UNRV Ancient Roman Empire History

This 361 page book arose from the authors interests in folk lore and as the acknowledgement states being an independent researcher of classical legends about natural history. It is split into six main chapters and contains two appendices, seven maps, 77 illustrations, 19 pages of end notes and 22 pages of works cited (bibliography). This [...]

The last instalment in The Forgotten Legion trilogy continues as friends and comrades-in-arms Romulus and Tarquinius seek to return to Italy. The action opens in Alexandria amid the riots against the Roman presence in the city in 48 BC. Having been forced to join the besieged Roman Army, the two friends find themselves in the [...]

In the days when Stalinism ruled Albania it was not uncommon to see official photographs in public buildings with faces scratched out. If you asked who the person was Albanians knew to respond ‘who? I don’t see anyone there’. So it was in Roman times. In this important study Harriet L. Flower explores the ways [...]

The origins of Rome have never really caught the public imagination in the same way as the our preconceptions of the imperial period. Not without reason have the ideas of decadent excesses and crumbling empire inspired a century of Hollywood feature films. You might suspect this was purely out of ignorance, since the founding of [...]

In preparing this new translation Matthew Fox has been ably assisted by his collaborator Ethan Adams. Together they have taken one of the classics of Roman literature and given it both a modern translation and extensive supplementary material which complement and expand on that available through existing works. It should also interest anyone wishing to [...]

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena diverts from its titular lead character, and instead charts the social rise and moral fall of the House of Batiatus several years prior to the first season. Contained within six episodes are enough gore, sex and slow-motion special effects to assault the senses into submission. Despite what might be perceived [...]

Two of the most famous names in English history are Hengist and Horsa, the brothers who, according to Bede, were amongst the first of the “Anglo-Saxon” invaders of England to make a settlement in Kent: “The first commanders are said to have been the two brothers Hengist and Horsa. Of these Horsa was afterwards slain [...]

Ancient Rome shines with tales of intrigue, wealth, power, and avarice in the John Maddox Roberts mystery series SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus or Senate and the People of Rome). The first book, The King’s Gambit, is set in 70 B.C., the time of the Republic. Pompey and Crassus are the ruling Consuls and the victorious [...]

In the long history of the Roman Empire there are few, if any, women whose lives can compare with the drama, intrigue, romance and success of Galla Placidia (GP). Daughter of Theodosius I and sister of the Western emperor Honorius, she spent most of her early years in the household of her sister-by-adoption Serena and [...]

Have you noticed that a drink tastes better when it matches what you are drinking it from? Instant coffee seems natural enough in a plastic disposable cup, but its practically sacrilege to drink Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee that way. Likewise, to be fully appreciated, fine whisky and wines need a correspondingly fine drinking vessel. In [...]

One of the largest questions in European history has always been: “Why did Rome fall?” But surely right behind that question is another one: “What if Rome hadn’t fallen?” Usually the second question is explored only in fiction (there was, for instance, a Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk visited an alternate earth where Rome [...]

I have the privilege of reviewing this short but delightfully informative book, The Frome Hoard. The Frome coin hoard was found by detectorist Dave Crisp in a field near Frome in Somerset, England in April 2010. Two days before finding the Frome Hoard, Crisp had discovered some scattered fourth century silver coins (silaquae) in the [...]

One of the main factors which have restricted study of the Late Roman Empire has been the nature of the sources. Fragmented, confused, brief, and often in languages – in this case Syriac – known only to a few specialists, the sources have either lacked reliable translations, or the translations themselves were produced a long [...]