UNRV Ancient Roman Empire History

Crazy. Insane. Out of control. Egotistical. Blood-thirsty. Psychotic. This is just a sample of adjectives stereotypically ascribed to many of the Roman emperors, but were the emperors really as mad as common, popular belief teaches us they were? Were they honestly as looney, messed up and deranged as befitting a perfectly wild addition to a [...]

Empire is Steven Saylor’s highly anticipated follow up to his centuries-spanning historical fiction saga, “Roma”. Both books trace the ancestral evolution of the Pinarii family as they bear witness to the foundation and growth of Rome and its Empire. Roma covered the earliest foundations of Rome through the civil wars, while “Empire” picks up at [...]

We are in the process of upgrading our forum/bulletin board software to the most current version. Unfortunately, we have run into some technical difficulties and the installation has been severely delayed. We are hoping to resolve the situation soon. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Whats your favourite book in August? Many books are on the table, from Citizens of Discord: Rome and Its Civil Wars , The Roman Empire: Roots Of Imperialism to Public Office in Early Rome: Ritual Procedure and Political Practice, Marcus Aurelius: A Life [Paperback] and many more, see the complete list including our bestselling books [...]

Philip Matyszak asks Adrienne Mayor some questions regarding her recent book “The Poison King” Adrienne Mayor is an independent folklorist/historian of science who investigates natural knowledge contained in pre-scientific myths and oral traditions. Adrienne Mayor is currently a visiting scholar in classics and history of science at Stanford University. She is the author of The [...]

The Poison King by Adrienne Mayor Book Review by Philip Matyszak Two thousand years after his death, Mithridates VI of Pontus continues to generate strong feelings, and this will certainly continue to be the case for readers of Adrienne Mayor’s latest book. I have a feeling that readers on this forum will either love it [...]

Two months ago the headline “Roman Gladiator Cemetary Discovered” created some buzz around the world, (here the link in case you missed it.) This news story sparked a fascinating forum discussion, it is one of the best examples of how to have an engaging, passionate discussion without turning it into a flame fest, bravo to [...]

This book comes in a pleasant little format, some 170 pages (plus notes and annexes) which claims to tell us all that is known about the murder of Regilla, a noble lady of ancient Rome, and wife of Herodes Atticus. A tall order indeed but something which promiment scholar Ms Pomeroy would seem be able [...]

English language scholarship tends to overlook Roman provinces – aside, of course, from Roman Britain. Anthony King attempts to partially correct that imbalance in Roman Gaul and Germany. Twenty years old and seemingly out of print, the book is worth an attempt to locate it from used vendors. It offers an interesting look into these [...]

Did you know that Romans believed that goats breathed through their ears? Well, that is just the sort of priceless information you can find locked away in A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities. This is a book that takes a lighthearted romp through Roman history to collect some of the more obscure but colorful bits of [...]

These were festivals where religious officials employed by the State conducted public rites. Citizens were required to suspend business on such dates, but they were not required to attend religious ceremonies (many did so, however, as sacrificial meat was often given in such festivals). Because the ancient Romans did not observe a “weekend” as moderns [...]

Inspiring kids to read these days is no mean feat in the wake of crumbling educational systems. One is considered lucky if one’s child buys into the global media hype of Harry Potter. Even luckier, supposedly, are those who start studying Elvish at the behest of Tolkien. I am not myself a parent, but I [...]

Attila the Hun is a household name- a byword for barbarism and violence ?but to most of us the man himself, his world and his place in history have remained elusive. So reads the blurb on the back of John Man?s book on Attila the Hun. Yet does the book actually give us a greater [...]