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الإمبراطورية الرومانية
يهدف هذا الكتاب الى عرض بعض جوانب الحياة وما يجري فيها ووصف بعض الافكار والاحوال التي كانت سائدة خلال القرون الثلاثة الاولى من هذا النوع من الحكومات التي اصطلح الناس على تسميتها بالامبراطورية الرومانية. يقدم الكتاب للقارى المثقف العادي صورة مجملة, تضم نصوصا مقتبسة وفيرة حول ما كان يدور في خلد سكان الامبراطورية وما كان يجري على السنتهم.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
244 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 24, 2015
An Outline of the Imperial Age
5 March 2014
It is funny that I picked up this book a couple of weeks after I had finished reading a book outlining the Roman Republic, and what was even stranger was all along I thought it was a Biggles book (not as I was reading it mind you). As it turned out, it effectively continued on from where the previous book on the Roman Republic had finished (not that this the two books were a part of a series, rather it just happened that when I bought them they ended up being complimentary).
I am actually inclined to think that the first three centuries of the Roman empire is probably the best part to look at because it was during this period that the empire was at its height, though one could suggest that the barbarian invasions between 240 and 270 AD was effectively the beginning of the end. However, after the barbarians were eventually defeated, and peace was restored to the empire, the empire still had a couple of centuries to run before the complete collapse of the West and the gradual decline of the East.
However there were some significant changes after the barbarian invasions that suggested that classical Rome, and in particular the classical world, was coming to an end. Robin Lane Fox, in The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian believes that the end of the classic period was the Emperor Hadrian, and in a way he is probably correct because after Hardrian there was nothing really all that new coming out of the empire in the way of art, architecture, science, or even literature. Mind you, on the literary front, we can't forget the huge amount of coming from the Christians (much of which is preserved) but when it comes to the pagan authors there is actually very little. It seemed that as we enter the 2nd and 3rd centuries, people are too busy looking back at what had gone and not too concerned with looking forward. Also, they were in a time of unprecedented peace, that was pierced by only one year of civil war, and without conflict people ended up becoming fat on their indulgences. In many cases it is much like the United States of today, where the heartland is relatively free from enemy invasion, and has been for over two hundred years.
As for the end of the third century, the empire had changed dramatically. The administration of the empire had moved out of Rome, and with Constantine's victory over his rivals, the capital was moved east to the city of Byzantium (to be renamed Constantinople, and later Istanbul), and Rome simply became a symbol of a bygone age. Further, Constantine had allowed Christians to openly worship, and was also said to be Christian himself (though that is still debatable, and my position is that a monotheistic religion made it better for stability than a polytheistic religion, and I will leave my criticisms of Eusebius for a later time). With the acceptance of Christianity within the empire, and with it soon becoming the state religion, the old empire was gone forever (though there were the occasional apostate emperors who ascended the throne, but generally, after Constantine, most of them were Christian).
As for this book, I got the distinct impression, at least at the end, that the author was Christian. Okay, I certainly agree with his position that we cannot criticise Rome using twenty-first century values, but I also noticed that by the end of the book he seemed to be cheerleading Christianity and praising Constantine's reforms, to the point that he was arguing in favour of the first Christian emperor. Mind you, he was also very much cheerleading Rome, but then again, I tend to do the same thing when it comes to Classical Athens.
5 March 2014
It is funny that I picked up this book a couple of weeks after I had finished reading a book outlining the Roman Republic, and what was even stranger was all along I thought it was a Biggles book (not as I was reading it mind you). As it turned out, it effectively continued on from where the previous book on the Roman Republic had finished (not that this the two books were a part of a series, rather it just happened that when I bought them they ended up being complimentary).
I am actually inclined to think that the first three centuries of the Roman empire is probably the best part to look at because it was during this period that the empire was at its height, though one could suggest that the barbarian invasions between 240 and 270 AD was effectively the beginning of the end. However, after the barbarians were eventually defeated, and peace was restored to the empire, the empire still had a couple of centuries to run before the complete collapse of the West and the gradual decline of the East.
However there were some significant changes after the barbarian invasions that suggested that classical Rome, and in particular the classical world, was coming to an end. Robin Lane Fox, in The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian believes that the end of the classic period was the Emperor Hadrian, and in a way he is probably correct because after Hardrian there was nothing really all that new coming out of the empire in the way of art, architecture, science, or even literature. Mind you, on the literary front, we can't forget the huge amount of coming from the Christians (much of which is preserved) but when it comes to the pagan authors there is actually very little. It seemed that as we enter the 2nd and 3rd centuries, people are too busy looking back at what had gone and not too concerned with looking forward. Also, they were in a time of unprecedented peace, that was pierced by only one year of civil war, and without conflict people ended up becoming fat on their indulgences. In many cases it is much like the United States of today, where the heartland is relatively free from enemy invasion, and has been for over two hundred years.
As for the end of the third century, the empire had changed dramatically. The administration of the empire had moved out of Rome, and with Constantine's victory over his rivals, the capital was moved east to the city of Byzantium (to be renamed Constantinople, and later Istanbul), and Rome simply became a symbol of a bygone age. Further, Constantine had allowed Christians to openly worship, and was also said to be Christian himself (though that is still debatable, and my position is that a monotheistic religion made it better for stability than a polytheistic religion, and I will leave my criticisms of Eusebius for a later time). With the acceptance of Christianity within the empire, and with it soon becoming the state religion, the old empire was gone forever (though there were the occasional apostate emperors who ascended the throne, but generally, after Constantine, most of them were Christian).
As for this book, I got the distinct impression, at least at the end, that the author was Christian. Okay, I certainly agree with his position that we cannot criticise Rome using twenty-first century values, but I also noticed that by the end of the book he seemed to be cheerleading Christianity and praising Constantine's reforms, to the point that he was arguing in favour of the first Christian emperor. Mind you, he was also very much cheerleading Rome, but then again, I tend to do the same thing when it comes to Classical Athens.
August 26, 2015
كتاب في غاية الروعة والإمتاع يتناول جوانب الحياة الرئيسية للامبراطورية الرومانية الغربية منذ النشأة إلى الانهيار دون دخول في تفاصيل وتواريخ وأسماء قد تجلب الملل على القاريء
الفصول الثلاثة الأخيرة في الكتاب هي الأفضل والأمتع والتي تناولت أزمة القرن الثالث الميلادي التي ضربت الامبراطورية حتى نجح دقلديانوس في حمايتها من الانهيار ثم جاء قسطنطين ليوحدها ويسترد لها جزءًا من عافيته كما كان الفصل الذي تكلم عن الديانة المسيحية في ظلال الدولة الرومانية من الفصول الممتعة
إذا لم تكن قد قرأت عن الامبراطورية الرومانية من قبل فهذا الكتاب سيعطيك تصور عام مبدأي عن هذه الفترة من تاريخ الانسانية
الفصول الثلاثة الأخيرة في الكتاب هي الأفضل والأمتع والتي تناولت أزمة القرن الثالث الميلادي التي ضربت الامبراطورية حتى نجح دقلديانوس في حمايتها من الانهيار ثم جاء قسطنطين ليوحدها ويسترد لها جزءًا من عافيته كما كان الفصل الذي تكلم عن الديانة المسيحية في ظلال الدولة الرومانية من الفصول الممتعة
إذا لم تكن قد قرأت عن الامبراطورية الرومانية من قبل فهذا الكتاب سيعطيك تصور عام مبدأي عن هذه الفترة من تاريخ الانسانية
December 9, 2023
What a lovely, elegant, concise book to read. First published in 1951 in the Home University Library of Modern Knowledge, books designed as primers for lay people keen to increase their understanding of a wide range of subjects. I read the 1968 edition by which time the series had been purchased by OUP.
Charlesworth takes his readers from Augustus to Constantine, from Rome to Constantinople. That he manages to do so in just 138 pages (admittedly of rather small type and no breaks) and still convey a certain depth of inquiry and academic rigour is quite a remarkable feat.
The bookends of prologue and epilogue are helpful in giving the wider context. The main chapters focus in on different elements of the Empire: The Emperor, Defence, People and Provinces, Work and Taxes, Learning, Leisure, Wealth and Religion. The concluding chapters look at the difficult years for the Empire in the mid 3rd Century and the work of reunification under Constantine.
I found this to be a good read. Occasionally the punctuation was strange, lots of AWOL commas (was that how it was in the 50s?) But all in all an excellent little book to read in order to gain an understanding of the Roman Empire from 27BC to 337AD.
Charlesworth takes his readers from Augustus to Constantine, from Rome to Constantinople. That he manages to do so in just 138 pages (admittedly of rather small type and no breaks) and still convey a certain depth of inquiry and academic rigour is quite a remarkable feat.
The bookends of prologue and epilogue are helpful in giving the wider context. The main chapters focus in on different elements of the Empire: The Emperor, Defence, People and Provinces, Work and Taxes, Learning, Leisure, Wealth and Religion. The concluding chapters look at the difficult years for the Empire in the mid 3rd Century and the work of reunification under Constantine.
I found this to be a good read. Occasionally the punctuation was strange, lots of AWOL commas (was that how it was in the 50s?) But all in all an excellent little book to read in order to gain an understanding of the Roman Empire from 27BC to 337AD.
May 1, 2019
Covering the Roman Empire from the reign of Augustus to Constantine (27 B.C. - 337 A.D.), Charlesworth argued that life in the imperial Rome was relatively great until the crises of the third century. Living in Rome in the first or second centuries A.D. meant peace, stability and a standard of living that was unheard of in the ancient world. The Romans were pretty generous with their citzenship and becoming Roman brought with it benefits and protections. Ultimately though the peace and stability did not last much past the reign of Caracalla (211-217).
September 27, 2025
كتاب رائع و دسم يتكون من عشر فصول يتحدث عن حضارة الإمبراطورية الرومانية، و ليس عن التاريخ السياسي، و لذلك سيجد القارئ غير الملم بالعناصر الحضارية الإمبراطورية صعوبة في قراءته. و لذلك يجب أن لا يكون ذلك الكتاب هو أول مؤلف يقرأ عن الإمبراطورية الرومانية. يميط هذا الكتاب الغبار عن معلومات عن الجانب الحضاري الإمبراطورية في أسلوب سهل و بليغ فيتحدث المؤلف عن الجوانب الاقتصادية و الاجتماعية و الدينية و العسكرية و غيرها مما يزيدك معرفة بالامبراطورية الاعظم في التاريخ القديم. سعدت بإنهاء هذا الكتاب لانه اخر كتاب ورقي في فرع التاريخ خاص بي انتهي من قراءته.
February 6, 2022
الكتاب معلوماته بسيطة للغاية
May 30, 2025
bit old now, but good overview
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