ABSTRACT
The practical nature of Romans and the characteristics of Roman deities cause many to downplay their commitment to religion. Yet religion played a fundamental role and was subtly intertwined with ritual and the application of military conquest. The linear constructions in Africa were much less impressive than the two British walls. Roman military successes were often a combination of inflexible determination, relentless aggression, threatened reprisals of the cruelest nature, and unmatched engineering skill. Although their superior technology is illustrated by several engagements, none is more dramatic than the siege of Masada. For the Romans, however, the symbolic importance of Masada must have been much more pedestrian. Romanization implied the introduction of taxation, the installation of military forces and the adoption of Roman customs by the local population. The extent to which the periphery internalized Romanization has been a matter of vigorous debate.
