legge explores espionage and deception in the ancient world, drawing examples from Jericho, Troy, and other settings. Archaeology and historical analysis illuminate informants, covert negotiations, disguised agents, and the strategic use of information in struggles for power.

This study explores whether fairy tales, biblical narratives, and classical legends preserve memories of Bronze Age practices. Drawing on archaeology and comparative literature, it traces recurring themes of sacrifice, violence, political dominance, and cultural transmission across later storytelling.