The Romans' devotion to their past pervades almost every aspect of their culture. But the clearest image of how the Romans wished to interpret their past is found in their historical writings. This book examines in detail the major Roman historians: * Sallust * Livy * Tacitus * Ammianus as well as the biographies written by: * Nepos * Tacitus * Suetonius * the Augustan History * the autobiographies of Julius Caesar and the Emperor Augustus. Ronald Mellor demonstrates that Roman historical writing was regarded by its authors as a literary not a scholarly exercise, and how it must be evaluated in that context. He shows that history writing reflected the political structures of ancient Rome under the different regimes.

Ronald Mellor demonstrates that Roman historical writing was regarded by its authors as a literary, not a scholarly exercise, and how it must be evaluated in that context.

New York Times Bestseller A New York Times Notable Book Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Foreign Affairs, and Kirkus Reviews Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction) Shortlisted for the Cundill Prize in Historical Literature Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (History) A San Francisco Chronicle Holiday Gift Guide Selection A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection A sweeping, "magisterial" history of the Roman Empire from one of our foremost classicists shows why Rome remains "relevant to people many centuries later" (Atlantic). In SPQR, an instant classic, Mary Beard narrates the history of Rome "with passion and without technical jargon" and demonstrates how "a slightly shabby Iron Age village" rose to become the "undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean" (Wall Street Journal). Hailed by critics as animating "the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life" (Economist) in a way that makes "your hair stand on end" (Christian Science Monitor) and spanning nearly a thousand years of history, this "highly informative, highly readable" (Dallas Morning News) work examines not just how we think of ancient Rome but challenges the comfortable historical perspectives that have existed for centuries. With its nuanced attention to class, democratic struggles, and the lives of entire groups of people omitted from the historical narrative for centuries, SPQR will to shape our view of Roman history for decades to come.

The Historians of Ancient Rome is the most comprehensive collection of ancient sources for Roman history available in a single English volume. After a general introduction on Roman historical writing, extensive passages from more than a dozen Greek and Roman historians and biographers trace the history of Rome over more than a thousand years: from the city’s foundation by Romulus in 753 B.C.E. (Livy) to Constantine’s edict of toleration for Christianity (313 C.E.) Selections include many of the high points of Rome’s climb to world domination: the defeat of Hannibal; the conquest of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean; the defeat of the Catilinarian conspirators; Caesar’s conquest of Gaul; Antony and Cleopatra; the establishment of the Empire by Caesar Augustus; and the "Roman Peace" under Hadrian and long excepts from Tacitus record the horrors of the reigns of Tiberius and Nero. The book is intended both for undergraduate courses in Roman history and for the general reader interested in approaching the Romans through the original historical sources. Hence, excerpts of Polybius, Livy, and Tacitus are extensive enough to be read with pleasure as an exciting narrative. Now in its third edition, changes to this thoroughly revised volume include a new timeline, translations of several key inscriptions such as the Twelve Tables, and additional readings. This is a book which no student of Roman history should be without.

Literary Texts and the Roman Historian looks at literary texts from the Roman Empire which depict actual events. It examines the ways in which these texts were created, disseminated and read. Beside covering the major Roman historical authors such as Livy and Tacitus, he also considers the contributions of authors in other genres like: * Cicero * Lucian * Aulus Gellius. Literary Texts and the Roman Historian provides an accessible and concise introduction to the complexities of Roman historiography.

An introduction to how the history of Rome was written in the ancient world, and its impact on later periods. It presents essays by an international team of scholars that aim both to orient non-specialist readers to the important concerns of the Roman historians and also to stimulate new research.

How the latest cutting-edge science offers a fuller picture of life in Rome and antiquity This groundbreaking book provides the first comprehensive look at how the latest advances in the sciences are transforming our understanding of ancient Roman history. Walter Scheidel brings together leading historians, anthropologists, and geneticists at the cutting edge of their fields, who explore novel types of evidence that enable us to reconstruct the realities of life in the Roman world. Contributors discuss climate change and its impact on Roman history, and then cover botanical and animal remains, which cast new light on agricultural and dietary practices. They exploit the rich record of human skeletal material--both bones and teeth—which forms a bio-archive that has preserved vital information about health, nutritional status, diet, disease, working conditions, and migration. Complementing this discussion is an in-depth analysis of trends in human body height, a marker of general well-being. This book also assesses the contribution of genetics to our understanding of the past, demonstrating how ancient DNA is used to track infectious diseases, migration, and the spread of livestock and crops, while the DNA of modern populations helps us reconstruct ancient migrations, especially colonization. Opening a path toward a genuine biohistory of Rome and the wider ancient world, The Science of Roman History offers an accessible introduction to the scientific methods being used in this exciting new area of research, as well as an up-to-date survey of recent findings and a tantalizing glimpse of what the future holds.