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Roman Empire Books
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Title: Roman Centurions
Author: Raffaele D'Amato
Publisher: Osprey
Price: £11.95
Bookshop: Amazon
Spartacus Website: The Roman World
Category: Military History |
A detailed glimpse into the weapons, equipment and uniforms worn by Roman Centurions from the Roman Kingdom right through to the height of the Republic. Including new research, photographs of artefacts and the signature Men-at-Arms artwork, this is an essential addition to the series and includes several artwork reconstructions of actual named individuals and two lavish scenes depicting combat between Centurions and a Triumphal procession.
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Title: Atlas of Empires
Author: Peter Davidson
Publisher: New Holland Publishers
Price: £17.99
Bookshop: Amazon
Spartacus Website: The Romans
Category: Roman Empire |
"Atlas of Empires" tells the story of how and why the great empires of history came into being, operated and ultimately declined, and discusses the future of the empire in today's globalized world. Featuring 60 beautiful and detailed maps of the empires' territories at different stages of their existence and organized thematically to reflect the different driving forces behind empires throughout history (such as faith, nomadic culture, nationhood and capitalism), each section discusses the rise and fall of the empires that existed in a region: their government and society, wealth and technology, war and military force, and religious beliefs. From the earliest empires of the Sumerians and the Pharoahs to the modern 'empires' of the USA and the European Union, this is a story that reveals how empires are created and organized, how later empires resolve the problems of governance faced by earlier empires, and how the political and cultural legacies of ancient empires are still felt today. It is the story of how humanity's drive to bring peace and prosperity to a region vied with people's itch to dominate, exploit and exterminate. Fascinating and informative, "Atlas of Empires" is an essential resource. It is suitable for those interested in the history of civilizations and world politics. It is also suitable for students of history looking for a clear, visually rich guide to how empires operated and interacted.
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Title: Imperialism, Power, and Identity
Author: David J. Mattingly
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Price: £27.95
Bookshop: Amazon
Spartacus Website: The Romans
Category: Roman Empire |
Despite what history has taught us about imperialism's destructive effects on colonial societies, many classicists continue to emphasize disproportionately the civilizing and assimilative nature of the Roman Empire and to hold a generally favorable view of Rome's impact on its subject peoples. Imperialism, Power, and Identity boldly challenges this view using insights from postcolonial studies of modern empires to offer a more nuanced understanding of Roman imperialism. Rejecting outdated notions about Romanization, David Mattingly focuses instead on the concept of identity to reveal a Roman society made up of far-flung populations whose experience of empire varied enormously. He examines the nature of power in Rome and the means by which the Roman state exploited the natural, mercantile, and human resources within its frontiers. Mattingly draws on his own archaeological work in Britain, Jordan, and North Africa and covers a broad range of topics, including sexual relations and violence; census-taking and taxation; mining and pollution; land and labor; and art and iconography. He shows how the lives of those under Rome's dominion were challenged, enhanced, or destroyed by the empire's power, and in doing so he redefines the meaning and significance of Rome in today's debates about globalization, power, and empire.
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Title: The Crisis of Rome
Author: Gareth C. Sampson
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Price: £15.99
Bookshop: Amazon
Spartacus Website: Ancient Rome
Category: Roman Empire |
In the later 2nd century BC, after a period of rapid expansion and conquest, the Roman Republic found itself in crisis. In North Africa her armies were already bogged down in a long difficult guerrilla war in a harsh environment when invasion by a coalition of Germanic tribes, the Cimbri, Teutones and Ambrones, threatened Italy and Rome itself, inflicting painful defeats on Roman forces in pitched battle. Gaius Marius was the man of the hour. The first war he brought to an end through tactical brilliance, bringing the Numidian King Jugurtha back in chains. Before his ship even returned to Italy, the senate elected Marius to lead the war against the northern invaders. Reorganising and reinvigorating the demoralised Roman legions, he led them to two remarkable victories in the space of months, crushing the Teutones and Ambrones at Aquiae Sextae and the Cimbri at Vercellae. The Roman army emerged from this period of crisis a much leaner and more professional force and the author examines the extent to which the 'Marian Reforms' were responsible for this and the extent to which they can be attributed to Marius himself.
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Title: Julius Caesar
Author: Nic Fields
Publisher: Osprey
Price: £11.99
Bookshop: Amazon
Spartacus Website: Julius Caesar
Category: Roman Empire |
One of the greatest military commanders in history, Julius Caesar's most famous victory - the conquest of Gaul - was to him little more than a stepping stone to power. An audacious and decisive general, his victories over the Gauls allowed him to challenge for the political leadership of Rome. Leading a single legion across the Rubicon in 49 BC, Caesar launched a civil war which would end the Roman Republic and usher in the Roman Empire, with Caesar at its helm. This examination of the great general's life covers his great victories and few defeats, looking at the factors which lay behind his military genius.
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Title: The Road to Rome
Author: Ben Kane
Publisher: Preface Publishing
Price: £12.99
Bookshop: Amazon
Spartacus Website: Roman Army
Category: Roman Empire |
Having survived the perils of a journey across half the world, Romulus and Tarquinius are press-ganged into the legions, which are under imminent threat of annihilation by the Egyptians. Meanwhile in Rome, Romulus' twin sister Fabiola lives in fear for her life, loved by Brutus, but wooed by Marcus Antonius, his deadly enemy. Soon after, Romulus fights at Zela, the vicious battle where Caesar famously said, 'Veni, vidi, vici'. Tarquinius, separated from Romulus in the chaos of war, hides in Alexandria, searching for guidance. But mortal danger awaits them both. From the battlefields of Asia Minor and North Africa, to the lawless streets of Rome and the gladiator arena, they face death daily, until on the Ides of March, the twins are reunited and must decide either to back or to betray Caesar on his day of destiny. |
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Title: Roman Conquests: Macedonia & Greece
Author: Philip Matyszak
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Price: £19.99
Bookshop: Amazon
Spartacus Website: The Roman World
Category: Roman Empire |
This will be the third in the Roman Conquests series (following Italy and Spain) and one of those with the most obvious appeal. While Rome was struggling for her very survival against the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, Philip V of Macedon attempted to take advantage of their apparent vulnerability by allying with Hannibal and declaring war. For the time being the Romans negated this threat by shrewd use of allies to keep Philip occupied in Greece and Illyria. Once Carthage was defeated, however, the Romans were free to turn their full attention to settling the score. The stage was set for the clash of two of the most successful military systems of the ancient world, the Roman legions versus the Macedonian phalanx. Though sorely tested, the legions emerged victorious from the epic battles of Cynoscephelae and Pydna, and the home of Alexander the Great fell under the power of Rome, along with the rest of Greece, the cradle of Western Civilisation, which had a profound effect on Roman culture and society.
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Title: The Poison King
Author: Adrienne Mayor
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Price: £20.95
Bookshop: Amazon
Spartacus Website: The Romans
Category: Roman Empire |
Machiavelli praised his military genius. European royalty sought out his secret elixir against poison. His life inspired Mozart's first opera, while for centuries poets and playwrights recited bloody, romantic tales of his victories, defeats, intrigues, concubines, and mysterious death. But until now no modern historian has recounted the full story of Mithradates, the ruthless king and visionary rebel who challenged the power of Rome in the first century BC. In this richly illustrated book - the first biography of Mithradates in fifty years - Adrienne Mayor combines a storyteller's gifts with the most recent archaeological and scientific discoveries to tell the tale of Mithradates as it has never been told before. The Poison King describes a life brimming with spectacle and excitement. Claiming Alexander the Great and Darius of Persia as ancestors, Mithradates inherited a wealthy Black Sea kingdom at age fourteen after his mother poisoned his father. He fled into exile and returned in triumph to become a ruler of superb intelligence and fierce ambition. Hailed as a savior by his followers and feared as a second Hannibal by his enemies, he envisioned a grand Eastern empire to rival Rome. After massacring eighty thousand Roman citizens in 88 BC, he seized Greece and modern-day Turkey. Fighting some of the most spectacular battles in ancient history, he dragged Rome into a long round of wars and threatened to invade Italy itself. His uncanny ability to elude capture and surge back after devastating losses unnerved the Romans, while his mastery of poisons allowed him to foil assassination attempts and eliminate rivals.
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Title: Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier
Author: Graham Sumner
Publisher: Frontline Books
Price: £35.00
Bookshop: Amazon
Spartacus Website: Roman Army
Category: Roman Empire |
From the Latin warriors on the Palatine Hill in the age of Romulus, to the last defenders of Constantinople in 1453 AD, the weaponry of the Roman Army was constantly evolving. Through glory and defeat, the Roman warrior adapted to the changing face of warfare. Due to the immense size of the Roman Empire, which reached from the British Isles to the Arabian Gulf, the equipment of the Roman soldier varied greatly from region to region.Through the use of materials such as leather, linen and felt, the Army was able to adjust its equipment to these varied climates. Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier sheds new light on the many different types of armour used by the Roman soldier, and combines written and artistic sources with the analysis of old and new archaeological finds. With a huge wealth of plates and illustrations, which include ancient paintings, mosaics, sculptures and coin depictions, this book gives the reader an unparalleled visual record of this fascinating period of military history.
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