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Scythians and Greeks focuses on the ancient history of the northern Black Sea region: a major "new frontier" of Classical studies. The book presents a series of engagements with key themes bearing on cultural interactions within the region, from archaic Greek colonial settlement (approx. sixth century BC) down to the region's inclusion within the Roman imperial system (first century AD). By bringing together contributors from Russia, Ukraine and Georgia, the book makes available material and ideas which are either wholly new or known only to a very limited circle of specialists. The particular focus is on the relationships which developed, in peace and war, between the local peoples of the region (conventionally termed "Scythians") and the cultures of the classical Graeco-Roman world. ... Read more

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This history of the Roman Empire, from 44 BC to AD 235, has three purposes: to describe what was happening in the central administration of the Empire; to indicate how life went on in Italy and the provinces, in the towns, in the countryside, and in the army camps; and to show how these two different worlds impinged on each other. The book comprises a vivid account of the most intriguing period in ancient history.Amazon.com Review
The Roman empire begins with Julius, the first Caesar, and ends five centuries later with the establishment of Christian rule in Western Europe. C. M. Wells chronicles the astonishing growth of the empire through military innovations that gave soldiers and colonists a tangible stake in Rome's success through the award of captured lands. He helps make sense out of complex episodes in Roman history, among them the so-called year of the four emperors and the rise of non-Roman rulers such as Maximinus. Wells also looks at the legacy of the Roman empire in modern governments, which derive much knowledge about administration, road building, hydrology, and assorted other practical arts from their ancient forebears. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Begat
I loved Colin's book Sailing from Byzantium, which is why I got this.This enirely lacks the delightful writing of Sailing.It's got tedious chapters on political succession, quite boring.

A Good Starting Point for Students of Roman History
I needed a good introduction to the Roman Empire that hit the highlights without being too lightweight. This book does just that. Colin Wells discusses Roman history beginning with the conquest of Jerusalem in 63 BC. You read about the rise of Caesar Augustus, who eventually defeated Antony and Cleopatra to become the sole ruler of the empire from 30 BC-14 AD. Augustus expanded the empire as far as Spain and built many temples and buildings and aqueducts and kept the Germans and Parthians at bay.

Tiberias became emperor in 14 AD and ruled into his death in 36 AD. You then read about the mentally unbalanced megalomaniac Caligula and the physically handicapped but competent Claudius. He gets executed and is succeeded by Nero, who promptly has his mother killed. Nero was a patron of the arts and built many gardens and gymnasiums, but he was paranoid and mean and many suspect him to be the culprit behind the fires that burned down sections of Rome (though the author of this book doesn't tell you whether or not he thinks this is true).

You then read about the humble, but capable emperor Vespasian, the self-centered and widely disliked Domitian, as well as later emperors like Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius.

There is also a chapter discussing the sources of Roman history, with an emphasis on the historians Tacitus (who fails to be completely objective and seems to dislike Tiberius in particular), Suetonius, and Dio Cassius.

You also learn about the appointment of prefects and consuls, the building of the Roman roads for military travel, the state cults, the pagan cults, and the attitude of the government toward Christians and Jews.

The only fact that I saw that was wrong was when the author credited Pontius Pilate with a quote that was actually made by Caiaphas the high priest in the days of Jesus.

There are more names mentioned than what you will remember, and you might wish that the author expressed more of his own judgments on debatable matters. You might also be misled by the title into thinking that the book covers the whole span of Roman history (it only covers up to 261 AD). But it is a great starting point for students of Roman history.

The Reality of Empire
Wells offers a general survey of the Roman Empire from the rise of Augusts to the reign of Caracalla. The book is novel in adopting an alternating view between center-periphery relations. One chapter will adhere to the traditional political and military events of the Roman court. The successive chapter, however, will attempt to provide a broader view of Roman society by highlighting the social and economic affairs of the provinces during the same time frame.

One of the major encompassing themes of the survey is inclusion and exclusion in Roman society. Wells makes it clear that imperial Romans had little concept of ethnicity or nationality that we moderns do, which facilitated the incorporation of the provincials into the greater empire. The provincial elites, for their part, usually assimilated into imperial society as Roman law favored the propertied classes.

The small oligarchy that had ruled Rome in Republican times soon faded away, to be replaced with "new men" from both Italy and the provinces.Aside from the split between the Greek East and Latin West, the major division in the new order was not a cultural but an economic one.The dividing line was between rich and poor. Even that had a certain fluidity as people moved up and down the scale. Wells hints that the real success of the empire lay in the universal allegiance of the upper classes to maintain order and make profit.

Wells is not a Marxist and does not approach the subject from any antiquated or narrow-minded orthodoxy. He breaks ranks with many heretofore cherished assumptions. On the matter of Gibbons painting the rise of Christianity as the decline of the empire, Wells scoffs. To Wells, the "decline" of later Roman society was merely a transition to a new cultural reality (Christianity) with its own particular list of triumphs and failures.

There are some problems with this book. The first is that is was written by a British academic for a particularly British audience. Much of the cultural references and idiosyncratic humor is lost on this Yankee, and might be to other readers outside the UK. Another problem lies in its focus. Only the early empire is studied in detail. The later half of the Western empire is largely devoid of analysis, and thus Wells' treatise feels incomplete.

The Roman Empire is still worth reading. There are those who say the world is building for itself on a global scale what the Roman Empire accomplished in part: a society where tribal and cultural distinctions pale before a new universal economic reality. Modern day barbarians crash airplanes into buildings to protest the coming imperial order. Somehow the study of the Roman Empire never seemed more relevant.

A Great Book For A General Overview
Beginning from the military take over of Rome by Julius Caesar, through Octavian and Trajan to the eventual end of centralized government in the 3rd and 4th centuries, this book neatly organizes the material chronologically while not losing the reader in a hodge-podge of names, places, and events. Dr. Colin Wells does a fantastic job of explaining the culture of the Roman Empire both in Italy and throughout the many provinces (most notably Africa, Egypt, Asia Minor, Germania and Britannia).

A overtly general book on the period, this historical work is great for the reader that is unfamiliar with the time period and simply wants a thorough discussion on the Roman Empire that touches on all the major topics while not getting too bogged down in the nitty gritty details. Points of contention among researches are raised with Dr. Wells providing his opinion on the matters while still acknowledging the dissenting view.

Finally, the book does a really good job of capturing the feel of Rome during this time. The more enjoyable parts of the book are when he explains the cultural aspects of the Roman Empire: what life was like as a plebian, the Bay of Naples as a senatorial resort for the very rich or life as a legionnaire on the banks of the Rhine or the Danube. While he does cater to a more British audience (this book was written while Dr. Wells was teaching as an adjunct professor at Cambridge) I highly recommend it as a great "starter" book for those interested in learning about the Roman Empire.

Excellent Further Reading
This is a great book on the early empire.Wells covers the time from the fall of the republic concentrating on the reign of Augustus to about the time of Commodus.He does a very good job of explaining the time of Trajan and Hadrian and how the empire was consolidated and at peace for an extended period of time.There is a good balance of the life of the Emperors, everyday life in Rome and the provinces, the army, and the senate.The best thing about this book is the 41 page further reading section.This has been my main source to reference for books on ancient Rome.It is not just an annotated bibliography; Wells has topical sections like Roman coinage, imperial cult, treason, financial administration, town planning, Jewish sources, etc. and in each section lists recommended books.There are also ten pages of maps, plates, and a useful timeline.An excellent book to get you started on reading about the early Roman Empire. ... Read more

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Studies of culture, politics and society in the later Roman Empire have become more prolific because of the work of archaeologists, theologians and historical researchers. This book surveys this period in history, detailing recent discoveries and theories proposed. ... Read more

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For those who like ancient history and military history, yet are tired of the same familiar topics, The Catastrophic Era should be of great interest. This work is a must for teachers of Roman and classical history, serious students, and scholars and writers, as it fills gaps in our knowledge about the Romano-Persian wars and sets the record straight. The lies told by propagandists and others in a tumultuous period have been accepted for far too long, distorting our view of key events. Based on the latest scholarship, The Catastrophic Era tells what really happened to certain emperors and their armies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

We need a book on this subject, but this isn't it
I was excited when I saw this book because I've always wanted to learn more about the Roman empire's eastern frontier. Unfortunately, this book is nothing more than a pamphlet (less than 60 pages) and is too lax with sources. I hope somebody will write a book on this subject accessible to non-historians. In the meantime, we will have to make due with Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity: Neighbours and Rivals.

The Catastrophic Era - A Unique Work of History.
The Catastrophic era is a very authoritative source of the history of the conflict between Rome and Persia in ancient times. Tim Donovan gives some fresh new perspectives on the wars, their implications, and the outcome. His booklet is very well detailed and states some important facts that other historians generally fail to mention.
One of the important points that Donovan makes in the booklet is that the wars with Persia did not bring down the Roman empire. Although Rome had a very difficult time with Persia, the Roman empire survived the ordeal. Donovan mentions some key facts that have to do with how the Roman military actually became stronger. For example, the Romans improved their knowledge of how to fight battles involving cavalry on wide areas of open ground. The lessons were expensive; Roman armies suffered some high casualty rates. However, they were able to learn from the battles that they lost and use improved tactics. The Romans made some changes in the types of armor that they wore.
In the last part of the booklet, Donovan refutes the idea that the wars with Persia weakened Rome to a condition that led to eventual collapse. He mentions that a lack of recruits for the army was what ultimate caused the Roman military to decline. That shortage of manpower occurred well after the wars with Persia were over.
I highly recommend this booklet. It is very informative and shows excellent insight.
... Read more

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Have you ever wondered what life was really like in Ancient Rome?What did people wear?What did they eat?What sorts of games did kids play?Through history, recipes, crafts, activities, and games this series gives you a chance to experience what life was like throughout history. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome is the history of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire in the words of those who saw it firsthand. Never before in such detail has there been a history of this great and influential civilization that continues to mark the landscape (the Colosseum, the Roman roads, the aqueduct at Nimes), our language, our calendar ("July" for Julius Caesar), our laws, our traditions (carrying a bride across the threshold), and our very thoughts. With all the gossip of I, Claudius and the excitement of Gladiator (but none of the historical inaccuracy), The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome is a unique tour into the most important civilization in the West. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

not what I expected
It was all the usual stuff I can find in any history book. I was hopping for more.

Good, if flawed
The flaws are many.The "editing" doesn't extend much beyond cutting and pasting a lot of material together.There are zero editorial comments, although there were places where judicious comments would have been helpful.The footnotes are all, I believe, from the original sources, which are generally other collections.For instance, if the book quotes Herodian, the bibliography will cite, not the text of Herodian, but something like, "Great Texts on Ancient Rome" or something.So primary texts were usually not the sources.(The book contains nothing but excerpts from primary texts, but the editor got these excerpts from secondary sources.)

And yes, as someone else has pointed out, the translations are sometimes shaky.

Also, the word "Eyewitness" is frequently a misnomer.One of the most frequently cited authors is Tacitus, for instance, who was by no means an eyewitness to the things he wrote about.Nor was Suetonius, nor Ammianus Marcellinus, nor Cassius Dio, nor Appian.Even Cicero was writing about things that he hadn't actually witnessed in a lot of cases.

However, having said all that, this is a fun book to read because of one strong aspect of the editing, and that was selection of material.Most of the texts included here are terrific, from Pliny's account of the eruption of Vesuvius, to humorous letters written by various people (to name just a few things).You really get a broad cross-section of Roman society across the centuries.

One thing to note is that a complete novice to Roman history and culture would probably be frustrated by this book.I don't discourage the novice from giving the book a shot, but if you don't know who Cicero was, and Cato and Caesar and Antony and Octavian and Agrippa and Vitellius and Domitian and Trajan and Josephus and Alaric and on and on, not to mention the historical backgrounds of each, then you'll feel somewhat lost reading this book, because it does cover a huge amount of historical ground in a mere 500 pages.If you're motivated to learn, then this will be an excellent book.If you're interested more in casual reading, you might not like it.

Good companion to Gibbons
I really enjoyed this book because it wasn't just a bunch of impersonal historical facts piled into one book. These are writings and historical accounts from those who were present at the time the history was being made. This book gives a unique perspective about the Roman Empire that most history books don't.

A Fun Resource, Marred By Some Creaky Translations
This Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome, edited by Jon Lewis, is really about the same size as a Viking Portable, so the title overstates the reality. At the same time, the book does collect a wide variety of Roman writings from all phases of its development and collapse. I've never before run across the Twelve Tables(450) BCE, anonymous rituals, Josephus, St. Augustine, Hannibal, Pliny, Suetonius, Marcus Aurelius, Horace, Caesar, Cicero, Juvenal, Constantine and too many others, known and anonymous, to name, all in one volume. It's main problem is that some of these translations are so hoary it's hard to imagine anyone ever expressed themselves in such convoluted and ornate language. Hannibal's speech to his troops is a prime example: it is unlikely his troops would have understood what he said, much less been motivated to valor, if he actually talked like he does in the translation here. Most of the pieces are good enough, though. It's fun to browse through, to get a peek at what Romans thought of themselves, and ordinary things they did, as well as great ones. The chronology at the front is very handy, too. ... Read more

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This book is about the multiplicity of gods and religions that characterized the Roman world before Constantine. It was not the noble gods such as Jove, Apollo and Diana, who were crucial to the lives of the common people in the empire, but gods of an altogether more earthly, earthy level, whose rituals and observances may now seem bizarre. The book opens with an account of the nature of popular religion and the way in which the gods and myths of subject peoples were taken up by the Roman colonizers and spread throughout the empire. Successive chapters are devoted to the Great Mother, Isis, the cults of Syria, Mithras, The Horsemen, Dionysus, and to practices related to the performance of magic.It was above all with these popular religions that the early Christians fought for supremacy. In the concluding part of the book Professor Turcan describes this contest and its eventual outcome in the triumph of Christianity throughout the Roman world. The author assumes little background or specialist knowledge. Each chapter is fully referenced and where appropriate illustrated with photographs and diagrams. The book includes a guide for further reading specifically for English-speaking students. As well as being of wide general interest, this book will appeal to students of the Roman Empire and of the history of religion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

roman cult info
The book was delivered in remarkably quick time.
Well worth the search.The section on horse cults was very useful to my research. The extensive bibliography is also of great assistance in casting the net wider and deeper.

Detailed
If you're looking for a wealth of information with every detail listed then this is an excellent choice.The book is perhaps better used in the way of an encyclopedia: read up on a particular item that interests you; reading the book front to back is a bit tough as the text doesn't flow well and there's too much information to keep it all in mind.

Some great primary texts are The Life of Apollonius of Tyana and The Syrian Goddess: De Dea Syria.

Lots of trees, little forest
As the cliche goes, this book often loses the forest for the trees. Full of boring and mind-numbing detail, it belongs in every scholarly or specialist library, but if you are neither a scholar or a specialist then you will probably be much happier with Burkert (Ancient Mystery Cults, Harvard U. Press, 1987) or Godwin (Mystery Religions in the Ancient World, Thames & Hudson 1981). Twenty years later (2008), I do feel that the time is ripe for a new popular survey of this subject, and hope that someone else will pick up the ball!

Encyclopedic!
I used this text in preparing a 4 session workshop on ancient mystery religions (www.lukeion.org).I appreciate that this text is thourough and attempted a balanced position on the death of these religions and the rise of Christianity.I believe Turcan did a better job with task one than with task two. The primary drawback to this text is that it has the less-than-stimulating literary style of an older encyclopedia.Final summation:great reference work if you know the larger issues up for debate on Roman Cults.Excellent, scholarly, one-stop shopping for most cults of interest.

The Travels of the Gods
This book contains copius information regarding the geographic spread of various pagen "Gods" not members of the original Roman pantheon.If you need this information, the book becomes indespensible and should be in any serious students library who is concerned with the religious atmosphere of the Roman World circa 300 BCE to 400 CE.This being said, that is the long and the short of it.The translation from French is not the best. The deeper insights one might expect are largely missing.And the explanation of the triumph of Christianity as presented is shallow and of little value.This book, one of a series of translations and reissues in the English language, commissioned by the University of Manchester, hangs its hat on the fact that it is an update of the classic work of Franz Cumont.For the generalist, the book is a loss and confusing.For the specialist, who needs a travelogue of certain Gods, the book is indespensible.Expect to work hard for what you get.Expect the prose to flow like mud, and where the translation breaks down expect confusion.I stress that this was a necessary read for my interests.There is much to be gained here.You only have to decide if you wish to pay the price. ... Read more

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Although the Roman empire was one of the longest lasting in history, it was never ideologically conceived by its rulers or inhabitants as a territory within fixed limits. Yet Roman armies clearly reached certain points -- which today we call frontiers -- where they simply stopped advancing and annexing new territories. In Frontiers of the Roman Empire, C. R. Whittaker examines the Roman frontiers both in terms of what they meant to the Romans and in their military, economic, and social function.

Observing that frontiers are rarely, if ever, static, Whittaker argues that the very success of the Roman frontiers as permeable border zones sowed the seeds of their eventual destruction. As the frontiers of the late empire ceased to function, the ideological distinctions between Romans and barbarians became blurred. Yet the very permeability of the frontiers, Whittaker contends, also permitted a transformation of Roman society, breathing new life into the empire rather than causing its complete extinction.

Customer Reviews (3)

An Intersection Point
This is an overview of the Roman Empire Frontiers from the 1st century B.C. through the 5th Century A.D. Whittaker opens with a discussion of just what were the frontiers and how they were considered by both the Romans and the "barbarians". From the beginning he argues several points which were interesting to someone with a limited knowledge of the Roman Empire, such as myself. First he states that there is nothing in Roman policy that indicates they had anything approaching a Frontier "system" - a strategic plan for managing the frontier. Second he argues that evidence indicates that Roman frontier defenses weren't defenses at all - that they were either; staging areas for continued conquests beyond areas controlled by Rome; points from which Rome could maintain their influence over peoples not considered subjects of the Empire; strategic strongholds from which Rome could keep roads and rivers open for reasons of supplying the military or; points by which Rome could control traffic, particularly for the purposes of trade, into and out of the Empire.

The final two chapters are entitled; "The Collapse of the Frontiers" and "Warlords and Landlords in the Later Empire." As I am more familiar with this period, I will concentrate my comments here.

Whittaker continues a familiar discussion by relating how barbarians, particularly in Western Europe, advanced into the Empire. Aspects of this will be familiar to anyone with an interest in the Late Roman/Early Medieval Period (Late Antiquity). By dividing his discussion by geographic region he is able to depict how various areas of the Empire were lost to Rome. Several concepts were new to me.

One was that the influx of outsiders was not a mass migration of entire peoples, but rather an infiltration by small, usually armed, groups of no more than a few thousand. He writes; "We have to break away from the stereotypes of "tribal" history and mass movements of tribal migrations, which, when we can trace them archaeologically (as we can in the case of the Goths), seem to be slow movements of infiltration by small groups of warriors. Aetius's glorious victory over the Salian Franks at vicus Helena, enthusiastically hailed by Sidonius (Carm. 5.219-29) as a great victory, turns out to be no more than a "minor skirmish" when the Romans broke up a wedding party." p212

Whittaker also discusses how late Roman writers such as Sidonius and Ammianus exaggerated the incursions by the barbarians to strike terror into the hearts of Romans and inspire them to resist more strongly.

According to this work, the same writers exaggerated the savage nature of the barbarians. Whittaker argues strongly that while the frontiers collapsed, Roman society did not change greatly in areas that were lost. Earlier he discusses how the frontiers were actually rather heavily populated. With the number of soldiers serving on the military frontier, shops, farms, and industry sprang up, on both the Roman and barbarian side, to supply them. The barbarian elite closely resembled the Roman elite, while the lower classes of the barbarians closely resembled the lower classes of the Romans - much moreso than, say, the lower class barbarians resembled their elite. As these barbarians moved into regions formerly controlled by Rome, they brought their society with them - which happened to be largely Roman in nature. Whittaker justifies this view by citing archaeological finds, such as from Fedderson Werde.

Of particular interest to me is Whittaker's contention that the barbarian incursion, particularly into Gaul, was nowhere near as violent and as bloody as many believe. He states that the early medieval warlord and late Roman Landholder were highly similar. Many Roman soldiers serving on the frontier were landholders - either in Rome or beyond it. Others, on retiring, were given grants of land. In either case they would find people to help them work it. And, if need be, they would revert to their military background to serve as the leader of an armed band. These groups were less violent and disruptive than has been believed. Whittaker says, "The problem about conceptualizing this change is, as we have been reminded recently, that Gregory of Tours in the sixth century, followed by many historians since, could conceive of the Franks' entry into Gual only as a violent barbarian invasion, culminating at Soissons, where Syagrius fell fighting symbolically as the last defender of _Romania_. In fact, the fifth century in Gaul was the culmination of a less dramatic process of integration of Germanic chiefs with their _Gefolgsleute_ in the burgeoning demimonde of estate owners surrounded by their fighting retinues." p266

While focussing on these points of interest I want to note that Whittaker does discuss many other aspects of the frontier such as trade, fortifications, the movement of peoples and traders across the frontier, etc. He covers the entire frontier, including Britain, Africa, and the frontier with Persia, and discusses the various interactions in each area.

I felt this was a good work which helped to discuss an area I was not very familiar with. I was somewhat disappointed however, at the broadness with which Whittaker covered it. This work is largely thematic in nature and while he does give some examples, I would have enjoyed more specifics such as on intricacies of trade on the frontier, and some aspects of daily life in this region. I am also not in complete agreement with his thesis regarding the pattern of migrations of Germanic peoples. Still, it was an enjoyable book. It is fairly well written, informative, and well footnoted (endnoted actually).

Not bad for a series of speculations on indistinct, undefined frontiers
Much of this book is the quest for a coherent Roman frontier policy; the book concludes that there wasn't one. Most of the information in the book is based upon academic speculation ("educated" guesses), because source materials from this period don't tend to focus on the frontier (or even to acknowledge its existence, beyond stating proximities to the mostly meaningless "limes" [boundary markers] of the Empire), and most of the barbarian peoples who crossed the border were illiterate, what we are left with are a few references buried deep in the Roman and late Hellenistic literature of the day, a few official Roman imperial documents, a couple of treaties and scant records of commercial transactions. The archeological evidence cited in the book, showing the extent of distribution of Roman coins and pottery in what were previously conceived to be "barbarian" areas, shows the very fluidity and indistinction of this so-called frontier. All of the archeology included was new to me, and the included maps and figures were interesting and enlightening. If you are interested in late Roman history, you wish to better understand the edges of the Roman world and the movements of barbarians into and among the provinces of the Empire, or you are interested in the formation of "creole" cultures (and the Roman "frontier" in the 3rd-6th centuries was characterized by a forcible merging of Roman and "barbarian" [mostly German] cultures), this is a good book. Heavy on facts and figures, this book is light on answers, but only due to lack of evidence. A darn good attempt at defining the indefinable.

Engaging...informative study of the Roman Frontier
In his book, Frontiers of the Roman Empire: A Social and Economic Study, C.R.
Whittaker takes the reader along an historic journey documenting life along the Roman frontier. This study focuses on the role of the Roman military, society and economy and the impact they had on the frontier peoples from 100 B.C. to 400 A.D. He discusses the role of trade and how it influenced the establishment of permanent frontier zones along Roman Britain, and the interaction between the British people and the Roman invaders.
Whittaker begins his study with a detailed description of the extent of the frontiers and the people whom the Romans encountered, believed to be barbarians. Some of the points he makes is that there was not a Roman frontier policy which determined how they were to maintain the frontier. He claims that the Roman frontier was not a militarily defensive system to guard against the "barbarians", rather he asserts that the military posts along the frontier were only temporary strategic defensive positions where the Romans established control with the intent of pushing further northwards. This is an intriguing paradigm as the various schools of thought surrounding the Roman frontier have maintained that the frontier zone marked the extent of the Roman Empire.
Another intriguing aspect of this study is that Whittaker claims that Roman society impacted and influenced barbarian society along the frontier in that the social class stratification which was evident in Roman society was also appearing in the "barbarian" societies as well. There were upper and lower classes developing among the native peoples. When Roman provinces began to fall to the "barbarians" the social class structure that was implemented while those areas were under Roman control was retained when conquered by the "barbarians".
Towards the end of this study, Whittaker examines the role of "barbarians" infiltration into the Roman Empire. He asserts that parts of the Empire were able to fall into the hands of the "barbarian" tribes by small decisive attacks
rather than battles involving tens of thousands of warrior tribes. In addition, he claims that Roman writers such as Sidonius wrote about the "barbarians" in a propagandistic way, in order to frighten the Roman people living along the frontiers to resist them with more force.
Utilizing propaganda to make the "barbarians" appear more savage and threatening, ancient writers helped create a stereotype regarding these "barbarians" which has lasted centuries even after the Empire fell. It is only with recent scholarly examination that modern historians have been able to discern fact from fiction. The barbarians were not in fact as uncivilized as they appeared to be. Graham Webster acknowledges this fact in his studies on Roman Britain, in which he pays particular attention to what society and life were like in Britain before the Roman conquest.
Webster maintains, as does Whittaker that there was a thriving, flourishing civilization, albeit not as modern but organized, before the Romans invaded the British Isles. Whittaker maintains his thesis throughout this study, that the Roman frontier was not stagnant, but rather that the frontier was a permeable border along which societies and economies grew. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Published by: Longmans, Green in 1876 in 269 pages; Subjects: Rome; History / General; History / Ancient / General; History / Ancient / Rome; ... Read more

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‘From the team that brought you Food in Antiquity, and in matching format.Athenaeus has everything: lots of food, buckets of otherwise unknown texts, material on dining customs in late antiquity, and a considerable body of material on sex . . .’Petits Propos Culinaires

Almost all classicists and ancient historians make use of Athenaeus; 'Athenaeus and his World' is the first sustained attempt to understand and explore his work as a whole, and in its own right.The work emerges as no mere compendium of earlier texts, but as a vibrant work of complex structure and substantial creativity.The book makes sense of the massive and polyphonous Deipnosophistae (Philosophers at Supper), the quarry upon which classicists and ancient historians depend for their knowledge of much ancient literature, particularly Comedy, and also the source of much of the data used by modern historians for the social history of the classical and hellenistic worlds.

The 41 chapters, written by an international team of literary specialists and historians, each tackle a significant feature, and the book is divided into seven sections, each prefaced by introductory remarks from the editors. ... Read more

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Also published as part of Contrasts and Connections, the aim of this book is to demonstrate how fascinating history can be. It introduces genuine historical issues, gives selected source material to work with, and allows pupils to reach their own conclusions about the past. ... Read more

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The leaders of the Roman Empire established many of the organizational governance practices that we follow today, in addition to remarkable feats of engineering using primitive tools that produced roads and bridges which are still being used today, complex irrigation systems, and even "flush toilets." Yet, the leaders were challenged with political intrigue, rebelling team members, and pressure from the competition. How could they achieve such long-lasting greatness in the face of these challenges?In this new addition to the Lessons from History series, join author Jerry Manas as he takes you on a journey through history to learn about project management the Roman way. Discover the 23 key lessons that can be learned from the successes and failures of the Roman leadership, with specific advice on how they can be applied to today's projects.Looking at today's hottest topics, from the importance of strategic alignment for your projects through to managing transformational change and fostering work/life balance while still maintaining overall performance, you'll find that the Romans already faced-and conquered-these challenges two thousand years ago. Read this intriguing book to learn how they did it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Interesting and Easy Project Management Read
I'm a project manager by trade...and I love history. "Project Lessons from the Roman Empire" seemed the perfect book for me and I couldn't order fast enough when it first came to my attention.

The book is practical and contains a wealth of basic, high level. important project management precepts. At times, author and project management guru Jerry Manas does a nice job tying in modern project management with lessons from the Roman Empire. At other times, I feel his connections are stretched too thin.

This is a handbook that's rich is short memorable tips on solid project management. Manas weaves historical allegories into examples of real world project management. He delves into the Roman Empires beginnings, peak, and downfall to find relevant analogiesto the real world.

Some examples from the book:

- Romans planned and analyzed potential risks extensively when preparing to build a city. For example, they built sidewalks higher than streets to limit vehicle-pedestrian accidents and protect citizens from floods. In the real world, project managers should build risk management plans that account for disaster, growth and maintainability.
- So much is known about the Romans because they documented their lives so heavily. In the real world, project managers need to document lessons learned throughout a project lifestyle, while things are fresh in your mind, and document in a shared location.
- One of the driving factors of the decline of the Roman Empire was it's division into two separate entities initiated in the 3rd Century AD. It's decline was quite precipitous, once the Empire established two capitals and emperors - one based in the east and one in the west. In the real world, project managers must be clear in their project's vision and message, and must steer away from the team taking direction from multiple leaders.

I would've loved if Manas had gone even deeper into a historical analysis to drive home his points and references. I was expecting more detailed case studies of specific Roman projects in comparison with it's modern relation.

That aside, if you're looking for something lightweight, and that provides easy-to-read and memorable project management tips, this is a good choice.

Roman Management techniques
This is not a history book, though a very brief but effective historical outline from Rome's rise to fall is offered. There are also a few tasteful photographs included, as well as a decent bibliography, but again it should not be mistaken for a scholarly treatise on Rome. Rather, it is written more like a presentation on Roman leadership techniques for the busy manager on-the-go, with bullet points and boxes of highlighted information scattered liberally throughout its slender volume. A quick read, it might be the perfect companion on a short flight, or perhaps to be explored on one's lunch hour.

Rome succeeded for the following reasons: it believed in itself and what it was doing; its subjects generally subordinated their lives to furthering the goals of that corporate vision (what the author calls "alignment"); it fostered a sense of innovation and engineering enterprise without seeking to "reinvent the wheel"; its leaders believed in family, community and education to enrich their lives and offer a viable support base for themselves; it had a knack for organization, contingency planning, and risk assessment; and finally, through both legal and material incentives it secured the loyalties of its subjects and allies. According to Manas, these are all lessons that modern companies and individuals need to apply to get ahead.

Manas also outlines where Rome fails, chiefly in its latter history: a higher ratio of bad executives compared to the good (the incompetent or psychotic emperors); having too many managers in one office (the division of the empire into rival sectors); the influx of a lesser caliber of employees who did not firmly share the organization's goals and methods (the barbarization of the army and the Germanic invasions); an increasingly hostile and bloated corporate culture that alienated its subjects; (the higher taxes, corruption and increased bureaucracy of the Dominate).

Manas sees Augustus as the superior CEO, able to effect change through an entire system with strategic foresight and prudence. It indeed is the rare manager that can combine superior vision with practical restraint, and who can affect profound corporate transformation without proving guilty of either micro-management or megalomania.

In the sum, Project Lessons from the Roman Empire touches on Do's and Don'ts of effective corporate governance. Its lessons are quick but timely, historically based but practically oriented.

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Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The legacy of the Roman Empire refers to the set of cultural values, religious beliefs, as well as technological and other achievements of Ancient Rome which were passed on after the demise of the empire itself and continued to shape other civilizations, a process which continues to this day. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more