UNRV Ancient Roman Empire History

In this new book Stephen Dando-Collins (from hereon ‘D-C’) unsurprisingly tells the story of Nero and The Great Fire of Rome. Drawing on some of the revisionist history of the recent past, D-C defies the old, traditional interpretation that Nero set the fire and then blamed the Christians. Instead, he attempts a complete reanalysis of [...]

These days when we think of spectacle in ancient Rome, we immediately think of gladiators in the arena. Yet gladiator shows only took place anywhere between ten and twenty days per year, and had a maximum audience of some 50,000 people at the Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum). Chariot races happened regularly, and attracted some 150,000 people [...]

Dr. Philip Matyszak holds a degree from St. John’s College, Oxford. He teaches an e-learning course on Ancient Rome at Cambridge University. “Maty” has authored numerous books, many of which have been reviewed at UNRV. He is a “patrician” on the UNRV forums and regularly interacts with its members.He graciously agreed to be interviewed in [...]

I have done a lot of reviews for Philip “Maty” Matyszak, Cambridge lecturer and fellow UNRV member. I hate to sound like a paid publicist, but the simple truth is I enjoy the many books of his I have read. With Greco-Roman mythology being one of my favorite areas of inquiry, I was intrigued how [...]

It is sometimes said that everyone has one book in them. However the real test is more often than not how well or otherwise a novice novelist follows up on their initial efforts and even if their second novel is half as good as their first. I am happy to report that in Arrows of [...]

We are very excited to announce that Osprey Publishing is giving away two copies of Gladiator: Rome’s Bloody Spectacle by Konstantin Nossov! If you would like to win, reply to newsletter@unrv.com that you’d like to enter the lucky draw and don’t forget to include your shipping address!! Premium members have an exclusive extra chance to [...]

Gladiator is an extremely informative and well written account of the phenomenon that whipped the Roman world into a frenzy for the better part of seven centuries. This book is a detailed account of everything related to the ultra violent world of the premier sporting event and icons of the ancient world. Konstantin Nossov is [...]

We are very excited to announce that Prometheus Books is giving away two copies of Tiberius Julius Alexander: A Historical Novel by Daniel M. Friedenberg! If you would like to win, reply to newsletter@unrv.com that you’d like to enter the lucky draw and don’t forget to include your shipping address!! Premium members have an additional [...]

This ain’t your grandfather’s Spartacus! What happens when HBO:Rome meets The 300? Some ass kicking action, that’s what. Everyone remembers Kubrick’s 1960 masterpiece starring Kirk Douglas as an impossibly idealistic proto-Communist leading a proletarian uprising against the establishment. And almost no one, fortunately, remembers a god awful made-for-TV-movie that aired on the USA network a [...]

“Oh no! Not another book about Hadrian’s Wall” – I was given The Wall: Rome`s Greatest Frontier by Alistair Moffat by my wife as a birthday present and, through slightly gritted teeth I thanked her, trying desperately to inject some degree of sincerity that I didn`t particularly feel. Just what I needed, yet another book [...]

Riding on the wave of popularity of “What’s the last book you read?” (in the Colosseum forum). How about “What’s the last Roman site you visited…?” …so what was your last Roman site that you have visited?

The basic story line involves his hero being sent to Britain immediately prior to both the murder of his family in Rome at the orders of the, newly sole, Emperor Commodus and an incipient rebellion by the native population. There are all the usual ingredients with agents of his enemies in Rome hunting for him [...]

Today Stephen Dando-Collins` long anticipated new novel The Great Fire of Rome: The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City is finally available! To celebrate this day, we are giving away one copy! If you would like to win, just answer the following question; “How many pages does Stephen Dando-Collins new novel have? (Hint: [...]