Author: Joanne Berry Publisher: Thames & Hudson ISBN: 0500771707 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 239
Book Description
One hundred biographies reveal the mightiest civilization of the ancient world through the lives of its citizens. At its peak Rome's empire stretched across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, yet it started as a primitive encampment above a riverside marsh. This book spans the great chronological and geographical sweep of the Roman age and brings the reader face to face with those who helped create the empire, from consuls and commanders to ordinary soldiers, voters, and taxpayers. An extraordinary range of viewpoints is explored in these biographies. A centurion and a plasterer's wife share pages with the orator Cicero and the scholar Pliny the Elder, while a vestal virgin shares a chapter with Antinous, the boy-lover of Hadrian. Augustine, the church patriarch, and Constantine, Rome's first "Christian" emperor, rub shoulders with Julian the Apostate and Vettius Agorius Praetextatus, leader of the pagans. Roman women were the most liberated in the ancient world. They could wield massive power and influence, yet are often overlooked. Meet Servilia, Caesar's lover; Sulpicia, the teenage poet; Amazonia, the sword-swinging gladiator; and Cloelia, the girl who escaped captivity by swimming the Tiber. Lavishly illustrated with magnificent works of art, including portraits, sculptures, and Renaissance paintings of Roman scenes, this book reveals the real-life stories behind the rise and fall of Rome. Philip Matyszak teaches Roman History for the Institute of Continuing Education at Cambridge. He has written extensively on the ancient world. Joanne Berry teaches ancient history at Swansea University and is the author of The Complete Pompeii.
Author: Simon James Publisher: DK Eyewitness ISBN: 9780241552995 Category : Emperors Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
"Step into the world of ancient Rome and meet its emperors, gods, soldiers, and gladiators. Who were Rome's most famous emperors? What was everyday life like for a soldier in the Roman army? How did the citizens of ancient Rome live? Did gladiators really fight to the death in the mighty Colosseum? Find out the answers to all these questions, and many more, in Eyewitness Ancient Rome. Photographs of real artefacts and detailed illustrations will help you to understand what it was like to live in this mighty civilization, as it changed from a small city-state ruled by kings to one of the most powerful empires in history. Find out, too, what a typical Roman house was like and what food Romans ate. Learn about how people spent their free time, whether paying a visit to the theatre, using the public bath, or watching gladiators fight a gruesome battle to the death in the world-famous Colosseum. Part of the best-selling DK Eyewitness series, which is now getting an exciting makeover, this popular title has been reinvigorated for the next generation of information-seekers and stay-at-home explorers, with a fresh new look, new photographs, updated information, and a new "eyewitness feature - fascinating first-hand accounts from experts in the field"--Publisher's description.
Author: Christopher Francese Publisher: Hippocrene Books ISBN: 9780781811538 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 252
Book Description
The brief word-histories in this book are meant to provide background on some words that everyone learns when they study Latin, as well as some rarer terms that have interesting stories to tell about Roman culture. This book lists a new word or phrase that came into American English every year from 1975 to 1998, with a selection of early additions from 1497 to 1750, and discusses the history behind the adoption of each. Teachers and students of Latin can benefit from the slightly more formal, but still anecdotal, approach taken here to some key words in the Latin lexicon.
Author: Mary Beard Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 1631491253 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 743
Book Description
New York Times Bestseller A New York Times Notable Book Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Foreign Affairs, and Kirkus Reviews Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction) Shortlisted for the Cundill Prize in Historical Literature Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (History) A San Francisco Chronicle Holiday Gift Guide Selection A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection A sweeping, "magisterial" history of the Roman Empire from one of our foremost classicists shows why Rome remains "relevant to people many centuries later" (Atlantic). In SPQR, an instant classic, Mary Beard narrates the history of Rome "with passion and without technical jargon" and demonstrates how "a slightly shabby Iron Age village" rose to become the "undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean" (Wall Street Journal). Hailed by critics as animating "the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life" (Economist) in a way that makes "your hair stand on end" (Christian Science Monitor) and spanning nearly a thousand years of history, this "highly informative, highly readable" (Dallas Morning News) work examines not just how we think of ancient Rome but challenges the comfortable historical perspectives that have existed for centuries. With its nuanced attention to class, democratic struggles, and the lives of entire groups of people omitted from the historical narrative for centuries, SPQR will to shape our view of Roman history for decades to come.
Author: Carl J. Richard Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers ISBN: 074256780X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 321
Book Description
This engaging yet deeply informed work not only examines Roman history and the multitude of Roman achievements in rich and colorful detail but also delineates their crucial and lasting impact on Western civilization. Noted historian Carl J. Richard argues that although we Westerners are "all Greeks" in politics, science, philosophy, and literature and "all Hebrews" in morality and spirituality, it was the Romans who made us Greeks and Hebrews. As the author convincingly shows, from the Middle Ages on, most Westerners received Greek ideas from Roman sources. Similarly, when the Western world adopted the ethical monotheism of the Hebrews, it did so at the instigation of a Roman citizen named Paul, who took advantage of the peace, unity, stability, and roads of the empire to proselytize the previously pagan Gentiles, who quickly became a majority of the religion's adherents. Although the Roman government of the first century crucified Christ and persecuted Christians, Rome's fourth- and fifth-century leaders encouraged the spread of Christianity throughout the Western world. In addition to making original contributions to administration, law, engineering, and architecture, the Romans modified and often improved the ideas they assimilated. Without the Roman sense of social responsibility to temper the individualism of Hellenistic Greece, classical culture might have perished, and without the Roman masses to proselytize and the social and material conditions necessary to this evangelism, Christianity itself might not have survived.
Author: Colin Michael Wells Publisher: Harvard University Press ISBN: 9780674777705 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 396
Book Description
This sweeping history of the Roman Empire from 44 BC to AD 235 has three purposes: to describe what was happening in the central administration and in the entourage of the emperor; to indicate how life went on in Italy and the provinces, in the towns, in the countryside, and in the army camps; and to show how these two different worlds impinged on each other. Colin Wells's vivid account is now available in an up-to-date second edition.
Author: Karl Christ Publisher: Univ of California Press ISBN: 9780520056343 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 314
Book Description
Roman civilization is one of the bases of the modern world. The extraordinary achievements of Rome--political, military, cultural--and its dramatic, thousand-year history, during which it grew to dominate the whole world of classical antiquity before being overwhelmed in its turn, have been continuously studied and variously interpreted ever since. Rome has been commended for its administration, praised for its system of justice, admired for its arts and technology, extolled for its "virtues," such as love of freedom, independence, discipline, courage, and austerity. It has also been condemned for its aggression, its exploitation of slaves, its excesses, and the decadence that led to its decline. But such was Rome's impact, and so remarkable was the empire it built, that its influence has never ceased to be felt. Whether as a model of political power, of moral behavior, or of social control, Rome with its splendors and triumphs, its failings and disasters, is an inexhaustible quarry for the lessons that its history offers and the legacies that it has bequeathed. Karl Christ conveys the essence of this vital Roman tradition with a coherence and compact precision that few scholars, if any, have been able to achieve. Following the main chronological developments of Roman history, he combines the necessary minimum of political and military narrative with lucid social and economic analysis, separate chapters of Roman ways of life and law, and wide-ranging coverage of literature, art, science, technology, and religion. With maps and photographs as well as a specially prepared bibliography for further reading, The Romans is the most up-to-date, authoritative and comprehensive single-volume introduction to the history and civilization of Ancient Rome.
Author: Rex Winsbury Publisher: A&C Black ISBN: 0715638297 Category : Literary Criticism Languages : en Pages : 249
Book Description
What was a Roman book? How did it differ from modern books? How were Roman books composed, published and distributed during the high period of Roman literature that encompassed, among others, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Martial, Pliny and Tacitus? What was the ‘scribal art’ of the time? What was the role of bookshops and libraries? The publishing of Roman books has often been misrepresented by false analogies with contemporary publishing. This wide-ranging study re-examines, by appeal to what Roman authors themselves tell us, both the raw material and the aesthetic criteria of the Roman book, and shows how slavery was the ‘enabling infrastructure’ of literature. Roman publishing is placed firmly in the context of a society where the spoken still ranked above the written, helping to explain how some books and authors became politically dangerous and how the Roman book could be both an elite cultural icon and a contributor to Rome’s popular culture through the mass medium of the theatre.
Author: Abigail Graham Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317578457 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 311
Book Description
The Romans: An Introduction, 3rd edition engages students in the study of ancient Rome by exploring specific historical events and examining the evidence. This focus enables students not only to learn history and culture but also to understand how we recreate this picture of Roman life. The thematic threads of individuals and events (political, social, legal, military conflicts) are considered and reconsidered in each chapter, providing continuity and illustrating how political, social, and legal norms change over time. This new edition contains extensive updated and revised material designed to evoke the themes and debates which resonate in both the ancient and modern worlds: class struggles, imperialism, constitutional power (checks & balances), the role of the family, slavery, urbanisation, and religious tolerance. Robust case studies with modern parallels push students to interpret and analyze historical events and serve as jumping off points for multifaceted discussion. New features include: Increased emphasis on developing skills in interpretation and analysis which can be used across all disciplines. Expanded historical coverage of Republican history and the Legacy of Rome. An expanded introduction to the ancient source materials, as well as a more focused and analytical approach to the evidence, which are designed to engage the reader further in his/her interaction and interpretation of the material. A dedicated focus on specific events in history that are revisited throughout the book that fosters a richer, more in-depth understanding of key events. New maps and a greater variety of illustrations have been added, as well as updated reading lists. A further appendix on Roman nomenclature and brief descriptions of Roman authors has also been provided. The book’s successful website has been updated with additional resources and images, including on-site videos from ancient sites and case studies which provide closer "tutorial" style treatment of specific topics and types of evidence. Those with an interest in classical language and literature, ancient history, Roman art, political and economic systems, or the concept of civilization as a whole, will gain a greater understanding of both the Romans and the model of a civilization that has shaped so many cultures.
Author: Joanne Berry
Author: Simon James
Author: Christopher Francese
Author: Mary Beard
Author: Carl J. Richard
Author: Colin Michael Wells
Author: Karl Christ
Author: Rex Winsbury
Author: Abigail Graham
Author: Heather Amery