Empire of the Romans
From Julius Caesar to Justinian: Six Hundred Years of Peace and War, Volume II: Select Anthology
1. Edition February 2021
512 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Further versions
Offers a broad range of texts spanning six centuries of imperial Roman history--Volume II of Empire of the Romans, from Julius Caesar to Justinian
Empire of the Romans: From Julius Caesar to Justinian: Six Hundred Years of Peace and War, Volume II: Select Anthology is a compendium of texts that trace the main historical changes of the empire over six hundred years, from the death of Julius Caesar to the late Middle Ages. The second volume of Empire of the Romans, from Julius Caesar to Justinian, this anthology balances literary texts with other documentary, legal, and epigraphic sources. Acclaimed author John Matthews presents texts that reflect individual, first-person experiences rather than those from historians outside of the time periods of which they write.
Each selection includes an introduction, annotations on points of interest, author commentary, and suggestions for further reading. Excerpts are organized thematically to help readers understand their meaning without requiring an extensive knowledge of context. Six sections--running in parallel to the structure and content to Volume I--explore the topics such as the building of the empire, Pax Romana, the new empire of Diocletian and Constantine, and barbarian invasions and the fall of the Western Empire. Selected texts span a wide array of subjects ranging from political discourse and Roman law, to firsthand accounts of battle and military service, to the civic life and entertainment of ordinary citizens. This volume:
* Covers a vast chronological and topical range
* Includes introductory essays to each selected text to explain key points, present problems of interpretation, and guides readers to further literature
* Balances the different categories and languages of original texts
* Enables easy cross-reference to Volume I
* Minimizes the use of technical language in favor of plain-English forms
Whether used as a freestanding work or as a complement to Volume I, the Select Anthology is an ideal resource for students in Roman history survey courses as well as interested general readers seeking a wide-ranging collection of readings on the subject.
Lis of Figures
Part I. Building an Empire
1. "Contests of the Powerful"; Appian's Civil War
2. A Roman senator mourns his wife; "Laudatio Turiae"
3. Vitruvius, On Architecture, Preface & Introduction
4. Past and future in Vergil's Aeneid; the battle of Actium
5. The Authorised Version; Augustus' Res Gestae
6. The Secular Games:
1. Zosimus, New History
2. Inscriptions on the conduct of the games
3. Q. Horatius Flaccus, Carmen Saeculare
7. An admirer of Tiberius; Velleius Paterculus, History of Rome
8. An embassy to Caligula; Philo, Legatio ad Gaium
9. Victims of tyranny; the deaths of Seneca and Lucan
10. Episodes from the last years of Nero:
1. Tiridates at Rome
2. The Grand Tour of Hellas
3. The Liberation of Hellas
11. Plautus Silvanus, legate of Moesia
Part II. Pax Romana: "A Polite and Powerful Empire"
12. The life and death of the elder Pliny
13. The Discourses of Epictetus
14. Scenes from Metropolitan Life: Epigrams of Martial
15. Civic Life at Ephesus:
1. Duties of the proconsul
2. A wealthy professor
3. A disruptive visitor
4. Inscriptions of Ephesus
5. The Plancii of Perge: a prominent family of Asia Minor
16. Public life and occupations in Artemidorus' Dream-Book
17. A career choice; Lucian's Dream
18. Labour costs in Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices:
1. Trades and Professions
2. Prices of slaves
19. Games and entertainments:
1. Epitaphs of gladiators
2. A record-breaking charioteer; G. Appuleius Diocles
20. A visit to the country
21. Travelling to court in the Digest
22. Lucian, The Ship:
1. The Ship
2. Letter from a crewman
3. The sailing season
23. Life in the Armed Forces:
1. A military exploit
2. Hadrian addresses the troops
3. A tour of inspection; Arrian's Circumnavigation of the Black Sea
4. A legionary surveyor and engineer
5. Joining the navy; recruits write home
6. Retirement from the army; a military diploma
7. A soldier makes his will
24. Religion, Philosophy, Science:
1. Apuleius & the goddess Isis
2. Aelius Aristides & the god Asklepios
3. A Chapter of Accidents: Fronto and Marcus Caesar
4. Galen's Prognosis
5. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, "To Himself"
25. Crime and punishment in the Digest
26. A Hearing before the Proconsul: Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs
Part III. Rising to the Challenge
27. A witness to his age; the Roman History of Cassius Dio:
1. The last days of Commodus
2. The end of Dio's History
28. The Great King blows the trumpet
29. The Thirteenth Sibylline Oracle
30. The Canonical Letter of Gregory Thaumaturgus
31. A philosopher's circle; Eunapius' Life of Porphyry
32. The Herulian attack on Athens
33. The Martyrdom of Cyprian
34. Christian persecutions in the papyri
35. Maximinus and the Christians
36. Legal Proceedings before the consularis Numidiae
Part IV. A New Empire
37. Diary of an official
38. Cities of Constantine (1), Constantinople, "New Rome":
1. Zosimus, New History
2. Chronicon Paschale
39. Cities of Constantine (2), Rome: the Liber Pontificalis
40. Cities of Constantine (3), Jerusalem: the church of the Holy Sepulchre
41. Orcistus and Nacolia: a question of civic status
42. Sopatros and Ablabius; the philosopher and the politician
43. Tribulations of an army officer; the Abinnaeus Archive
44. On Their Majesties' Service
1. The emperor restores a reputation
2. Obelisks' tales
45. Warfare and Romance on the Tigris frontier
1. An officer in the field
2. The wife of Craugasius
46. An adventure in the desert; Jerome, Life of Malchus
47. Julian and the Platonists
48. Letter to a Priest
49. A letter from Hierapolis
50. The surrender of Nisibis:
1. Ammianus Marcellinus 25.8.13-9.6
2. Ephraim, Third Hymn against Julian
51. Pagan and Christian Virtues in the Roman Aristocracy
1. Vettius Agorius Praetextatus
2. Sextus Petronius Probus
52. The last days of Monica in Augustine Confessions 9.23(33)
53. Their Majesties' Voice; Selections from the Theodosian Code
Part V. Facing the Future
54. The life & work of Ulfila:
1. Philostorgius, Ecclesiastical History 2.5
2. Jordanes, Getica 267
3. The Letter of Auxentius
55. The origin of the Huns in Jordanes (Getica 121-133)
56. The Eucharisticon of Paulinus of Pella
57. Rutilius Namatianus, De Reditu Suo
58. Claudius Postumus Dardanus and the City of God
59. At the Royal Court of Attila:
1. An embassy to Attila
2. Attila's banquet
3. The death of Attila
60. The end of Roman Noricum; extracts from the Life of Severinus
61. Public Business (1): "Gesta amplissimi senatus"
62. Public Business (2): The Council of Chalcedon
63. A Hall of Mirrors: Ostrogoth and Roman at the court of Ravenna:
1. Cassiodorus' Variae
2. The Consolation of Philosophy
64. Emperor and people at Byzantium: the Nika Riot
1. Procopius Wars 1.24-1-7
2. "Acts against Calapodius"
3. Malalas, Chronicle s.a. 532
4. Chronicon Paschale
65. Confirmation of the Digest
66. Recovering the west in Procopius
1. Syracuse (Wars 3.14.1-17)
2. Lepcis Magna (Buildings 6.4.1-10)
3 Rome (Wars 5.18.6-29)
Part VI. Epilogue: Ruins of a Roman Landscape
67. The lost pleasures of a hot bath
68. Venetian origins?
69. Accident in a derelict amphitheatre
70. "The Works of Giants"
71. "Maumbury Rings"
