A Brief History of the Romans

by Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel J. Gargola, Richard J. A. Talbert

How did a single village community in the Italian peninsula eventually become one of the mightiest imperial powers the world has ever known? This question is the focus of A Brief History of the Romans , an abbreviated version of the highly acclaimed The From Village to Empire by Mary T.
Boatwright, Daniel J. Gargola, and Richard J.A. Talbert.

This shorter version lucidly unfolds Rome's remarkable evolution through monarchy, republic, and then an empire that, at its height, stretched from Scotland to Iraq and the Nile Valley. Concise narrative integrates the political, military, social, and cultural landmarks of over 1,500 years--from the
early struggles against Etruscans, Samnites, and Gauls to the sack of Rome by Alaric and his Visigoths. The book gives readers a basic yet engaging introduction to Roman history and society. It is an ideal text for courses on Ancient civilization, Roman civilization, or Roman history.

FEATURES
* Fourteen boxes featuring excerpts from writings by Romans themselves
* Extensive variety of photos and illustrations, all with detailed captions; twenty-four custom-drawn maps of the city of Rome, Italy, the Mediterranean, and the wider Roman world
* Narrative enlivened by such fascinating individuals as Hannibal, Mithridates, Pompey, Caesar, Cleopatra, Augustus, Livia, Nero, Trajan, Shapur, and Constantine
* Selective, up-to-date recommendations for further reading; timeline of key events; glossary of Latin terms

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Roman, Read For School, Classical Studies, Classics

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 12, 2006

Reviews

[Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a pretty good breakdown on Roman Civ from start to finish. Learned that Caligula was nicknamed thus because of the little boots he wore as a toddler. IMO the most important fact in the book.

[Kate Levey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read this for a class. Prof was boring as hell. This textbook made it my favourite class. 10/10.

[Sam Blieden · Rating 3 out of 5]

not very believable plot.... this so can’t happen

[Costa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prescribed text for University of Tasmania's Introductory Unit in Ancient Civilizations - "HTC104
Ancient Civilisations 1B: Introduction To Ancient Rome".

Brief, concise, compressed, a good jumping off point for further research and study and as an and aid for use with translated ancient and sacred texts, and especially as a reference book use in weekly seminars with the incredibly enthusiastic (for a pleasant change!) teaching staff in the unit.

[Patrick Santino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly can't recall when I read this, had it at Ignatius in a Roman History class but I don't think I read the whole thing & I would have reread the full thing in college. This book was an incredible eye-opening intro for me, particularly into the fall of the Republic from the Gracchi deaths to Augustus, this point for point mapped out everything for me & was for a long time my candidate for most epic century of all time.

[Finntastic Explanations · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really a great text for learning about Roman economics, politics, warfare, religion, and society.

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for a Classics class at U of T. Pretty decent in terms of info

[Dan Desmarques · Rating 1 out of 5]

My fault! There is no reason for someone who has been to Italy several times and understands its history from a meaningful perspective to read a book written by an American. Americans not only can't understand European history logically, but they filter it through their own perspective, as if they were writing their own history. American arrogance is simply incompatible with a multifaceted view of history, and that's why their PhDs are not worth the price of toilet paper. This book is incredibly boring and doesn't even grasp the many influences that made the Romans who they really were.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the books I picked up at my local Borders during their "Going out of Business" sale. Although I did study Latin, I did not read much ancient history. Since Donna Leon's fictional detective is always reading the classics for relaxation, Cicero, Tacitus, Vergil, etc., I thought I could benefit from a little background reading. This is a great change of pace, and quite enlightening.

[Ryan Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

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