WarpDrive’s Reviews > The Roman Empire > Status Update

Which era of Rome are you most interested in?

The Punic Wars and the transition from Republic to Empire are the ones I love.

Kendall wrote: "Which era of Rome are you most interested in?

The Punic Wars and the transition from Republic to Empire are the ones I love."

Yes, the Punic Wars and the transition to Empire are one of my preferred periods, and it is a very lively, eventful and fascinating period indeed, with many characters larger than life. Probably the period when the resilience and dynamism of Roman society was at its most impressive.

The two periods I am most interested in are:
- Late Antiquity, in particular the period between Valentinian I and the end of the Empire in the West.
- The very early Rome (from the legendary "founding" of the city to the reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus)

I also like the period of the so-called five "good emperors" (from Nerva to Marcus Aurelius). The magnificence and glory of the Roman empire during this period was something that few empires in history ever managed to match.

I feel like the Roman transition from Monarchy to Republic never gets the representation that it deserves in popular culture. Also, that period from the foundation of the Republic to the first Punic War has great anecdotes; particularly the sacking of Rome by the Gauls in 387 BCE.

I forgot to mention that the Crisis of the 3rd century is another favorite period of mine. I personally feel that after that Rome spent the next 200 years on borrowed time.

Kendall wrote: "I feel like the Roman transition from Monarchy to Republic never gets the representation that it deserves in popular culture. Also, that period from the foundation of the Republic to the first Puni..."

I completely agree, the crisis of the third century is a riveting period too. I just read a nice book about Maximinus Thrax that I would recommend (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...).

I also agree that after it Rome spent the next 200 years on borrowed time. I think that the Emperor Aurelian has actually been one of the most underestimated emperors of the period, or of Roman history in general: he was given very bad cards and he managed to accomplish a lot in the short time period (5 years) of his reign.

It honestly astounds me how much some of these emperors beat back the collapse of Roman civilization for so long. Hard to say whether its delusional or inspiring.

By the way, do you have any recommendations for books on the Barbarian kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire?

Kendall wrote: "It honestly astounds me how much some of these emperors beat back the collapse of Roman civilization for so long. Hard to say whether its delusional or inspiring.

By the way, do you have any recom..."

The best books that i would recommend about this period would be both by Peter Heather, whom I think is one of the best authors on the period:
- "Empires and Barbarians", see https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- "The Fall of the Roman Empire", see https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

This book by Adrian Goldsworthy is also very good: "The Fall of the West: the Death of the Roman Superpower", see https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

There are many others that i would recommend, but these three would be probably a good place to start from....

WarpDrive wrote: "Kendall wrote: "It honestly astounds me how much some of these emperors beat back the collapse of Roman civilization for so long. Hard to say whether its delusional or inspiring.

By the way, do yo..."

I forgot one thing: if you are rather interested in what happened just after the fall rather than the period during the fall, this book is excellent:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6....
Here the focus is more on the Early Middle Ages.

This one too is quite good: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9....
It has a focus on the creation of the Merovingian World.

This book too is great, and a veritable Bible when it comes to the study of post-Roman Europe:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...