European history: the Romans Books

Book SynopsisTrade Review"An original and remarkably complete portrait ... give[s] a marvellous picture of the evolution, complexity, and decline of the ancient city."--James E. Packer, Journal of Roman Archaeology "Magnificent ... an impressive monument of historical outreach."--T. P. Wiseman, Journal of Roman Studies

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Book SynopsisThis book presents the results of the first systematic archaeological study of Roman peasants. It examines the spaces, architecture, diet, agriculture, market interactions, and movement habitus of non-elite rural dwellers in a region of southern Tuscany, Italy, during the Roman period. Volume 1 presents the excavation data from eight non-elite rural sites including a farm, a peasant house, animal stall/work huts, a ceramics factory, field drains, and a site of uncertain function, here framed as individual chapters complete with finds analysis. Volume 2 examines this data synthetically in thematic chapters addressing land use, agriculture, diet, markets, and movement. The results suggest a different, more sophisticated Roman peasant than heretofore assumed. The data suggests that Roman peasants particularly in the first century BC/AD built specialized sites distributed throughout the landscape to maximize use of diverse land parcels. This has important implications for the interpretation of field survey data, the estimate of rural demographics from that survey, and assumptions about the long-term changes to human settlement. It also points to an important moment of agricultural intensification in this period, a contention beginning to be supported by other studies. The project also identified sophisticated systems of land use, including crop rotation and an important investment in animal agriculture. This work presents the first systematic data from Roman Italy for rural consumption, tracking the fine wares made at a production site to local sites nearby. This supports the largely theoretical problematizing of the so-called consumer city model and suggests the potential importance of rural aggregate demand. Movement studies, based on finds from the sites themselves, describe a more mobile population than anticipated, engaged in quotidian and long-distance movement patterns, supported by the small but steady stream of imports and exports into and out of this seemingly liminal region. The book concludes by addressing the implications of this new data for major questions in Roman social and economic history.Trade Review"This volume is the rich and complex publication of an even richer and more complex project...The Roman Peasant Project shows just how far archaeological evidence can be pushed, especially in collaboration with archaeological scientists, and how much farther it goes when all the separate strands of evidence are combined, and considered together, rather than occupying catalogues at the end of a volume. The work is a milestone in the history of Roman agriculture in Italy." * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *

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Book SynopsisBy one of the foremost historians and translators in the field of Classics, Peter Green—an authoritative, modern translation of a long-neglected historian whose work covers the most vital century in ancient Greek history.Table of Contents Preface Abbreviations Introduction Diodorus Siculus: The Bibliothêkê Book 11: 480-451 BCE Book 12: 450-415 BCE Book 13: 415-405 BCE Book 14.1-34: 404-401 BCE Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn this pioneering study, Ralph W. Mathisen examines the "fall" in one part of the western Empire, Gaul, to better understand the shift from Roman to Germanic power that occurred in the region during the fifth century A.D.Trade ReviewI can warmly recommend Mathisen's latest book to all students of the western provinces in Late Antiquity. It is a well-planned, well-presented, lucid and illuminating work that confidently gathers together ideas that Mathisen and other scholars . . . have been floating for the last few years, and takes them to a very satisfying conclusion. In brief, Mathisen provides an excellent summary of recent research in his field . . . enlivened by his own interpretation of a number of important issues. * International Journal of the Classical Tradition *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction. The Barbarians in Gaul: In Search of an Identity Part One. Setting the Stage: Romans and Barbarians in Conflict Chapter One. The Aristocratic Background of Late Roman Gaul Chapter Two. Gaul, Italy, and Isolationism in the Fifth Century Chapter Three. The Barbarian Settlement: Impressions of Harassment, Interference, and Oppression Part Two. Immediate Responses: The Disruption of Old Institutions Chapter Four. The Intellectual Response: Conflicting Perceptions of the Barbarians Chapter Five. Gallic Traditionalists and the Continued Pursuit of the Roman Ideal Chapter Six. Flight and Dislocation, Emigrants and Exiles Chapter Seven. Between Romania and Barbaria: The Barbarian Alternative Chapter Eight. Conflicting Loyalties: Collaborators, Traitors, and the Betrayal of Territory Part Three. Coming to Terms with the Barbarians: The Restructuring of the Gallo-Roman Aristocracy Chapter Nine. The Acquisition of Church Office and the Rise of an Ecclesiastical Aristocracy Chapter Ten. The Pursuit of Literary Studies: A Unifying Element Chapter Eleven. Coming to Terms with the Barbarians Chapter Twelve. The Final Resolution: Aristocratic Options in Post-Roman Gaul Epilogue Appendix A. Roman Emperors Appendix B. Barbarian Rulers Glossary Abbreviations Notes Primary Bibliography Secondary Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe most famous and influential collection of legal materials in world history, now available in a four-volume English-language paperback edition.Trade Review"Definitive." * The Retainer *"A landmark." * Religious Studies Review *"Superb." * Texas Bar Journal *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Bjornlie’s translation is fluid and excellent. . . .this is a much-needed and masterfully crafted addition to the historical corpus, of interest to historians, Byzantinists, and scholars of the ancient world interested in the Ostrogothic Court, Justinian’s conquest of Ravenna, and the early Byzantine world." * Reading Religion *Table of ContentsIntroduction Italy in the Sixth Century Cassiodorus as Statesman and Author The Variae as an Epistolary Collection Nachleben The Variae in Translation Chronology of Key Events Indictional Years Relative to Cassiodorus’s Tenure in Public Offices Maps THE VARIAE Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4 Book 5 Book 6 Book 7 Book 8 Book 9 Book 10 Book 11 Book 12 Bibliography of Related Reading Index of Individuals Index of Concepts, Peoples, and Terms Index of Places

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Book Synopsis"Terrific . . . exactly the sort of collection we have long needed: one offering a wide range of texts, both literary and documentary, and that--with the inclusion of Sulpicia and Perpetua--allows students to hear the voices of actual women from the ancient world. The translations themselves are fluid; the inclusion of long extracts allows students to sink their teeth into material in ways not possible with traditional source books. The anonymous texts, inscriptions, and other non-literary material topically arranged in the 'Documentary' section will enable students to see how the documentary evidence supplements or undermines the views advanced in the literary texts. This is a book that should be of great use to anyone teaching a survey of the history of Ancient Rome or a Roman Civilization course. I look forward to teaching with this book which is, I think, the best source book I have seen for the way we teach these days." --David Potter, University of MichiganTrade Review"A useful cross-section of the literary and documentary evidence for ancient Roman history and society. An important new tool for teachers and students." --G. J. Oliver, Department of Classics, Brown UniversityEager to be immersed in the richness, diversity, and raw energy of how ancient Romans lived and thought? This most readable anthology is a revealing, seductive page-turner, hard to put down once opened. --Richard J. Talbert, The University of North Carolina at Chapel HillAn Impressive and well-chosen selection of key sources for the study of ancient Rome, rendered into lively and engaging English. Together they offer a panorama of republican and imperial life and letters. Highly recommended. --Nathan Rosenstein, The Ohio State University

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Book SynopsisA timely and definitive exploration of the art and culture of the ancient civilizations situated between Rome and the Middle East that presents a new way of understanding the region’s influential heritage This publication examines the art and architecture of regions that served as major trade routes between the Roman and Parthian Empires from 100 B.C. to A.D. 250. The book examines the cultural histories of cities including Petra, Baalbek, Palmyra, Dura-Europos, and Hatra together for the first time, capturing the intricate web of influence that emerged in the Ancient Middle East through the exchange of goods and ideas across the region. Works illustrated and discussed include statues, coins, reliefs, architectural elements and friezes, painted tiles and wall fragments, jewelry, textiles, and more. The World Between Empires is the definitive book on this subject, contextualizing the significance of these works on a local and global scale, including a thoughtful discussion of recent cultural heritage destruction and preservation efforts in the region, particularly in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, and the role of museums.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (03/11/19–06/23/19)

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Book SynopsisThe Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum, the model for the Getty Villa in Malibu, is one of the world's earliest systematically investigated archaeological sites. Buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, the Villa dei Papiri was discovered in 1750 and excavated under the auspices of the Neapolitan court. Never fully unearthed, the site yielded spectacular coloured marble floors and mosaics, frescoed walls, the largest known ancient collection of bronze and marble statuary, intricately carved ivories and antiquity's only surviving library, with over a thousand charred papyrus scrolls. For more than two and a half centuries, the Villa dei Papiri and its contents have served as a wellspring of knowledge for archaeological science, art history, classics, papyrology and philosophy. 'After Vesuvius: Treasures from the Villa dei Papiri' offers a sweeping yet in-depth view of all aspects of the site. Presenting the latest research, the essays in this authoritative and richly illustrated volume reveal the story of the Villa de Papiri's ancient inhabitants and modern explorers, providing readers with a multidimensional understanding of this fascinating site.

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Book SynopsisHow Romans used the world of the house to interpret and interrogate the role of the emperor. The Julio-Claudian dynasty, beginning with the rise of Augustus in the late first century BCE and ending with the death of Nero in 68 CE, was the first ruling family of the Roman Empire. Elite Romans had always used domestic space to assert and promote their authority, but what was different about the emperor's house? In The Ruler's House, Harriet Fertik considers how the emperor's household and the space he called home shaped Roman conceptions of power and one-man rule. While previous studies of power and privacy in Julio-Claudian Rome have emphasized the emperor's intrusions into the private lives of his fellow elites, this book focuses on Roman ideas of the ruler's lack of privacy. Fertik argues that houses were spaces that Romans used to contest power and to confront the contingency of their own and others' claims to rule. Describing how the Julio-Claudian period provoked anxieties not onTrade ReviewFertik's study offers many such insights....[Her] writing is always clear, her literary analyses are always convincing....This book makes an important contribution to our understanding of Julio-Claudian Rome.—GnomonTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 Playing House: New Families and New Rulers in Lucan's Bellum Civile Chapter 2 Contest and Control in the Emperor's House Chapter 3 Where to See the Emperor: Augustus and Nero in Rome Chapter 4 Exposing the Ruler: Seneca on Visibility and Complicity Chapter 5 Interdependence and Intimacy: Power at Home in Roman Pompeii Chapter 6 Bathing, Dining, and Digesting with the Ruler ConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisIn 2016, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, some forty scholars from around the world attended the People of the Ancient World conference. This was organized within the framework of the Romans 1 by 1 project, and its main focus was on improving knowledge on ancient populations, employing a variety of methodologies, tools and research techniques. The presentations provided the editors with ten papers to be further developed and reunited under these covers. They encompass diverse approaches to Roman provincial populations and the corresponding case-studies highlight the multi-faceted character of Roman society. The volume takes four main directions: prosopography (from Italy to Spain); ancient professions and professionals (merchants in Noricum, Lower Moesia, general nomenclature and encoding of professions, associations and family life); onomastics and origins, and finally, the military (iconography of funerary monunments and centurions’ social life). The publication is intended, on one hand, to enhance knowledge of the diversity of Roman social standings, of the exhibited social markers and – perhaps most important – stress the variety of forms which express status and place within the community, and on the other, to reiterate a series of fresh, modern views on these matters, resulting from a gathering of mostly junior researchers.Table of ContentsForeword; The Barbii, trade in Noricum and the influence of the local epigraphic habit on status display – by Markus Zimmermann; The professionals of the Latin West – by Rada Varga; Latin Occupational Titles in Roman Textile Trade – by Iulia Dumitrache; The professions of private slaves and freedmen in Moesia Inferior – by Lucrețiu Mihăilescu-Bîrliba; Prosopography of the Leading Families of Larinum in the Roman period – by Elizabeth C. Robinson; The kindred dimension of the Black Sea associations: between fictive and real meaning – by Pázsint Annamária – Izabella; Tarraco. Town and society in a 2nd century AD Roman provincial capital – by Diana Gorostidi, Ricardo Mar and Joaquín Ruiz de Arbulo; Soldiers and their monuments for posterity. Manifestations of martial identity in the funerary iconography of Roman Dacia – by Monica Gui, Dávid Petruț; Origo as identity factor in Roman epitaphs – by Tibor Grüll; Centurions: Military or Social Elite? – by George Cupcea

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Book SynopsisA visual historical tour through all the great tourist locations of Rome, with vintage images paired with their modern-day equivalent in this compelling bilingual edition. Rome is ‘the eternal city’ and was a stopping-off place on the Grand Tour long before the days of photography. Despite the preservation of so many classic ruins across the city, there has been significant change. Over hundreds of years of flooding, the river Tiber deposited silt across the Forum and low-lying sites. Many archive images show a completely different ground level to the 21st century view, after excavation revealed their true height. When Mussoilini came to the power in 1922 he set about creating wider avenues and removing some of the older buildings, as can been from the changes to via della Conciliazione. Rome Then and Now visits all the major tourist locations in the city and shows pictures of how they once were, sometimes unfenced with goats grazing amongst the ruins! Sites include: St Peter's Square, Colosseum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, the Forum, Trajan's Column, Trevi Fountain, Arch of Titus, Arch of Conatantine, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Navona, Quirinal Palace, Vittoriano, Tarpeian Hill, Palatine Hill, Circus Maximus.

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Book SynopsisThis is a book worthy of high praise. . . . All versions are exceedingly witty and versatile, in verse that ripples from one's lips, pulling all the punches of Plautus, the knockabout king of farce, and proving that the more polished Terence can be just as funny. Accuracy to the original has been thoroughly respected, but look at the humour in rendering Diphilius' play called Synapothnescontes as Three's a Shroud. . . . Students in schools and colleges will benefit from short introductions to each play, to Roman stage conventions, to different types of Greek and Roman comedy, and there is a note on staging, with a diagram illustrating a typical Roman stage and further diagrams of the basic set for each play. The translators have paid more attention to stage directions than is usually given in translations, because they aim to show how these plays worked. This is a book to be used and enjoyed. --Raymond J. Clark, The Classical OutlookTrade ReviewThese five new translations . . . take to its logical, lively conclusion the long-held but oft-ignored reality that Plautus and Terence were writers for the stage. These versions have verve: playability, liveliness, accessibility, unlike anything on library shelves today. Of modern-day attempts at Plautus-inspired music, for example, only Stephen Sondheim has excelled the inspired zaniness of Douglass Parker’s lyrics. There is much virtue to be measured here. . . . After reading these plays we might spend considerable thought on the possibility that conservative translations in the style of Barsby are less authentic--if such a thing can be measured--than those of Berg and Parker. . . . This is a deceptively important book, meriting a wide, attentive readership. . . . [Berg and Parker's] theater-friendly versions offer a vision of the future of Roman comedy, both scholarly and popular. The profession will be well repaid to take an appreciative look. --David Frauenfelder, North Carolina State UniversityDeena Berg and Douglass Parker’s Plautus & Terence: Five Comedies is a fascinating postmodernist rendition of some of the most postmodernist--metatheatrical, self-referential, sophisticated, stylized--literature classical antiquity has to offer. The sparkling and eminently performable translations are a hard act to precede, but the translator’s delightful introductions are a worthy match for their subjects. . . . Highly recommended. --John Wright, Northwestern UniversityThis splendid sampling of Roman comedy is particularly welcome because Parker and Berg have combined the best known (and perhaps finest) comedies of Plautus and Terence (The Brothers Menaechmus, here 'Double Bind,' and Miles Gloriosus, here 'Major Blowhard,' and Adelphoe, 'The Brothers') with two rarer and rather special comedies: 'The Wild Wild Women,' Plautus' exuberant Bacchides, and 'The Mother-in-Law' (Hecyra), perhaps Terence's most modern comedy, important as evidence from ancient comedy for the evolution of the sentimental or psychological drama of everyday life. The translators are to be congratulated on their choices and their truly up-to-date versions; Parker is a veteran whose punning wit and swashbuckling idiom in his very actable Plautus scripts contrast nicely with the simple elegance of Berg's Terence." —Elaine Fantham, Princeton UniversityTable of ContentsPart I: The Late Classics / Post-classic in Oaxaca - An Introduction; Part II: Chronology, Continuity and Disjunction - Etic and Emic Perspectives; Part III: Continuity and Abandonment of Houses in the Valley of Oaxaca - Lambityeco and Macuilxochitl; Part IV: Changing Power Relations and Interaction in the Lower Rio Verde Valley; Part V: Sacred History and Legitimisation in the Mixteca Alta; Part VI: New Research Frontiers in Oaxaca and Eastern Guerreo; Index.

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Book SynopsisRendered in an idiom drawn from present-day nature guides, gardening handbooks, how-to manuals, and scientific treatises--and in a style influenced by twentieth-century poetry--this bold new translation seeks to renew our appreciation of a work often relegated to the pigeonhole of didactic poetry about farming. In doing so, it reveals the Georgics as a remarkable window on Roman conceptions of the natural world and of the place of human life within it--and also conveys a sense of how daring were Virgil''s poetics in their day. Footnotes offer a wealth of information on mythology, agriculture, wildlife, geography, and astronomy while highlighting the technical, scientific, ethnographic, and other registers of the poem.Trade ReviewChew's translation is, both in aesthetic and scholarly terms, an excellent piece of work. I find her approach refreshing and true to the spirit of the Georgics; her adventurousness strikes me as just the thing to rescue the poem from the appearance of blandness that a more straightforward style of translationese would inevitably, but misleadingly, impose upon it. This Georgics does not read much like any previous version of it. Chew helps the English reader to get a sense of Virgil's avant-garde poetics, which is the main thing that almost all translators of the Georgics work to eliminate, if indeed they are even aware of it. First-rate. --Joseph Farrell, Professor of Classical Studies, University of PennsylvaniaThis is a translation with a difference, intended for readers without Latin. The most striking feature is the use of variations of type and layout. . . . Invocations are set out like memorial inscriptions; tasks or points to look for in animals come in the form of numbered or bulleted lists, assembling a plough reads like an instruction manual. Similes appear in italics, but so do the key words in some descriptive passages. The positioning of the text is used to illustrate the meaning of a quincunx, terracing, or the flight of a swarm of bees. These innovations serve to distinguish between what might be termed the poetry and the practical. Explanations are sometimes incorporated into the translation, which is in free verse, but mostly these are in the generous footnotes. . . . Chew has done considerable research into ancient and modern methods of husbandry and the notes concentrate on agriculture, astronomy, and botany. . . . Some [renderings] are particularly apt: 'the cicadas' complaining plainsong bursts the strawberry trees' for 'cantu querulae rumpent arbusta cicadae;' `'the murmur of the groves grows and grows' for 'et nemorum increbescere murmur.' . . . Chew should certainly achieve her aim of bringing the work to a wider readership. As she claims in her Introduction, 'Plain and simple, it is an American Georgics.' _—Anne Haward, The Joint Association of Classical Teachers ReviewMy graduate seminar members and I enjoyed Dr. Chew's rendering of the Georgics immensely. We were delighted and instructed by her playful blend of argots and typefaces, and by her artful blend of information in the notes. This translation opened the poem for me all over again—and it has long been among my favorites. Chew's translation offers a dazzling survey of musical styles in the poem. The fifteen of us send our thanks for her provocative and delightful achievement. -—Thomas A. Goodmann, University of Miami"A translation that is worthy of considerably more critical attention than it has received, not just because it contributes to what is now the well-documented and important phenomenon of classical literature being translated by women, but because it is a suggestive, challenging, vivid text, capable of creating Vergil anew for a new and wide range of demographics."—Fiona Cox, University of Exeter, in Classical Receptions Journal

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Book SynopsisRendered in an idiom drawn from present-day nature guides, gardening handbooks, how-to manuals, and scientific treatises--and in a style influenced by twentieth-century poetry--this bold new translation seeks to renew our appreciation of a work often relegated to the pigeonhole of didactic poetry about farming. In doing so, it reveals the Georgics as a remarkable window on Roman conceptions of the natural world and of the place of human life within it--and also conveys a sense of how daring were Virgil''s poetics in their day. Footnotes offer a wealth of information on mythology, agriculture, wildlife, geography, and astronomy while highlighting the technical, scientific, ethnographic, and other registers of the poem.Trade ReviewChew's translation is, both in aesthetic and scholarly terms, an excellent piece of work. I find her approach refreshing and true to the spirit of the Georgics; her adventurousness strikes me as just the thing to rescue the poem from the appearance of blandness that a more straightforward style of translationese would inevitably, but misleadingly, impose upon it. This Georgics does not read much like any previous version of it. Chew helps the English reader to get a sense of Virgil's avant-garde poetics, which is the main thing that almost all translators of the Georgics work to eliminate, if indeed they are even aware of it. First-rate. --Joseph Farrell, Professor of Classical Studies, University of PennsylvaniaThis is a translation with a difference, intended for readers without Latin. The most striking feature is the use of variations of type and layout. . . . Invocations are set out like memorial inscriptions; tasks or points to look for in animals come in the form of numbered or bulleted lists, assembling a plough reads like an instruction manual. Similes appear in italics, but so do the key words in some descriptive passages. The positioning of the text is used to illustrate the meaning of a quincunx, terracing, or the flight of a swarm of bees. These innovations serve to distinguish between what might be termed the poetry and the practical. Explanations are sometimes incorporated into the translation, which is in free verse, but mostly these are in the generous footnotes. . . . Chew has done considerable research into ancient and modern methods of husbandry and the notes concentrate on agriculture, astronomy, and botany. . . . Some [renderings] are particularly apt: 'the cicadas' complaining plainsong bursts the strawberry trees' for 'cantu querulae rumpent arbusta cicadae;' `'the murmur of the groves grows and grows' for 'et nemorum increbescere murmur.' . . . Chew should certainly achieve her aim of bringing the work to a wider readership. As she claims in her Introduction, 'Plain and simple, it is an American Georgics.' _—Anne Haward, The Joint Association of Classical Teachers ReviewMy graduate seminar members and I enjoyed Dr. Chew's rendering of the Georgics immensely. We were delighted and instructed by her playful blend of argots and typefaces, and by her artful blend of information in the notes. This translation opened the poem for me all over again—and it has long been among my favorites. Chew's translation offers a dazzling survey of musical styles in the poem. The fifteen of us send our thanks for her provocative and delightful achievement. -—Thomas A. Goodmann, University of Miami

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Book Synopsis Long a master of the crafts of Homeric translation and of rhapsodic performance, Stanley Lombardo now turns to the quintessential epic of Roman antiquity, a work with deep roots in the Homeric tradition. With characteristic virtuosity, he delivers a rendering of the Aeneid as compelling as his groundbreaking translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey, yet one that--like the Aeneid itself--conveys a unique epic sensibility and a haunting artistry all its own. W. R. Johnson''s Introduction makes an ideal companion to the translation, offering brilliant insight into the legend of Aeneas; the contrasting roles of the gods, fate, and fortune in Homeric versus Virgilian epic; the character of Aeneas as both wanderer and warrior; Aeneas'' relationship to both his enemy Turnus and his lover Dido; the theme of doomed youths in the epic; and Virgil''s relationship to the brutal history of Rome that he memorializes in his poem. A map, a Glossary of NTrade Review Adapting words of the ancient critic Longinus, [Lombardo] refers to the intense light of noon of the Iliad, the magical glow of the setting sun in the Odyssey, and the chiaroscuro of the Aeneid, a darkness visible. This latter phrase is the title of a famous interpretation of the Aeneid by W. R. Johnson, who contributes a splendid essay to the translation. Whether recited or read, the present volume stands as another fine performance on Lombardo's part. Summing up: Highly recommended. --C. Fantazzi, CHOICE Lombardo . . . tends to let Virgil be Virgil, and so avoids imposing unwarranted interpretation on the unwary reader. . . . [W.R. Johnson's] introduction is masterful and illuminating. --Hayden Pelliccia, The New York Review of Books Crisp, idiomatic, and precise, this is a translation for our era. The list of further reading, grounded in the writings of W.R. Johnson (who also wrote the Introduction) and Michael C. J. Putnam, suggests the context that informs the translation: here, as the translator says in the Preface, you will find an Aeneid that works more in the shadows than in the light. . . . This translation would be excellent for classroom use: not only would it incite fascinating discussions about issues of war and empire, but it also reads well aloud. . . . Together with Johnson's Introduction, this volume offers the Aeneid in terms that will resonate strongly with the general reader of today. --Sarah Spence, New England Classical Journal

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Book SynopsisPresents an abridgment of Stanley Lombardo's translation of Virgil's "Aeneid", suitable for use in such courses as those surveys of Roman history or classical mythology in which time may not permit a reading of the epic in its entirety. This book highlights the place of the "Aeneid" in Roman mythology, history, and literature.Trade Review"In 2005, Lombardo published his full Aeneid, and in doing so offered an elegant modern verse translation of Virgil. This has now been abridged, but nevertheless the essence of the original is maintained. . . . Lombardo gives us a realistic Aeneas, whose frail humanity and thoughtful heroism are manifested subtly, in unpretentious, yet dignified language. . . . This would prove a worthy (and cheap!) addition to a bookshelf lacking the full translation by Lombardo. He manages to give a real sense of Virgil through a style that is elegant and solemn, yet never overbearing." --Philip Harrison, The Journal of Classics Teaching"This attractive volume, an abridgment of Stanley Lombardo's complete translation of Virgil's Aeneid (Hackett, 2005), adds a Latin epic to the author's burgeoning set of translations of mainly Greek poetry. Lombardo has proved himself a poet-translator and performer of exceptional ability and innovation; by publishing in written and audio media, he has contributed to the awareness in the readership of translations the centrality of performance to Homeric epic. The recently published Aeneid represented his first foray into Latin epic, and he has translated Virgil with the same combination of austerity and accessibility that marked his Homers. . . . The translation is excellent, on the whole, and perfectly captures the pace and character of the original." --Joanne McNamara, Bryn Mawr Classical Review"Stanley Lombardo shows in the strength of his verse the talent that marks him as the most Greek and Roman of the modern translators of ancient epic." --Douglas Domingo-Forasté, Professor of Classics, California State University, Long Beach

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Book SynopsisStanley Lombardo''s deft abridgment of his 2005 translation of the Aeneid preserves the arc and weight of Virgil''s epic by presenting major books in their entirety and abridged books in extended passages seamlessly fitted together with narrative bridges. W. R. Johnson''s Introduction, a shortened version of his masterly Introduction to that translation, will be welcomed by both beginning and seasoned students of the Aeneid, and by students of Roman history, classical mythology, and Western civilization.Trade Review"In 2005, Lombardo published his full Aeneid, and in doing so offered an elegant modern verse translation of Virgil. This has now been abridged, but nevertheless the essence of the original is maintained. . . . Lombardo gives us a realistic Aeneas, whose frail humanity and thoughtful heroism are manifested subtly, in unpretentious, yet dignified language. . . . This would prove a worthy (and cheap!) addition to a bookshelf lacking the full translation by Lombardo. He manages to give a real sense of Virgil through a style that is elegant and solemn, yet never overbearing." --Philip Harrison, The Journal of Classics Teaching"This attractive volume, an abridgment of Stanley Lombardo's complete translation of Virgil's Aeneid (Hackett, 2005), adds a Latin epic to the author's burgeoning set of translations of mainly Greek poetry. Lombardo has proved himself a poet-translator and performer of exceptional ability and innovation; by publishing in written and audio media, he has contributed to the awareness in the readership of translations the centrality of performance to Homeric epic. The recently published Aeneid represented his first foray into Latin epic, and he has translated Virgil with the same combination of austerity and accessibility that marked his Homers. . . . The translation is excellent, on the whole, and perfectly captures the pace and character of the original." --Joanne McNamara, Bryn Mawr Classical Review"Stanley Lombardo shows in the strength of his verse the talent that marks him as the most Greek and Roman of the modern translators of ancient epic." --Douglas Domingo-Forasté, Professor of Classics, California State University, Long Beach

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Book Synopsis Relihan uses alliteration and assonance, rhythm and rhyme, the occasional archaism, the rare neologism, and devices of punctuation and typography, to create a sparkling, luxurious, and readable translation that reproduces something of the linguistic and comic effects of the original Latin. The general Introduction is a masterpiece of clarity, orienting the reader in matters of authorship, narration, genre, religion, structure and style. A generous and browsable index, select bibliography, and maps are included. Trade ReviewRelihan is an American Euphues. I like everything about this edition from the title page to the index. The translation is magnificent. --Stanley Lombardo, Department of Classics, University of KansasThis is easily the best English translation of The Golden Ass. I find that undergraduates with little or no knowledge of classical literature or the Greco-Roman world can readily read and enjoy it--as accessible as Graves or Ruden, but much more true to Apuleius's text and sensibility. Relihan's introduction is a great distillation of scholarly commentary--superb in all aspects. --Robin Walz, University of Alaska SoutheastI've been teaching Apuleius' The Golden Ass off and on for thirty years, first at Dartmouth College and now at Carleton College. Our problem--that shared by all of us who treasure this great romance or novel from late antiquity--has always been translations of The Golden Ass. There's nothing terribly wrong with previous translations; but none captures the wit and candor of Apuleius until now. This term, I used the new translation by Joel Relihan in a Carleton course and the results were beyond my very lofty expectations: students, for the first time, had something close to direct access to Apuleius' prose and they responded with an enthusiasm I've never encountered before. Relihan has given Apuleius a voice in English as never before, and my students and I laughed out loud, often, in reading passages aloud, and we felt the power of Apuleius' wit and open vulgarity. Relihan's translation will be one that many of us will use again and again in the years and decades ahead. -—Robert A. Oden, Jr., Professor of Religion, President of Carleton CollegeTable of ContentsIntroduction; A Traveller's Tale; Hospitality in Hypata; The Festival of Laughter; A Den of Thieves; Psyche Lost; Psyche Regained; Charite Regained; Charite Lost; Miller's' Tales; Wicked, Wicked Women; Queen Isis; Index.

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Book SynopsisIn writing the series of historical narratives to which the present work pertains, it has been the object of the author to furnish to the reading community of this country an accurate and faithful account of the lives and actions of the several personages that are made successively the subjects of the volumes, following precisely the story which has come down to us from ancient times. The writer has spared no pains to gain access in all cases to the original sources of information, and has confined himself strictly to them.

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Book SynopsisRoman Sports and Spectacles: A Sourcebook contains numerous translations from the Latin, including famous authors, such as Cicero, Seneca, Tertullian and Augustine, and the not so famous, including graffiti, advertisements and tombstones to paint a world view of what sports Romans played and what they thought of them. The world of Roman sports was similar in many ways to our own, but there were significant differences. For one thing Roman sports centered during religious festivals and the participants were most often slaves. Roman sports were not team sports, but individual competitions. And sports like chariot racing and gladiatorial competitions were very dangerous. Each document includes an introduction to the source material.

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Book SynopsisDonna Hurley has done a sterling job in providing us with both an Introduction to Suetonius and a translation of The Caesars that we can confidently recommend to students. Her Introduction summarizes a complex topic succinctly and is informative without being overwhelming, set at an ideal level for the student and intelligent enthusiast. Her translation is accurate and contemporary. Her primary goal is faithfulness to the original, which she achieves, but at the same time she recognizes the need to make her text clear, entertaining, and comprehensible to the modern reader, and she strikes exactly the right balance. --Anthony Barrett, Emeritus, University of British ColumbiaTrade ReviewHurley, who has written extensively and with authority on Suetonius, knows her author and his text thoroughly, and her Introduction to them is a model of presentation. Annotation (footnotes, not endnotes) is concise and to the point; essential background is gracefully sketched in a preliminary section on Roman institutions; maps and plans are clear and full. This thoughtful concern for the reader's needs justifies confidence in the translation itself: for its combination of accuracy, clarity, and readability, it is the best. --Edward Champlin, Princeton UniversityHurley's most readable English translation of Suetonius' Caesars is only the second to be attempted in over fifty years, and represents an outstanding achievement. Set clearly in context by her concise footnotes and full explanatory materials, it will fascinate readers eager to encounter the outsize personalities, heady pleasures, and sinister perils within that most alluring of lost worlds--the Roman imperial court. --Richard Talbert, University of North Carolina"This economical, well-produced edition is very welcome and should find an extensive audience. Hurley is known well for her previous editions of individual vitae Caesarum and this new translation is exactly what we expect: precise, idiomatic, and readable. The contextual introduction, chronology, bibliography, and glossary all but make this book a stand-alone text for the early Principate. The index, incidentally, is very helpful." --Paul B. Harvey, Pennsylvania State University

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Book SynopsisThis essential document for the study of Roman history traces the story of Rome from Romulus and the foundations of Rome to the reign of the Emperor Tiberius. It is especially valuable to historians and students for its vivid eyewitness account of the dramatic years that saw the Roman Empire emerge from the chaos left by the shattered Republic.Rendered with the non-specialist in mind, the translation—the first English language translation in nearly ninety years—seeks to remain faithful to the original while avoiding technical and obscure jargon.The volume includes a substantial introduction to Velleius' life and times, and to the literary context of his historical work, as well as generous and detailed notes on the text, a bibliography, map, glossary of unfamiliar terms, and an index.Trade ReviewNo study of the Augustan or Tiberian age can (or should) now begin without taking account of what Velleius tells us. --David Potter, University of MichiganTable of ContentsTranslated with an Introduction & Notes, by J C Yardley & Anthony A Barrett

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Book SynopsisThe Essential Metamorphoses, Stanley Lombardo's abridgment of his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, preserves the epic frame of the poem as a whole while offering the best-known tales in a rendering remarkable for its clarity, wit, and vigor. While making no pretense of offering an experience comparable to that of reading the whole of Ovid’s self-styled history from the world's first origins down to my own time, this practical and judicious selection of myths at the heart of Roman mythology and literature yet manages to relate many of the most fascinating episodes in that world-historical march toward the Age of Augustus--and is accompanied by an Introduction that deftly sets them in their cosmological, theological, and Augustan contexts.

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Book SynopsisThe Essential Metamorphoses, Stanley Lombardo's abridgment of his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, preserves the epic frame of the poem as a whole while offering the best-known tales in a rendering remarkable for its clarity, wit, and vigor. While making no pretense of offering an experience comparable to that of reading the whole of Ovid’s self-styled history from the world's first origins down to my own time, this practical and judicious selection of myths at the heart of Roman mythology and literature yet manages to relate many of the most fascinating episodes in that world-historical march toward the Age of Augustus--and is accompanied by an Introduction that deftly sets them in their cosmological, theological, and Augustan contexts.

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Book SynopsisBy offering fluent, accurate translations of extracts and fragments from a wide assortment of ancient texts, this volume allows a comprehensive overview of ancient Greek and Roman concepts of otherness, as well as Greek and Roman views of non-Greeks and non-Romans. A general introduction, thorough annotation, maps, a select bibliography, and an index are also included.Trade ReviewThis collection of translated excerpts from Greek and Latin authors, from the 8th c. BCE to the 3rd c. CE, brings together a wide range of texts, chosen from historians, epic poets, geographers, medical writers, satirists and others, marvelously illustrating the curiosity of Greeks and Romans about 'race' and 'ethnicity,' self and other. Since for ancient Greeks and Romans one essential element of identity and difference was customs, we learn a lot from these texts about sex and marriage, funerals, and warfare in the Mediterranean and surrounding lands. But the ancient authors also featured banalities such as clothing, horse bits, cooking, and even trash talking. The translations are fresh, accurate, and accessible. . . . In a brisk and smart Introduction [the editors] point out the absence of fixed words for race and ethnicity in classical antiquity even as they provide some good references for exploring the complexity of these modern concepts. --Mary T. Boatwright, Duke UniversityWill allow students to understand for themselves how ancient Greeks and Romans conceived of foreign populations and how they thought about issues of racial, ethnic, and cultural difference. --Jonathan Hall, University of ChicagoVery rich. . . . Following an introduction to classical environmental, genetic, and cultural theories of difference, the sources range over the many peoples of the ancient Mediterranean and beyond, from Egypt to Europe. The reach of this text—and its emphasis on the Greek and Roman views of the 'other'—will make it particularly useful for courses on ethnicity taught in Ancient Mediterranean Studies programs. --Molly Myerowitz Levine, Howard University

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Book SynopsisWritten in the reign of Nero—the emperor against whom Lucan was implicated in a conspiracy and by whom he was compelled to commit suicide at the age of 25—the poet's dark, ambiguous, unfinished masterpiece focuses on the disintegration of the Roman body politic and the war between Julius Caesar and Pompey that ultimately lead to the end of the Roman republic. While aiming for a poem both as rugged as Lucan's—with its mix of history and fantasy, of high and low registers, of common and uncommon turns of phrase, of narrative and declamation—and as reader-friendly as possible, Brian Walters owns that he has "nowhere tried to simplify the rhetorical excesses that are the essence of Lucan's poem, the real meat and bone of the Civil War." A brilliant Introduction by W. R. Johnson discusses the poem's relationship to Nero and monarchy; its invocations of both the gods and chaos; the real hero of the Civil War; and the poem's end and narrative styles. Synopses of individual books; suggestions for further reading; a glossary of names, places, and Roman institutions; and a map are also included.Trade Review"Brian Walters has given us what too few translators of classical poetry do—an authorial presence. Here is Lucan himself in all his drastic modes—everything from his enraged indignation to his paradoxical aphorisms--recreating the ruptured Neronian world he lived in as he recounts the nefarious civil war that destroyed the Roman Republic."—Stanley Lombardo, University of Kansas"Brian Walters, aware that the poem's 'obsessive meditations on tyranny and the corruption of power' fit the times, brings to life in his translation the fractured state of the late Roman Republic as Julius Caesar's compulsive boundary-crossing chips away at the increasingly futile resistance of Pompey and Cato. Lucan's violent content demands an equivalent violence of expression, and here Walter's is especially successful, as during the naval slaughter at Massilia (3.549-803) or Erichtho's reanimation of a young soldier's corpse (6.760-883. He really hits his grisly stride, though, with the infamous snake episode (9.749-854), a scene of herpetological carnage that he renders with Quentin Tarantino-esque intensity and absurdity. "W.R. Johnson, a critic who has been most willing to find the dark humor in Lucan's poetry, situates the work accordingly as a 'unique fusion of high seriousness with an especially bitter kind of satire fueled by vehement sarcasm' and takes the reader though the greatest its of modern Lucian criticism—anti-heroics, Olympian omissions, the poet's relationship to Nero, the poem's 'ending'—with an eye to this fusion." —Patrick J. Burns, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, in Classical World"There is much to like about this translation. I commend Walters especially for his excellent ear for 21st century American idiom and diction and the way this helps to create a powerfully simple and clear translation. . . . Walters includes welcome supplementary material, such as a full glossary and a helpful book-by-book structural synopsis. In addition, W.R. Johnson's introduction is provocative and revealing, dealing specifically with the dangerous world of Neronian Rome, Lucan's atypical approach to the gods and the hero, and the Civil War's diverse narrative styles. . . . A welcome option for the classroom [that] may just help hook new fans on Post-Augustan epic." —Stephen M. Kirshner, Austin Peay State University, in CJ-Online

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Book Synopsis"Terrific . . . exactly the sort of collection we have long needed: one offering a wide range of texts, both literary and documentary, and that--with the inclusion of Sulpicia and Perpetua--allows students to hear the voices of actual women from the ancient world. The translations themselves are fluid; the inclusion of long extracts allows students to sink their teeth into material in ways not possible with traditional source books. The anonymous texts, inscriptions, and other non-literary material topically arranged in the 'Documentary' section will enable students to see how the documentary evidence supplements or undermines the views advanced in the literary texts. This is a book that should be of great use to anyone teaching a survey of the history of Ancient Rome or a Roman Civilization course. I look forward to teaching with this book which is, I think, the best source book I have seen for the way we teach these days." --David Potter, University of MichiganTrade Review"A useful cross-section of the literary and documentary evidence for ancient Roman history and society. An important new tool for teachers and students." --G. J. Oliver, Department of Classics, Brown UniversityEager to be immersed in the richness, diversity, and raw energy of how ancient Romans lived and thought? This most readable anthology is a revealing, seductive page-turner, hard to put down once opened. --Richard J. Talbert, The University of North Carolina at Chapel HillAn Impressive and well-chosen selection of key sources for the study of ancient Rome, rendered into lively and engaging English. Together they offer a panorama of republican and imperial life and letters. Highly recommended. --Nathan Rosenstein, The Ohio State University

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Book SynopsisA fully-outfitted edition of Prokopios' late Antique masterpiece of military history and ethnography--for the 21st-century reader. "At last . . . the translation that we have needed for so long: a fresh, lively, readable, and faithful rendering of Prokopios' Wars , which in a single volume will make this fundamental work of late ancient history-writing accessible to a whole new generation of students." --Jonathan Conant, Brown UniversityTrade Review"[A] fluent and accurate rendering of an often complex text . . . of central importance to late Roman and Byzantine history. Prokopios will finally take his rightful place alongside historians of the ancient world such as Thucydides and Polybius." --John F. Haldon, Princeton University"Kaldellis is a gifted translator and a talented historian. . . [His] introduction situates the Wars very well, summarizing the latest scholarship, much of it Kaldellis'own. Kaldellis writes with authority on the author, his writings, and the armies of Justinian; he also directs the reader to the classical authors--Thucydides, Herodotus and Xenophon--whose methods and works shaped Procopius'narrative and from which he chose templates to structure his set pieces, most famously an account of the plague of 542. This is an impeccable work of the greatest value. Its many maps are superb. It will certainly be used by scholars, even those with good Greek, for its copious erudite notes, both historical and literary. Most impressive are the countless references to classical sources, making this also an elucidation of Byzantine learning in the sixth century." --Paul Stephenson, Radboud University Nijmegen"I used a pre-publication version of Anthony Kaldellis's translation of Prokopios' Wars last spring for my class at Georgetown on the reign of Justinian. We read the whole translation cover to cover, and the students benefitted greatly from having a single handy volume of the Wars (vs. having to buy all the Loebs or, worse, an abridged translation). Our unanimous conclusion in the class was that Kaldellis's translation is accurate, readable, and authoritative. The notes are invaluable helps to understanding the details of the more technical sections, especially in their lucid explanations of the warfare, geography, and complex political machinations of the late Roman state. One great benefit of Kaldellis, over the Dewing translation, is that he sees clearly the elements of the Wars that could be stumbling blocks for students. He focuses his notes on what is most important to know so that they can read with fluency one of the great histories of the ancient world. Kaldellis obviously cares deeply, based on years of teaching experience, that students actually enjoy Prokopios, as much students in past generations have enjoyed Herodotus and Thucydides. In other words, Kaldellis's translation puts Prokopios in his rightful historiographical company within the classroom. The maps are masterful and serve as a necessary and elucidating complement to the translation. Likewise, the diagrams of battles, crisp in-text images (of coins and monuments), and the lavish appendices, with genealogies and chronological lists of rulers, fill this volume to the brim with useful tools for both teacher and student. The index is also remarkably copious and detailed. All in all, this is a volume that is specifically designed, by a master of the discipline, to inspire students to relish Late Antiquity and Byzantium. I can think of no better single translation to hook readers on the captivating world of late antique historiography and, especially, on Prokopios as its most talented exemplar." --Scott Johnson, Georgetown University

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Book SynopsisHorace's Odes enjoys a long tradition of translation into English, most famously in versions that seek to replicate the quantitative rhythms of the Latin verse in rhymed quatrains. Stanley Lombardo, one of our preeminent translators of classical literature, now gives us a Horace for our own day that focuses on the dynamics, sense, and tone of the Odes, while still respecting its architectonic qualities. In addition to notes on each of the odes, Anthony Corbeill offers an Introduction that sketches the poet's tumultuous political and literary careers, highlights the Odes' intricate construction and thematic breadth, and identifies some qualities of this work that shed light on a disputed question in its reception: Are these poems or lyrics? This dual-language edition will prove a boon to students of classical civilization, Roman literature, and lovers of one of the great masters of Latin verse.Trade Review"Yet again, Stanley Lombardo has produced a superb translation, this time of the Odes of Horace. The greatest virtue of his translation is that he represents the stanzas of Horace’s lyric stanzas with his own poetic version, closely hewing to the stanzas of the Horatian original. The translation, with the Latin text facing—the first time he has given us the original language in a translation from classical antiquity—will instantly become the go-to text for courses in translation and will also be a resource for anyone interested in Rome’s greatest lyric poet." —Richard F. Thomas, George Martin Lane Professor of the Classics, Harvard University"One important feature of this volume is the facing page Latin text. Lombardo's translation, wherever possible and nearly always with clear and idiomatic English, tidily conforms clause by clause to the shape and sense of each of Horace's stanzas. Additionally, the translations generally flow well in almost Horatian rhythm, and occasionally sound devices add to the poetic quality of the English. Corbeill's Introduction to Horace's life and political context is the ideal length and level for its audience. This Introduction will effectively equip readers to begin their voyage into the Odes and the Carmen Saeculare. New readers will find Corbeill's succinct notes at the end of the book to be useful guides to each ode. An excellent choice as an entry point into Horace's poetry." —Blanche Conger McCune, Baylor University, in The Classical Review

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Book SynopsisHorace's Odes enjoys a long tradition of translation into English, most famously in versions that seek to replicate the quantitative rhythms of the Latin verse in rhymed quatrains. Stanley Lombardo, one of our preeminent translators of classical literature, now gives us a Horace for our own day that focuses on the dynamics, sense, and tone of the Odes, while still respecting its architectonic qualities. In addition to notes on each of the odes, Anthony Corbeill offers an Introduction that sketches the poet's tumultuous political and literary careers, highlights the Odes' intricate construction and thematic breadth, and identifies some qualities of this work that shed light on a disputed question in its reception: Are these poems or lyrics? This dual-language edition will prove a boon to students of classical civilization, Roman literature, and lovers of one of the great masters of Latin verse.Trade Review"Yet again, Stanley Lombardo has produced a superb translation, this time of the Odes of Horace. The greatest virtue of his translation is that he represents the stanzas of Horace’s lyric stanzas with his own poetic version, closely hewing to the stanzas of the Horatian original. The translation, with the Latin text facing—the first time he has given us the original language in a translation from classical antiquity—will instantly become the go-to text for courses in translation and will also be a resource for anyone interested in Rome’s greatest lyric poet." —Richard F. Thomas, George Martin Lane Professor of the Classics, Harvard University

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisA thoughtful and sophisticated account of a notoriously complicated and controversial period. -R. I. Moore, Times Literary SupplementTrade Review"Kelly goes beyond the conventional mode and bravely ventures into…military detail." -- Edward Luttwak - New Republic"Accessible history that enlightens as well as informs." -- Richmond Times"Christopher Kelly…grapples with the delicate task of reconstructing the scant evidence on Attila, without elevating him to warm and fuzzy proportions or caving in to the view of British historians of the barbarian school or the German totemmakers of Hunnensturm…Kelly captures the tension with an assured style." -- Jonathan E. Lazarus - Star-Ledger"Written with a rare combination of profound professional knowledge…and a novelist's sensitivity to every nuance of scene and character." -- Paul Cartledge, Cambridge University"[A] first-rate history [that] provides a singularly fresh look at a factitious period in the life of Ancient Rome." -- Publishers Weekly"Vivid [and] engrossing." -- Booklist

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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