Roman Empire Books.

BBM77

Can anyone recommend a good book on the Roman Empire, preferably not American. A one volume history from it beings to the Byzantine Empire would be great.

Cheers

Mr. Presentable

I have two which are very good.

The Beginnings of Rome - TJ Cornell - Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c.1000-264BC)

The Punic Wars - Nigel Bagnall (264-146BC)

damienom

I'm about 40 pages into this, fantastic book so far.

BBM77

Thanks for the tips. Rubicon looks like a good book to start of on.

boneless

If you want an in depth history of the period of the late Republic and early Empire, H.H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero is one of the best I have read. I find this period the most interesting, so beware of a bias...;)

katarin

euuuuugh scullard's a menace. tom holland's rubicon is good, or else plutarch's roman lives is an easy read, despite its authorship. P.J. Heather's The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History is good, and its a recent work.

boneless

katarin wrote:

euuuuugh scullard's a menace. tom holland's rubicon is good, or else plutarch's roman lives is an easy read, despite its authorship. P.J. Heather's The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History is good, and its a recent work.

If you have to read it for study, I agree Scullard is a bore, but it is a very informative assemblage of the major events... I loved Rubicon too...:p

katarin

if you're in ucd, tom holland came to speak for classics soc this year. he's lovely, he looks like hugh brady.

hivizman

Tom Holland's latest book Persian Fire is also very good.

For a general history covering all of the Roman republic and empire, as well as classical Greece, try Robin Lane Fox's The Classical World: An Epic History of Greece and Rome. Given the massive amount of time that the book covers, it can't help but be superficial, but it's good as a chronicle of the key events and people.

Lazairus

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0091800951/202-5281413-8946224

hivizman

Lazairus wrote:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0091800951/202-5281413-8946224

The link takes you to Robert Harris's Imperium, which is the first of a promised trilogy on the life of Cicero. The book is, like Harris's others (Enigma, Fatherland, Archangel, Pompeii), well-written and enjoyable to read.

If you want novelisations of Roman History, and have a few months spare, look at the series by Colleen McCullough, which started with The First Man in Rome, reaches the assassination of Julius Caesar and the defeat of Brutus at the battle of Philippi in The October Horse, and will continue later this year with Anthony and Cleopatra. The books are each about 1,000 pages long and have "scholarly" appendices!

Although they were written in the 1930s, Robert Graves's I Claudius and Claudius the God are good novels covering the Julio-Claudians (the first 50 or so years of Imperial Rome). Finally, if you can get hold of a copy, the Lives of the Later Caesars is fun - no scandalous story has been omitted.:)

navalus

I think Gibbons " Decline and fall of the Roman Empire" is a great read!

Mick86

hivizman wrote:

The link takes you to Robert Harris's Imperium, which is the first of a promised trilogy on the life of Cicero.....

Anyone who watched last weeks episode of Rome on telly will have the ending spoiled for them.:D

hivizman wrote:

If you want novelisations of Roman History, and have a few months spare, look at the series by Colleen McCullough, which started with The First Man in Rome, reaches the assassination of Julius Caesar and the defeat of Brutus at the battle of Philippi in The October Horse, and will continue later this year with Anthony and Cleopatra. The books are each about 1,000 pages long and have "scholarly" appendices!

I've read the first two books in the series and they are excellent and informative.

Traianus

I'd suggest a book called "In the name of Rome". It is an examination of the tactics and life of Rome's greatest generals from Scipio Africanus to Belisarius' reconquest of Italy in the 7th century. It also details the enemies of rome including a great section on Hannibal's Italian Campaign. It's a major reason why I got so interested in all things Roman.
In terms of novels, I liked "The Last Legion" a lot. The movie is just out and isn't great but isn't terrible either. The book is v.good, however.

Cato

damienom wrote: »

I'm about 40 pages into this, fantastic book so far.

Rubicon is excelant! best book ive read of the romans good choice also "in the name of Rome" is sort of a chronological time line but more in the form of famous generals and politicians of romes begin to Byzantium's end good read alos...

Morlar

navalus wrote: »

I think Gibbons " Decline and fall of the Roman Empire" is a great read!

I was scratching my head there trying to figure out why no one was recommending that.

Mr. Presentable

Cato wrote: »

Rubicon is excelant! ..

I read Rubicon based on the recommendations here and, whilst an enjoyable read, found it uninformative.

Cato

nipplenuts wrote: »

I read Rubicon based on the recommendations here and, whilst an enjoyable read, found it uninformative.

in what respect?

PDN

I agree that Tom Holland's Rubicon is a great read, but it does deal with the Roman Republic whereas the OP asked about the Roman Empire.

eroo

Any good books on Roman Military that ye could recommend?

Pride Fighter

eroo wrote: »

Any good books on Roman Military that ye could recommend?

From the horses mouth himself- Julius Caesar, the Civil War.

Tenger

boneless wrote: »

If you want an in depth history of the period of the late Republic and early Empire, H.H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero is one of the best I have read. I find this period the most interesting, so beware of a bias...;)

Would support this review. This book is hard going but covers an awful lot of Roman history. Definitely a good read for a student of Rome. I did Rubicon,very easy style,think narrative history is the term. From this book you can then delve into greater detail the areas that interest you.

xximpxx

i'm trying to remember a quote I'm pretty sure it was from Rubicon, it was something like the greatest honour a man can have is serving in public office....or something along those lines! can anyone tell me the exact quote?

jonniebgood1

Please do not bump old threads. Closed.