Category: Ancient Rome
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1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (2014) by Eric H. Cline
I have read widely about Classical Antiquity and have even dabbled a bit in ancient Egypt, including taking a course on hieroglyphics, so I was somewhat stunned to encounter the fascinating story Eric H. Cline tells in 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. I’m embarrassed to admit that I had never fully appreciated the scale…
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How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower (2009) by Adrian Goldsworthy
Eighteenth-century British historian Edward Gibbon famously wrote, “The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness.” More than two centuries and countless scholarly debates later, British historian Alexander Demandt wryly observed, “The only thing historians agree on about the fall of the Roman Empire is that it happened.” Indeed, yet another…
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Rome and China: Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires (2009) edited by Walter Scheidel
Rome and China: Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires, edited by Walter Scheidel, represents an ambitious effort to bring rigorous comparative analysis to two of the most influential political systems of the ancient world: the Roman Empire in the West and the Qin–Han Empire in the East (221 BC to 220 AD). At a time…
