Pertinax
January 30, 2007
Following the assassination of Commodus on December 31, AD 192, Publius Helvius Pertinax, as both a revered elder member of the Senate and a chief lieutenant of the former emperor, was chosen to replace him. The reign of Pertinax is intriguing for its short length and related tragic turn of events which led to the further erosion of the Roman political state. It is also notable for his personal humble origins marking a distinct difference from all of the Princeps/Emperors who ruled before him...
Pertinax
Livia - First Lady of Imperial Rome
January 23, 2007
Another review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to community member The Augusta.
That Anthony Barrett’s biography of Livia, wife of Augustus, is the first to appear in the English language is justification enough for its publication. That it attempts to provide a more favourable portrait of Rome’s first empress than that to be found in the pages of Tacitus is understandable. Outside the academic world, Robert Graves’ fictional account of Livia is still used as the definitive portrait of the woman; perhaps hardly surprising given the dramatic influence ‘I, Claudius’ has had over the last thirty years on television audiences...
...read the full review of Livia - First Lady of Imperial Rome by Anthony A. Barrett
HBO "Rome" Second Season Premiere
January 16, 2007
The second season of the HBO "Rome" television series premiered on Sunday, January 14, 2006 in the US.
Join us and discuss the exciting second season opener on our very own 'Rome' subforum! UNRV members offer both praise and disappointment for the new season, and debate the historical accuracy.
Discuss the series in general: UNRV Rome Forum
Discuss Season 2, Episode 1: Passover
[Obviously, as the BBC and other networks around the world have not yet released season 2 premiere dates (and for those of you without HBO), there may be spoilers within...]
Maurice's Strategikon: Handbook of Byzantine Military Strategy
January 08, 2007
Another review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to community member Tobias.
It was not through luck or divine intervention (not entirely anyway) that the Later Eastern Roman Empire – the Byzantine Empire – survived and carried on the knowledge, culture, traditions and Empire of Ancient Rome for so long after the fall of the West. The Byzantine Army, particularly its officer corps, was one of the most efficient, well trained and intelligent fighting forces of its time. With centuries of knowledge, wisdom and experience at their command, Byzantine armies set the standards for armies of the Age. It took one person to realise that if all this knowledge and wisdom could be condensed into a simple, readily understood handbook on military strategy, Byzantine military supremacy could be guaranteed for a long time to come. It was envisioned that no Byzantine officer would lack a copy of this Strategikon. It is this book, Maurice’s Strategikon, which has survived to this day, informing us of some of the greatest strategists of the time, the Byzantines...
...read the full review of Maurice's Strategikon: Handbook of Byzantine Military Strategy
