Our Roman Highways. By Urquhart A. Forbes and Arnold C.
Burmester. (F. E. Robinson and Co. 6s.)—The authors of this readable and interesting volume say they have "abstained from attempting any detailed examination of the course followed by the great lines of road with their numerous ramifications,"—a task which would have exceeded the limits of their work, and which has, moreover, been recently very thoroughly and ably performed by Mr. T. Codrington, M.I.C.E., F.G.S., in his "Roman Roads in Britain." Their book is rather a handbook of the means of transport in Great Britain during the Roman occupation, obtained from all trustworthy sources, and treats in an interesting fashion all the subjects cognate to transport, such as towns on the roads, camps, fortifications, bridges, milestones, and inns. In a chapter of some length and detail the writers deal with the obliteration of the original highways and the growth of modern roads. The conclusion which is come to at the close of this chapter is eminently significant. "That the Roman highway system was at least fully equal to that which has superseded it as regards material con- struction is evident from excavations such as those of Mr. Malurtrie on the Fosse Way, and it appears open to question whether the present system of delegating the management of highways to a number of local authorities is calculated to insure a higher standard of efficiency than was obtained under the Roman system of State control." There are some admirable passages of graphic description in this book ; there could hardly, for example, be anything better of its kind than that of a journey along a typical Roman road in Britain in the days of Constantine the Great.
EXCAVATIONS AT PHYLAKOPI IN 3IELOS.
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