UNRV Ancient Roman Empire History

Forum leader “Ursus” presents the following review: “One of UNRV’s more accessible resources is the smattering of bona fide scholars and authors that grace our fora. Our longest serving resident scholar is the venerable Andrew Dalby, an Oxford trained scholar on the classical world with interests in language and food. Two of my esteemed fellow [...]

A review of an ancient world classic PC game by “Ursus”… “A review should be reflective of the medium under study. I’m not reviewing a scholarly book or even a classic film, but a popular piece of gaming entertainment. So let us drop all literary pretenses and get down to business! Whether you are an [...]

This table compiles names of prominent individuals who were victims of political violence in the Roman Republic. The term is used loosely and includes those killed in civil war, exiled and/or convicted on various politically inspired prosecutions, as well as those proscribed and otherwise murdered. This compilation highlights the period from the Gracchi to the [...]

A special guest contribution from community member “Wotwotius”… “In my sixth and seventh consulships [28-27 BC], after I had extinguished civil wars, and at a time when with universal consent I was in complete control of affairs, I transferred the republic from my power to the dominion of the senate and people of Rome?After this [...]

A comparative review by Ursus to “The Hellenistic World” “Michael Grant, one of the seminal giants of classical studies, provides a thorough examination of the Hellenistic world in From Alexander to Cleopatra. While 25 years old since its original printing, the tome still serves as a comprehensive and readable survey. It is similar to Walbank?s [...]

A review by “Ursus”… “The parochial Hellenic city-states had fought tooth and nail against Persia’s unkind attempt to absorb them into a greater realm. Unfortunately for them, Alexander?s imperial ambitions would detach the Hellenic world from the quaint provincialism of the Classical Age and launch them into the cosmopolitan chaos of the Hellenistic Age. Even [...]

A review by forum moderator “Ursus”… “If I told you that you could profit from reading the historical treatise of a writer of vampire novels, you might look at me askance. But what if the novelist in question were educated at Cambridge and Oxford, and had written extensively on the classics? What if he were [...]

A review by forum moderator “Pertinax”… “When I was sent this work I had initially supposed I would be receiving an account of the first of the Justinian epidemiological episodes in 541 CE (which re-appeared thereafter in various ?waves? of subsiding deadliness for nearly two hundred years). However the work is something wider than that, [...]

A review by “Ursus” “The legacy of Alexander the Great should be apparent to any Romanophile. While there had been cultural diffusion occurring between East and West for some time, Alexander?s politico-military schemes radically facilitated the trend. The subsequent Greco-Oriental fusion of the Hellenistic era penetrated Rome, and through it Western Europe. It is hard [...]

Looking for the perfect classical name for your dog? Thanks to forum member “Nephele”, the following article presents over 50 historical choices with their meanings and the source material from where they came. What did the ancient Romans name their four-legged best friends? Lucius Iunius Moderatus Columella gives us a few recommended names in the [...]

A modern review of a tale told long ago… To paraphrase Egyptologist Geraldine Pinch: all myths are sacred, but not all myths are solemn. Some myths are even laced with ribald perversions. The Golden Ass has not the timeless majesty of Homer, the dignified moralizing of Hesiod, or the conscious patriotism of Virgil. Its characters [...]

A review… As this book has been previously reviewed by an esteemed colleague who is quite knowledgeable of the military history of Rome, I will not approach the book from the same vantage point. Instead, I will be reviewing the book as someone who is college educated with a basic knowledge of Roman history, one [...]

An overview of the Celtic goddess Morrigan by a member of our discussion community “Lost Warrior” While there seem to be many differences of opinion with regards to the nature of the goddess Morrigan, the general consensus among sources is that she is a goddess of war, death and fertility. Some sources also attribute to [...]