From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 BC to AD 68

by H.H. Scullard

From the Gracchi to Nero is an outstanding history of the Roman world from 133 BC to 68 AD. Fifty years since publication it is widely hailed as the classic survey of the period, going through many revised and updated editions until H.H. Scullard’s death. It explores the decline and fall of the Roman Republic and the establishment of the Pax Romana under the early Principate. In superbly clear style, Scullard brings vividly to life the Gracchi’s attempts at reform, the rise and fall of Marius and Sulla, Pompey and Caesar, society and culture in the late Roman Republic, the Augustan Principate, Tiberius and Gaius, Claudius and Nero, and economic and social life in the early Empire.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Classics, Roman History, Ancient, Reference

443 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Howard Hayes Scullard, FBA, FSA was a British historian specializing in ancient history, notable for editing the Oxford Classical Dictionary and for his many books. His early education was at Highgate School, followed by St. John's College, Cambridge. He was a tutor and then reader at New College London, from 1935 to 1959, after which be became Professor of Ancient History at King's College London before retiring in 1970.

Perhaps his most widely known work is From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68, a text widely used by students studying Rome in the late republic, as well as Rome under the Julio-Claudians.

Reviews

[Justin Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid prose, great breadth, impeccable footnoting.

[Jimmy Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This should be the first book for anyone interested in Roman history. It covers the entire history from the onset of civil instability in Republican Rome to the end of Julio Claudian dynasty of the Principate.
Every note-worthy event happened in that period of time was thoroughly covered in this book. From Claudius onwards, the book did run a little dry at the end. However, that probably has more to do with the fact court intrigue just isn't that interesting compared to the political dynamics and military and social struggles in the preceding decades.

Overall, a must-read for anyone who isn't satisfied with watching various documentaries and want to gain a real understanding of ancient Rome. It's a much better bang for the buck than buying individual biographies of famous Romans of that time.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

High school textbook.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and fairly engaging history.

[Miranda Alford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bring on the comments about how sad I am- I've finished it!!!!

This was actually an interesting book to read, giving a good background to the period of Roman History between these years, impressive considering a good grounding was done in about 450 pages. I will say though the religion section was disappointing- Scullard only talked about philosophy and then Christianity in depth and only really alluded to the other cults.

Also you could kind of tell it was old- some of the ideas and comments seemed a bit archaic and I suspect the guy was a christian.

I have just found out there is another book in the series about later time periods... not me wanting to read that now he he. Also I do be a little bit chuffed because I could translate some of the Latin in it!- I bloody needed to as well because no translation of the Latin was offered and at times there were full on paragraphs of Latin.

Overall, a good comprehensive skim through the early principate years that covers most areas in as much detail as a book of this broad a topic can do so.

[Ainsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magisterial account of this turbulent time in Roman History. The notes keep getting better and better as the editions keep being revised. If you need to quote a heavyweight, Scullard is your man.

[Nick Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great overview from Scullard.

[Michael Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuation of the previous volume. Equally valuable.

[Will Everitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caveat: This nerdish and extremely dry book is only for you if you have a complete fascination with Ancient Rome. If you don't, skip it and head straight to Mary Beard's SPQR.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Make sure your latin is up to date or that you have access to a dictionary. He occasionally throws in a quote that you'll want to translate. Very good history.

[Bob Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the text for my Roman History course 35 years ago. Clear, very readable, presents a great mass of material in fewer than 500 pages. Warmly recommended.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Gracchi to Nero is a grand history summary of the late Roman Republic to it's transition to the Early Roman Empire. Covering one of the most exciting and tumultuous periods in the long history of Rome we get a broad history of just about every aspect of Roman life in this period, from the political-military events (the two becoming increasing intertwined as the later republic, which Augustus attempted to split apart), to social, economic and the arts. The novel attempts and general succeeds at giving us the complete look at life in the roman world.

While this novel is quite old and more work has been done on areas covered in the book, it is still one of the most comprehensive summations of the period.. The text is interesting and easy to read, though the one small gripe I have is there are numerous Latin phrases throughout the work and if you don't have a working knowledge of Latin (let's face it, not many of us do) then you can struggle at times. However on the whole this is a very good book and I have not yet found anything that does the period justice like this work does.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long but informative. Scullard gives the facts with little added opinion and even refutes other noted historians who did. I couldn't help seeing a parallel between that era and what's been going on now. The line from Augustus to Nero was autocratic: The Republic had died. The reign of Gaius (Caligula) was chaotic after he suffered an illness; but life was more sedate under Claudius after the assassination of Gaius. Nero was the last of the line, and it was interesting to note that during the fire he actually raced back from Greece to help out and provided assistance for the homeless. Scullard pointed out that Nero played the harp, not the violin, so the rumors of Nero playing his fiddle while Rome burned was just that, rumors. He did, however, use a new sect of Christianity as a scapegoat for the fire. Anyone interested in Ancient Roman history, or even our own political origins should find a copy.

[Dayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cornelia is the mother of two of Rome's most benevolent leaders: the two Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. They took back lands from wealthy members of the senatorial class and then granted those lands to soldiers. They also restored land to peasants and provided subsidized grain for the needy. They also had the Republic pay for the clothing of its poorest soldiers.

An anecdote related by Valerius Maximus demonstrates Cornelia's devotion to and admiration for her sons. When women friends questioned Cornelia about her dress style and jewelry choices, which were far more simple and understated than was usual for a wealthy Roman woman, Cornelia indicated her two sons and said, "These are my jewels."

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great introduction to Roman history. Gives a succinct and interesting introduction and also gives great resources to continue your reading. Although, I could do with a translation of the latin quotes thrown in at random. I mean come on, the book obviously isn't written for experts. Why not throw in a translation of the damn latin you use!

[David Hollywood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having purchased this around 50 years ago I still occasionally refer to it because of its constant scholarly quality and clear presentation of that period when Roman history took a completely different direction consequent of its becoming an empire ruled by one person, from what previously was a republic governed by the senate and the assembly of citizens, and why this all happened.

[Pinko Palest · Rating 1 out of 5]

well past its sell-by date. Not in the sense that Gibbon is dated, but in the sense a victorian text book is dated. It is moralistic at times, with a morality rather alien to our own, but also very dry

[Mark Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A worthy sequel to A History of the Roman World 753 to 146 BC.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Albeit comprehensive, his audience is clearly upper-middle class Britain. His analysis of the Gracchi is particularly simplistic and paternalistic. Nevertheless, there's a lot here to digest.

[Aidan · Rating 5 out of 5]

this man had a talent for summing up entire dissertations and research into a single sentence, and in an organizations manner. best survey on roman history.

[Peter Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dated and standard, but nonetheless interesting introduction to basic Roman history through the late Republic, civil wars, and the early Empire.

[Bookreadingnarcissist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid book. My only problem is that Scullard doesn't really add anything in his commentaries. I'd recommend just reading the primary sources, instead.

[Dionysus · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of many classics textbooks

[Jack O'Connell · Rating 3 out of 5]

While a monumental work for its time, Scullard’s Roman history has aged rather poorly in light of modern historiography. It remains an important text, though its age very much shows.

[Shinji007 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be one of the best introductory books I have read yet on Roman history. Eminently readable and copious footnotes in the back of the book. I very much recommend it.

[Penguin837373773 2983838 · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Review to be written]

[Lily Cf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written chronicle, not overly poetic but still engaging. Would recommend for anyone getting started in ancient history

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a thorough overview of Rome's transition from Republic to Empire. In it, Scullard first describes the internal politics, geography, and foreign policy of the Roman Republic at the time of the Gracchi brothers. He goes on to tell the stories of each brother without failing to detail the many other prominent Romans who played roles in the struggles. Scullard follows this same formula throughout the whole book: first he describes the environment, then he tells the stories. As someone who was at least vaguely familiar with all the major figures (the Gracchi, Marius, Sulla, Pompeii, Crassus, Caesar, then emperors from Augustus to Nero), this book helped me expand on my knowledge to get a more accurate and complete picture of why things played out the way that they did.

The book has many footnotes and citations which allow the reader to follow up on almost any subject he/she may wish to. However, many of the references are academic papers which may be hard to track down for those without access to a university library. Even without examining the sources for myself, I appreciated the comments Scullard makes regarding the reliability of many of the sources, as well as making it clear when there is not a consensus among historians about certain events. This is especially valuable when working off of ancient sources that may have been influenced by politics (i.e. the harsh treatment Roman historians gave Tiberius, which may not have been deserved or accurate).

As valuable as this book was, it is probably not the best introductory text for someone extremely new to Roman history. If I had not known in general how the story plays out, this book would probably have been too complete and thorough for me to understand. Those who don't recognize the names I listed in the first paragraph would probably do better to find a less academic book that is perhaps smaller in scope. That said, I think this would make a great book in an undergraduate course about Roman history.

Overall, if you are interested in ancient Rome and would like to get a more nuanced and detailed idea about life and politics during the transition from Republic to Empire, this is an excellent book for you.

[Gega Khavtasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview and surface-level information dump about the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire.

Do not expect this book to give you an in-depth analysis of some 200 years, that is not the goal of this book. To cover all the events and major actors of these 200 years one would have to read at least a dozen books so set your expectations appropriately.

"Then what is this book about?" I hear you ask. Well, it is a great book to get your feet wet with Roman history, a very good step in stone. The book will introduce the reader to major historical figures of Roman history, and also introduce you to Roman Economy, Art, Philosophy, Culture, etc. If you wish to have a better understanding of all the aspects mentioned above, sorry to tell you, but you'll have to do a lot more reading. Or use ChatGPT to fill in certain gaps or have more detailed explanations.

All being said, this book will be a good introduction to Roman history for newly interested people and a good read for people who have read dozens of books about this period, simply because it is a good reminder of events that you might have forgotten.

[Mathew Walls · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is apparently meant for highschool students, but it's less accessible than the Penguin translations of Plutarch's work, contains a lot of untranslated Latin and big chunks that are largely names and dates. It also jumps around a lot, skipping back and forward to focus on different things. And the Kindle version is made even harder to read by the numerous OCR errors and the fact that it's not correctly set up. For example, there is a table of contents that you can use to jump to different sections, but there is no way to jump to the table of contents.

Some parts of this book are interesting and informative, but they're punctuated by sections that are hard to read and unintersting. For anyone with a casual interest in ancient Rome, you're better off reading Plutarch. For anyone studying seriously, there have got to be better options than this.