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Nero's Killing Machine
October 31, 2006
Another review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to community member Antiochus.
Dubbed “The Most Effective Legion”, the XIIII Gemina Martia Victrix' wonderful history is told within each page of this book. Stephen Dando-Collins’ years of research into the legions shows as the 14th Legion’s footsteps are followed from its bloody creation by Julius Caesar, to its end some two hundred years later...
...read the full review of Nero's Killing Machine by Stephen Dando-Collins
Roman Religion - A Sourcebook
October 28, 2006
Another review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to community member Favonius Cornelius.
Over the years I’ve noticed some distinct ways in writing history books of all kinds, each with its benefits. Some folks like to write the tale of the ancients in their own words and with their own perceptions; others seem purely academic with long presentations of resource and data, sometimes without even much interpretation. Personally I tend to like the happy medium of a mix: of ample quotation of the ancient histories, peppered with archaeological data, but guided by coherent narrative of the practiced historical mind. Valerie M. Warrior’s sourcebook Roman Religion follows this latter pattern and is a thoroughly enjoyable read...
...read the full review of Roman Religion - A Sourcebook by Valerie M. Warrior
Scipio Africanus - Greater Than Napoleon
October 25, 2006
Another review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to community member Divi Filius.
“That Caesar’s work is known universally, and Scipio little more than a name to the ordinary educated man, is a curious standard, for one inaugurated the world dominion of Roman civilization, while the other paved the way for its decay…”(202)
This is one of the many other statements in Liddell Hart’s biography of Scipio Africanus titled Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon that completely betrays it as a shameless aggrandizement of the man. Similar to this we see other exaggerated statements proposing the idea that somehow the empire might have survived longer had it followed an ideology of Scipio’s that is based entirely on the assumption of the author.
...read the full review of Scipio Africanus - Greater Than Napoleon by B. H. Liddell Hart
Pliny's Generosity
October 23, 2006
This article was brought to us by forum member FLavius Valerius Constantinus
It is impossible to be sure whether Pliny Minor was the most generous man in Italy because there isn`t much well-documented information about the finances of rich Romans other than Pliny Minor. Thanks to Pliny's letters, we can picture his life quite well, particularly his wealth. To support the statement that Pliny's generosity was outstanding, statistical data about his finances will be used as support...
...continue with the article on Pliny's Generosity
Gladiator DVD - Theatrical Version by Ridley Scott
October 17, 2006
A review of the now "classic" film Gladiator starring Russel Crowe has been completed thanks to community member DecimusCaesar
Gladiator, a film by veteran director Ridley Scott was released in the summer of 2000 to much critical acclaim. Audiences thrilled to his epic vision of Ancient Rome, an era ignored by moviemakers since the heyday of the peplum (epics set in the Classical World) had come to an end in the sixties. The film was a huge box-office success and has been hailed by cinema lovers as a classic ever since...
...read the full review of Gladiator DVD - Theatrical Version by Ridley Scott
The Roman World - People and Places by Nigel Rodgers
October 14, 2006
Another review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to community member Lost Warrior.
When I first saw this book on the "bargain shelf" I couldn't believe my good fortune. The Roman World: People and Places by Nigel Rodgers (with consultant Dr. Hazel Dodge) is beautifully put together with a sown binding and heavy pages. I was struck by the numerous glossy photos adorning each page and the wealth of information. The book is presumably part of a series, because I found a similar book on the same bargain shelf a couple of weeks later and of course had to take it home with me...
...read the full review of The Roman World - People and Places by Nigel Rodgers
Aurelian and the Third Century by Alaric Watson
October 09, 2006
Another review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to community member Ursus.
Sandwiched between the end of the early empire and the beginning of the late empire is the often overlooked figure of Lucius Domitius Aurelianus, better known in English as Aurelian. Brief though his five-year reign was, Aurelian achieved the extraordinary feat of reuniting an empire torn by foreign invasion and internal fracture. To my knowledge, Watson's book is the only major treatment of Aurelian in the English language, and it is an overwhelmingly sympathetic view. It should not be mistaken for a biography in the traditional sense of the word. The author admonishes that there are too many gaps in the historical knowledge of Aurelian, and the information we do have is often biased or conflicting. Instead the book seeks to critically examine the literary and material evidence of Aurelian's reign and place it within the wider scope of Rome's Third Century...
...read the full review of Aurelian and the Third Century by Alaric Watson
Commodus
October 06, 2006
Commodus
The accession of the 19 year old Commodus upon the death of his father Marcus Aurelius on March 17, AD 180 is often considered a catalyst that sparked the initial decline of the Roman Empire. Whether or not the assertion is true and Commodus acted as a catalyst, or if he was simply a piece of an evolving and dynamic Roman puzzle is a matter of perspective and interpretation. It’s interesting that the death of Marcus Aurelius is considered the end of the “Pax Romana” (The Roman Peace) but the reign of Commodus was largely as peaceful as that of Antoninus Pius a half century earlier...
Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy
October 03, 2006
Another review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to community member Favonius Cornelius.
Caius Julius Caesar. Probably every educated person in the world is familiar with the name, for the man's life played a large role in shaping the western world as we know it. Few people in history can claim such an importance. Dissecting the aspects and times of this man has been an academic pursuit since right after his death to the modern day, so it takes a sharp mind and an expansive grasp of the history of the Romans to say something new, or put the story in a different perspective. I've read many of them, so it is with no small pleasure that I can confirm Adrian Goldsworthy's new book Caesar, Life of a Colossus succeeds in providing exactly that. Not a new age reinterpretation, ideological sermon, nor conservative rehash; Goldsworthy's book is a firm accounting and fair assessment, based on fact and sensibility of interpretation of the ancient histories...
...read the full review of Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy
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