Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History

by Christopher S. Mackay

Ancient Rome is a concise, comprehensive political and military history of the Roman Republic and Empire, from the origins of the city in the Italian Iron Age, until the deposition of the last emperor in 476 AD. Christopher Mackay describes how military events undermined the political institutions of the Republic, how the Empire was administered and controlled, why Christianity was adopted as the state religion under Constantine, and how military and economic pressures of the third and fourth centuries eventually led to the downfall of the Western empire. Illustrated with relevant art works from Rome's long history, this volume serves as an up-to-date overview of one of the most extraordinary civilizations in human history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Roman History, Military Fiction, Politics, Military History

460 pages, Hardcover

First published January 24, 2005

Reviews

[AskHistorians]

A survey primarily covering political and military history. It provides a solid understanding of events, their significance and implications on the Roman state. It covers both Empire and Republic very efficiently.

[Lain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't recommend this as an entry level introduction, but as an intermediate overview I think it provides a lot of helpful analysis of political and structural changes over time.

I thought the first third up to and including the reign of Augustus was great, written in a readable style with plenty of discussion about the various literary and archaeological sources, and identifying change and continuity in roman politics. Events move ahead at a brisk pace and the focus is generally on macro events and change of political structures, it served as a great refresher after having read more popular books covering the same period, easily 5 stars.

The sections covering the Principate and the Late Empire were serviceable, but it felt like there was more focus on a chronological stream of micro-events, whereas larger trends are not so much discussed as mentioned briefly at the end of a chapter. Especially the barbarian migrations could have been served well with more analysis of cause and effect rather than condensed retelling of events. Perhaps part of the issue is that I have not read all that much about this period beforehand, but it felt noticeably weaker.

Overall 3,5 stars.

[ducky · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I had really only read this as a textbook for a history college course, I still enjoyed it. Anything having to do with ancient Rome, or any other ancient historical place is always an interesting read. Don't know if I'd ever read this again, but it does make for a good reference source and launch point for other similar books.

[José Monico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a fantastic overview of the the politics, and many conflicts of the Ancient Roman sovereignty; from the mythical upbringings of the Roman city, to the fall of the western empire, with a small conclusion of the subsequent Byzantine empire. This book is absolutely filled to the rim with facts. It reads incredibly dry. I couldn't help but glace over a few portions. You definitely need full attention throughout each passage, as he leaves very little room for narrative, redundancy or build-up from event-to-event.

As far as the content, the author covers what you would expect as significant epochs throughout Rome's history: Origins, Punic Wars, conquests, fall of Republic - with chapters devoted to speculation, and the Julio- principates, and Christianity.
The book is well-sourced, with an array of suggested readings-- which Mackay definitely makes implicitly clear one should undertake following his general view. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the Roman Empire for casual readers.

[Matt Ely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wholly informative and exactly what I wanted it to be: a broad overview of the Roman Republic and Empire. It portrays a thousand years' history through the empire's many ups and downs, allowing for deeper exploration of key leaders, while keeping the larger narrative at the forefront. It works best when looking for a few interesting facets that you follow up on later. For example, this spurred my subsequent love for Diocletian.

[Dustin Simmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid narrative that adequately covers Roman history. Not incredibly thorough, as expected for a book that is trying to cover such an expansive time period.

I would've appreciated more footnotes and references so I could go to the original sources.

[Heather Domin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even with the entire Roman era condensed into one book, I still found things in here I didn't know. Great research ref. Not done with it yet; need another reading later.

[Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit of a read but well worth it for Ancient Rome fan's.