The Roman

Download or read book The Roman Book written by Rex Winsbury and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2009-03-26 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What was a Roman book? How did it differ from modern books? How were Roman books composed, published and distributed during the high period of Roman literature that encompassed, among others, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Martial, Pliny and Tacitus? What was the ‘scribal art’ of the time? What was the role of bookshops and libraries? The publishing of Roman books has often been misrepresented by false analogies with contemporary publishing. This wide-ranging study re-examines, by appeal to what Roman authors themselves tell us, both the raw material and the aesthetic criteria of the Roman book, and shows how slavery was the ‘enabling infrastructure’ of literature. Roman publishing is placed firmly in the context of a society where the spoken still ranked above the written, helping to explain how some books and authors became politically dangerous and how the Roman book could be both an elite cultural icon and a contributor to Rome’s popular culture through the mass medium of the theatre.

Download or read book The Shape of the Roman Order written by Daniel J. Gargola and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2017-02-16 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, a long-established view of the Roman Empire during its great age of expansion has been called into question by scholars who contend that this model has made Rome appear too much like a modern state. This is especially true in terms of understanding how the Roman government ordered the city--and the world around it--geographically. In this innovative, systematic approach, Daniel J. Gargola demonstrates how important the concept of space was to the governance of Rome. He explains how Roman rulers, without the means for making detailed maps, conceptualized the territories under Rome's power as a set of concentric zones surrounding the city. In exploring these geographic zones and analyzing how their magistrates performed their duties, Gargola examines the idiosyncratic way the elite made sense of the world around them and how it fundamentally informed the way they ruled over their dominion. From what geometrical patterns Roman elites preferred to how they constructed their hierarchies in space, Gargola considers a wide body of disparate materials to demonstrate how spatial orientation dictated action, shedding new light on the complex peculiarities of Roman political organization.

Download or read book The Wanderer written by Mika Waltari and published by Rare Treasure Editions. This book was released on 2021-11-11T21:27:00Z with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Wanderer, Michael of the charmed life continues his erratic career as an adventurer with an interlude which takes him through much of the 16th century Islamic empire. The holocaust in Rome singed his conscience a bit, and he decided - with his brother in arms, the bull-like Andy, to seek peace in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. But Fate decreed otherwise. The pilgrim ship was seized by the infidels. Michael, chameleon like in his loyalties, became for all purposes an aspirant to Islam, and - though a slave - rose rapidly in the service of his masters, until he was confidante, adviser, military leader, political intriguer, whatever suited his mood, and landing - as one of his owners said - "always on his feet." Richly detailed with the lushness of a tawdry era in Europe and the Near East, the novel is more tightly plotted than was "The Adventurer," and Michael finds himself smitten by the strange woman of the evil eye who has captured his heart and imagination. A complex plot, with successive interlocking episodes, this adds up to another picaresque romantic adventure novel which those who enjoyed its predecessors will want to read for sure.

Download or read book The Roman Near East, 31 B.C.-A.D. 337 written by Fergus Millar and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 630 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Augustus to Constantine, the Roman Empire in the Near East expanded step by step, southward to the Red Sea and eastward across the Euphrates to the Tigris. In a remarkable work of interpretive history, Fergus Millar shows us this world as it was forged into the Roman provinces of Syria, Judaea, Arabia, and Mesopotamia. His book conveys the magnificent sweep of history as well as the rich diversity of peoples, religions, and languages that intermingle in the Roman Near East. Against this complex backdrop, Millar explores questions of cultural and religious identity and ethnicity--as aspects of daily life in the classical world and as part of the larger issues they raise. As Millar traces the advance of Roman control, he gives a lucid picture of Rome's policies and governance over its far-flung empire. He introduces us to major regions of the area and their contrasting communities, bringing out the different strands of culture, communal identity, language, and religious belief in each. The Roman Near East makes it possible to see rabbinic Judaism, early Christianity, and eventually the origins of Islam against the matrix of societies in which they were formed. Millar's evidence permits us to assess whether the Near East is best seen as a regional variant of Graeco-Roman culture or as in some true sense oriental. A masterful treatment of a complex period and world, distilling a vast amount of literary, documentary, artistic, and archaeological evidence--always reflecting new findings--this book is sure to become the standard source for anyone interested in the Roman Empire or the history of the Near East.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire written by Matthew Bunson and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Not much has happened in the Roman Empire since 1994 that required the first edition to be updated, but Bunson, a prolific reference and history author, has revised it, incorporated new findings and thinking, and changed the dating style to C.E. (Common Era) and B.C.E. (Before Common Era). For the 500 years from Julius Caesar and the Gallic Wars in 59-51 B.C.E. to the fall of the empire in the west in 476 C.E, he discusses personalities, terms, sites, and events. There is very little cross-referencing.

Download or read book SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome written by Mary Beard and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2015-11-09 with total page 743 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller A New York Times Notable Book Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Foreign Affairs, and Kirkus Reviews Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction) Shortlisted for the Cundill Prize in Historical Literature Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (History) A San Francisco Chronicle Holiday Gift Guide Selection A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection A sweeping, "magisterial" history of the Roman Empire from one of our foremost classicists shows why Rome remains "relevant to people many centuries later" (Atlantic). In SPQR, an instant classic, Mary Beard narrates the history of Rome "with passion and without technical jargon" and demonstrates how "a slightly shabby Iron Age village" rose to become the "undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean" (Wall Street Journal). Hailed by critics as animating "the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life" (Economist) in a way that makes "your hair stand on end" (Christian Science Monitor) and spanning nearly a thousand years of history, this "highly informative, highly readable" (Dallas Morning News) work examines not just how we think of ancient Rome but challenges the comfortable historical perspectives that have existed for centuries. With its nuanced attention to class, democratic struggles, and the lives of entire groups of people omitted from the historical narrative for centuries, SPQR will to shape our view of Roman history for decades to come.

Download or read book The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, 1940-1640 BC written by and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1998 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This anthology contains all the substantial surviving works from the golden age of Ancient Egyptian fictional literature (c.1940-1640 B.C.). Composed by an anonymous author in the form of a funerary autobiography, the Tale tells how the courtier Sinuhe flees Egypt at the death of his king. His adventures bring wealth and happiness, but his failure to find meaningful life abroad is only redeemed by the new king's sympathy, and he finally returns to the security of his homeland. Other works from the Middle Kingdom include a poetic dialogue between a man and his soul on the problem of suffering and death, a teaching about the nature of wisdom which is bitterly spoken by the ghost of the assassinated King Amenemhat I, and a series of light-hearted tales of wonder from the court of the builder of the Great Pyramid."--Jacket.