European history: the Romans

A multifaceted exploration of the interplay between civic and military life in ancient RomeThe ancient Romans famously distinguished between civic life in Rome and military matters outside the city-a division marked by the pomerium, an abstract religious...

An enriching collection of classical writings about how ancient Romans made and thought about moneyAncient Romans liked money. But how did they make a living and sometimes even become rich? The Roman economy was dominated by agriculture, but it was...

The story of the Roman Empire's enormous wine industry told through the remarkable ceramic storage and shipping containers that made it possibleThe average resident of ancient Rome drank two-hundred-and-fifty liters of wine a year, almost a bottle a day,...

Who was Rome's greatest general, statesman, and nation-builder: Caesar or Pompey?Few people have had as many words written about them down through the centuries as Julius Caesar - the brilliant general who made Queen Cleopatra of Egypt his mistress. He...

In the middle of the second century AD, Rome was at its prosperous and powerful apex. The emperor Marcus Aurelius reigned over a vast territory that stretched from Britain to Egypt. The Roman-made peace, or Pax Romana, seemed to be permanent. Then,...

Award-winning author Stephen Dando-Collins brings his renowned expertise toRebels Against Rome, where he showcases many of the rebellious movements against the Great Roman Empire, as well as the rebels behind these lost causes and the circumstances that...

Award-winning author Stephen Dando-Collins brings his renowned expertise to Constantine at the Bridge, where he unveils how the Battle of the Milvian Bridge marked the point of no return for Rome and shaped the Western world as we know it.The AD 312...

Expert historian and author Stephan Dando-Collins chronicles the First Jewish Revolt and its important role in both Roman and Jewish historical memory.Dando-Collins details the conflict from both sides of the 7-year campaign. His examination of the...

Throughout the Roman Empire Cities held public speeches and lectures, had libraries, and teachers and professors in the sciences and the humanities, some subsidized by the state. There even existed something equivalent to universities, and medical and...

With just 350 passages (more than half of them consisting of Latin inscriptions, from all over Rome's empire), Harvey manages to give his readers a real sense of Roman private values and behaviours. His translations of the original texts are superb-both...

Roman Religion: A Sourcebook provides an introduction to the fundamentals of ancient Roman religious beliefs and rituals through a rich collection of ancient source readings. The ancient sources are to be viewed with utmost respect as the primary means...

"Farnsworth beautifully integrates his own observations with scores of quotations from Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Montaigne and others. This isn't just a book to read-it's a book to return to, a book that will provide perspective and consolation...

The end of the ancient world was long regarded by historians as a time of decadence, decline, and fall. In his career-long engagement with this era, the widely acclaimed and pathbreaking historian Peter Brown has shown, however, that the...

What does the face of power look like? Who gets commemorated in art and why? And how do we react to statues of politicians we deplore? In this book - against a background of today's 'sculpture wars' - Mary Beard tells the story of how...

In 63 BC, frustrated by his failure to be elected leader of the Roman Republic, the aristocrat Catiline tried to topple its elected government. Backed by corrupt elites and poor, alienated Romans, he fled Rome while his associates plotted to burn the...

From the moment a child in ancient Rome began to speak Latin, the surrounding world became populated with objects possessing grammatical gender-masculine eyes (oculi), feminine trees (arbores), neuter bodies (corpora). Sexing the World surveys the many...

A cultural and literary history of mountains in classical antiquity.The mountainous character of the Mediterranean was a crucial factor in the history of the ancient Greek and Roman world. The Folds of Olympus is a cultural and literary history that...

How the latest cutting-edge science offers a fuller picture of life in Rome and antiquityThis groundbreaking book provides the first comprehensive look at how the latest advances in the sciences are transforming our understanding of ancient Roman history...

A vivid and accessible new translation of Cicero's influential writings on the Stoic idea of the divine Most ancient Romans were deeply religious and their world was overflowing with gods - from Jupiter, Minerva, and Mars to countless local...

Andrea Carandini's archaeological discoveries and controversial theories about ancient Rome have made international headlines over the past few decades. In this book, he presents his most important findings and ideas, including the argument that there...

A radical reexamination of the textual and archaeological evidence about Augustus and the PalatineCaesar Augustus (63 BC-AD 14), who is usually thought of as the first Roman emperor, lived on the Palatine Hill, the place from which the word "palace"...

The most pervasive gods in ancient Rome had no traditional mythology attached to them, nor was their worship organized by elites. Throughout the Roman world, neighborhood street corners, farm boundaries, and household hearths featured small shrines to...

A new translation that captures the gripping power of one of the greatest war stories ever told-Julius Caesar's pitiless account of his brutal campaign to conquer GaulImagine a book about an unnecessary war written by the ruthless general of an occupying...

How religious ritual united a growing and diversifying Roman RepublicMany narrative histories of Rome's transformation from an Italian city-state to a Mediterranean superpower focus on political and military conflicts as the primary agents of social...

A new account of the famous site and story of the last stand of a group of Jewish rebels who held out against the Roman EmpireTwo thousand years ago, 967 Jewish men, women, and children-the last holdouts of the revolt against Rome following the fall of...

An essential introduction to Josephus's momentous war narrativeThe Jewish War is Josephus's superbly evocative account of the Jewish revolt against Rome, which was crushed in 70 CE with the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. Martin...

From humble beginnings, Rome became perhaps the greatest intercontinental power in the world. Why did this historic city become so much more influential than its neighbor, nearby Latium, which was peopled by more or less the same stock? Over the years,...

Grand political accomplishment and artistic productivity were the hallmarks of Augustus Caesar's reign (31 B.C. to A.D. 14), which has served as a powerful model of achievement for societies throughout Western history. Although much research has been...

This edited edition of Stanley Lombardo's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses includes an Introduction by W. R. Johnson. "Stanley Lombardo successfully matches Ovid's human drama, imaginative brio, and irresistible momentum; and Ralph Johnson's superb...

Most historians, both ancient and modern, have viewed the Late Republic of Rome through the eyes of its rich nobility. In The Assassination of Julius Caesar, Michael Parenti presents us with a story of popular resistance against entrenched power and...

This essential document for the study of Roman history traces the story of Rome from Romulus and the foundations of Rome to the reign of the Emperor Tiberius. It is especially valuable to historians and students for its vivid eyewitness account of the...

The ten speeches in this volume illustrate Cicero's entire career and exemplify all the major contexts for his oratory: before the senate, the people, and the courts. They illuminate the major political crises of Cicero's time and offer portraits of many...

A.J. Woodman's translation combines accuracy and Tacitean invention, masterfully conveying Tacitus' distinctive and powerful manner of expression, and reflecting the best of current scholarship. An introductory essay discusses Tacitus' career, the period...

"Republication of David Lowenthal's elegant translation of Montesquieu's neglected study of the Romans--an indispensable source for understanding the philosopher's treatment of Rome in The Spirit of the Laws--makes the book available to a new generation...

Long a master of the crafts of Homeric translation and of rhapsodic performance, Stanley Lombardo now turns to the quintessential epic of Roman antiquity, a work with deep roots in the Homeric tradition. With characteristic virtuosity, he delivers a...