Recommended Reading

[Velico]

I'm looking for more books on the period from the death of Alexander the Great to the fall of Rome (and into medieval history). So far I've read "The Imperial Roman Army" by Yann Le Bohec, "The Fall of Carthage" by Adrian Goldsworthy, "Peloponnesian War" by Thucydides, "Plutarch Lives Demetrius and Antony, Pyrrhus and Gaius Marius" by Plutarch, "Byzantium: The Early Years" by John Julius Norwich, and "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbons.

I'd like to do some reading on the Persian Empire, the rise of nation-states, Ptolemaic Empire/Dynasty, Seleucid Empire/Dynasty, Pontus Empire/Dynasty (Mithridates), Scythian Empire/Dynasty... That's all I can think of for now.

Anyone who has read something they've really enjoyed of these area's please let me know the book and why you liked it. Thanks!

(I know there's another thread in the Discussion > Arts forum but it's a hodgepodge of fiction and non-fiction that I didn't want to weed through.)

[sithlord447]

well in terms of late antiquity here is the list from the IB forum

I am sure all of us have at one time or another experienced the frustration of attempting to find information and books that cover our particular ancient armies and nations of interest.
To this end I thought I would share the book list I have compiled from my own collection that covers a wide range of topic concerning the Later Roman Empire.
Please note that the comments made about the books are purely mine and your own thoughts and comments may differ.


THE LATE ROMAN ARMY

Martijn Nicasie (1998)- ‘Twilight of Empire: The Roman army from the reign of Diocletian until the battle of Adrianople’-
Hugh Elton (2004)- ‘Warfare in Roman Europe, AD 350-425’
Richard Cromwell (1998)- ‘The Rise and Decline of the Late Roman Field Army’
Phil Barker (1981)- ‘The Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome’
John Peddie (1997)- ‘The Roman War Machine’
Pat Southern & Karen R. Dixon (2000)- ‘The Late Roman Army’
Benjamin Isaac (2004)- 'The Limits of Empire- The Roman Army in the East'
A. D. Lee (2007) 'War in Late Antiquity: A Social History'
M. C. Bishop & J. C. N. Coulston (2006) 'Roman Military Equipment From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome'
Adrian Goldsworthy (2004) 'The Complete Roman Army'
Adrian Goldsworthy (2007) 'Roman Warfare'


Of the above books ‘Twilight of Empire’ and ‘Warfare in Roman Europe’ are absolute essentials. To be honest if you buy ‘Twilight of Empire’ then there is no need to waste your money on Cromwell’s over-priced and under researched book. Crowell’s only saving grace in my eyes is that he agreed that the Roman cavalry during this period were prone to brittleness. If you have more money than sense, or can find a cheap copy as I did, then by all means purchase Cromwell’s book, otherwise just stick with 'Twilight of Empire'. A word of caution here about Southern & Dixon's ‘The Late Roman Army’. Whilst it contains much that is of interest, it also contains a number of errors and mistakes, some of them quite glaring. Take a look near the beginning under the table of Emperor’s for example. Valens is quoted as dying from a natural death. I don’t know about you, but I thought that being shot by an arrow then being burned alive does not equate to a natural death! The table is also wrong as he was Emperor of the East, therefore both he and Valentinian should appear under the table of the Divided Empire. Peddies book is a good source book on all aspects of a Roman army, from supplies, baggage, to building field and permanent fortifications. Phil Barker’s book is essential for history buffs and wargamer’s alike. Full of illustrations, will keep figure painters amused for hours! Goldsworthy's books are a bit 'thin' when it comes to the Later Roman Empire and what he says is not always correct. Bishop & Coulston are to be recommended for an very good insight into the equipment used.


THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE AND IT’S ENEMIES

Herwig Wolfram (1990)- ‘The History of the Goths’
Peter Heather (2007)- ‘The Goths (The Peoples of Europe)
Peter Heather (1991)- ‘Goths and Romans, 332-489’
Michael Kulikowski (2007)- ‘Rome’s Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric’
Thomas S. Burns (1995)- ‘Barbarians within the Gates of Rome: Study of Roman Military Policy and the Barbarians, 375-425 AD’
Alessandro Barbero (2007)- ‘The Day of the Barbarians: The Battle that led to the fall of the Roman Empire’
John F. Drinkwater (2007)- ‘The Alamanni and Rome 213-496 (Caracalla to Clovis)’
Beate Dignas & Englebert Winter (2007)- ‘Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity: Neighbours and Rivals’
Michael H. Dodgeon & Samuel N.C. Lieu (2003)- ‘The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (AD 226-363)’
Geoffrey Greatrex & Samuel N.C. Lieu (2002)- ‘The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (AD 363-628)’
Dr Kaveh Farrokh (2007) 'Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War'
David S. Potter (2007) 'The Roman Empire at Bay AD 180 - 395'
Herwig Wolfram (1997) 'The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples'


All of the above books I would consider worthy of being in the library of anyone interested in the Late Roman Empire and those who it fought against. Barbero’s book is good for references, but he relies too much on the Osprey ‘Adrianople’ book for information about that battle and falls into the trap of supporting the author of the above books belief that the Goths had wagon barricades, purely because that author does not believe that the wagon laager could be circular due to the number of wagon’s he surmises must have been present. These barricades are not mentioned by any ancient author. Farrokh has been critised for making too many assumptions, but due to the lack of material on the Sasanid Empires armies I have included it for completness.


THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE

A.H.M. Jones (1973 1st reprint)- ‘The Later Roman Empire 284-602: A Social, Economic and Administrative Survey’
Averil Cameron (1993)-‘The Later Roman Empire'
John Mathews (2008)- ‘The Roman Empire of Ammianus’
R. Malcolm Errington (2006)- 'Roman Imperial Policy from Julian to Theodosius'
R. C. Blockley 'East Roman Foreign Policy: Formation and Conduct from Diocletian to Anastasius'
Stephen Mitchell (2007) 'A History of the Later Roman Empire AD 284-641'
Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli-'Rome, the late Empire;: Roman art, A.D. 200-400 (Arts of mankind series)'



There are a vast number of books out there dealing with the Later Roman Empire. I chose these in particular as they cover all the bases as far as I am concerned. Jones work is still widely available in a 1986 reprint. Matthews has been slated for his books over-indulgence. However, the man’s passion for Ammianus and the age he lived in is totally forgivable in my opinion. 'Rome- The Late Empire' is an absolute treasure and should be sought out at all costs!

THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Peter Heather (2006)- ‘The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History’
Arthur Ferrill (1990)- ‘The Fall of the Roman Empire: The Military Explanation’
Michael Grant (2003)- ‘The Fall of the Roman Empire’
Bryan Ward-Perkins (2005)- ‘The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization’

Again, there are a vast amount of books that deal with the fall of the Roman Empire. The ones above are thought to be essential reading.
Heather, Ferrill and Ward-Perkins all argue that it was the ‘barbarians’ who led to the direct downfall of the Roman Empire. Grant takes a different view, believing that social factors led to the fall.

ANCIENT AUTHORS WHO COVER THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE

Ammianus Marcellinus- ‘Res Gestae’ (Various translations are widely available, also online for free)
Anonymous- ‘De Rebus Bellicis’ (Translated by E. A. Thompson 1952)
Anonymous- 'Chronicon Paschale 284-628D' (Translated by Whitby & Whitby)
Aurelius Victor- 'De Caesaribus' (Translated by H.W. Bird)
Claudian (Various translations available, also online for free)
Eutropius (Various translations available, also online for free)
Eunapius, Olympiodorus, Priscus and Malchus in 'The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire' (Translated by R. C. Blockley)
Festus- Brevarium (online for free)
Jordanes – ‘The Origin and Deeds of the Goths’ (Translated by Charles C. Mierow (1908)
Julian- ‘The Works of Julian the Emperor’ (Various translations, some of which can be found online for free)
Libanius- ‘Oratations’ ‘Letters’ etc (Various translations are available, some of which are online for free)
Paulus Orosius- ‘The Seven Books of History Against the Pagans’ (Translated by Roy J.Deferrai)
Sozomon (Various translations available, also online for free)
Themistius Select Oratations etc (Various translations are available)
Various- 'In Praise of Later Roman Emperors: The Panegyrici Latini' by C.F.V Nixon and Barbara Saylor Rodgers.
Vegetius- ‘The military institutions of the Romans’ (Various translations, can be found online for free)
Zosimos ‘Historia Nova’ (Various translations, can be found online for free)

All of these translations are essential for those who want to read the history directly from those who were there to either witness it, or were living contemporary with the age they are describing.

Well there you have it, your be broke buying all that lot, but your have some of the best books on the Later Roman Empire to show for it!

Here are some articles that may be worth reading:

i am not as familiar with the earlier half of your time frame for books, but i know goldsworthy has others, plus you could always read the primary sources.

In terms of fiction i recommend the master of rome series by coleen McCullough http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Rome
the emperor series by Conn Iggulden
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conn_Iggulden
and the "eagle series" by simon scarrow while i have not read any of these do look promising and i plan to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Scarrow

[tone]

"Rubicon" by Tom Holland is narrative history at its best - "Persian Fire" too.

Simon Scarrow is a lot of fun.

[redhammer]

"Rubicon" by Tom Holland is narrative history at its best - "Persian Fire" too.

Simon Scarrow is a lot of fun.

I wholeheartedly agree with these claims. Rubicon is brilliant

[Alkimachos]

"The last legion" from Valerio Massimo Manfredi.

Read it, it's soo nice!!!

[ithinkitsdead]

"The Poison King" -Adrienne Mayor
This book is a great read, and has a ton of info on Mithridates.

[Velico]

Thanks for the replies! Good relay post Sith, +rep. Keep them coming

[Rex Basiliscus]

Imperator series (about Julius Caesar) by Conn Igulden and Empire of Dragons (Roman soldiers escort a Chinese prince to China) by Valerio Massimo Manfredi come to mind... Both are great novels.

[Caligula Caesar]

"Soldiers and Ghosts" by J.E. Lendon is a good read, and he makes a lot of good points not often made, because he looks at the ancient armies from a different angle. to other authors.

[Asura]

If you like Adrian Goldsworthy, his In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire is both very well written and interesting. Another of his book I´m into for the moment, is The Punic Wars, which is relevant to something we all are waiting for...

[Siegfriedfr]

I'm looking for more books on the period from the death of Alexander the Great to the fall of Rome (and into medieval history). So far I've read "The Imperial Roman Army" by Yann Le Bohec, "The Fall of Carthage" by Adrian Goldsworthy, "Peloponnesian War" by Thucydides, "Plutarch Lives Demetrius and Antony, Pyrrhus and Gaius Marius" by Plutarch, "Byzantium: The Early Years" by John Julius Norwich, and "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbons.

I'd like to do some reading on the Persian Empire, the rise of nation-states, Ptolemaic Empire/Dynasty, Seleucid Empire/Dynasty, Parthian Empire/Dynasty (Mithridates), Scythian Empire/Dynasty... That's all I can think of for now.

Anyone who has read something they've really enjoyed of these area's please let me know the book and why you liked it. Thanks!

(Also, I can edit this post if the mod's feel it worthy to open a book discussion thread that is stickied for the time period. I know there's another thread in the Discussion > Arts forum but it's a hodgepodge of fiction and non-fiction that I didn't want to weed through.)

One author that really suck me into his books his Carl Grimberg and is Universal History; the man has a knack for Historytelling while still pumping in numerous philosophical, military and economic analysis of the periods he studies. You're reading history books, but it almost feels like a novel (well maybe Rome material is so full of drama and colorful character that might be why )

His first 3 books are high antiquity, Greece, and Rome from rise to fall, and i couldn't stop reading until it was over.

Look it up on amazon for the references.

[Velico]

Look it up on amazon for the references.

Thanks, I will do so. Sounds like an interesting read.

"Soldiers and Ghosts" by J.E. Lendon

Sounds good. I like lots of perspectives when it comes to history

[Velico]

I picked up Rubicon since I've only read a few narrative histories and it's quite engaging! Holland has a much higher vocabulary than myself so I've been looking up words (and narrating it in a bit of a snooty way ) but it's very memorable so far. I'm only in five chapters but I like it for the most part. It took a little getting used to his style of writing, but once I did it started flying. Kudos Tone.

[Titvs]

I'm amazed no one has brought "De Belli Gallico" or "Comentarii De Belli Gallico" (About Wars of Gauls, comentaries on the gallic wars). Written by J.Caesar in I B.C (40-50 ,as Wikipedia notes, B.C.), tells about the Gallic campaingns in that time, tactics employed by both military systems, politics between Romans and Gauls and so forth. It's a very partial book (you must believe Caesar's account of the events). Some historians (and me, but I'm no historian ) believe that Caesar used this book in order to show himself as a master tactician, demeaning Gauls and other Celts, thus "creating" his own myth. No doubt about it: He was a master strategist and tactician, it's just that not everything in De Belli Gallico is "as it's read". Nevertheless is one of the few written pieces including Gauls or celts and their descriptions.

Greetings from Madrid, Spain: Titvs Atreides.

P.s: Please excuse my poor english

[5th Lieutenant]

Does anyone have a similar suggested list for the middle empire; AD 69 to AD 180? There seems to be lots about the Julio-Claudians and histories of the 3rd Century onwards but apart from Imperial biographies I have not found an equivalent of Rubicon for the Vespasian to Commodus period.

Personally I hated Igulen's books which were Hollywood soap operas which just happened to use Roman names. Not even an attempt to keep things hsitroical. Scarrow's work is fun but very light

[Titvs]

Try "De Vita Caesarum" (On the life of Caesars), known as The Twelve Caesars, by Suetonius. A classic, truthfully one of the best "moral" works, from the greatness to the rock bottom.

Greetings from Madrid, Spain: Titvs Atreides.

[5th Lieutenant]

Thanks Titvs. I read Suetonius a while back (in English ) bit was hoping that a good general history might exist of the Empire and leading figures, the Army and campaigns and so forth.

There are some works on Trajan I might look at

[youdig66]

I would also recommend 'The Republican Roman Army - A Sourcebook' by Michael M. Sage (a very good sourcebook spanning from the earliest armies [753] to the days of Marc Anthony). There is also a book called 'Legionary - The Roman Soldier's Unofficial Manual' by Philip Matyszak (a very humoristic but good book 'starring' the Roman army in ca. AD 115).

[Darkside]

Yet another good fiction read is entitled "Roma Eterna" which supposes that the empire did not fall and continued to exist until the republic's rebirth in the 1800s. It's fun to hear of Trajan XI's circumnavigation of the globe, and of the Emperor Saturninus's folly in the 1100s as he hears the rumors given to him by a Northern Ambassador of a new world to the west, bankrupts the coffers and depletes the armies of the west by launching a foolish invasion of the Amazon, thereby allowing Constantinople to rule a united empire for a while. And at the end, there's a rocket launch!!!

PS - A roman delegate/merhcant assassinates Muhammed in the 7th century. Though this opinion is certainly relative and ultimately self-serving, good riddance.