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Author Topic: Recommended Reading Thread...  (Read 95169 times)

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Offline Jay GT4

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #25 on: April 02, 2008, 03:46:23 pm »
Blood of the Caesars-How the murder of Germanicus led to the fall of Rome by Stephen Dando-Collins

I can't put this book down!  It's very fast paced and goes through all of the suspects from Tiberius, Livia, Sejanus and Piso and then offers up a new suspect.  It shows how the family tree of Antony and specifically his grandson Germanicus were systematically wiped out!  He is also the author of the previously mention book "Mark Antony's Hero's" which I also recommend. 

Offline Jay GT4

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #26 on: April 07, 2008, 11:29:59 pm »
Started a new book Pontius Pilate by Ann Wroe

So far so good.  Since there is so little known about Pilate the author has very little historical references to go on.  She relates many of the traditions about him, from the early church to the Victorian and modern times and gives the plausable truth about him.  I'm only on the first chapter but it has me hooked.

Offline David Atherton

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #27 on: April 26, 2008, 01:47:39 pm »
Quote from: Titus Pullo on December 25, 2007, 04:32:31 pm
"Augustus" by Anthony Everitt is fantastic.  A joy to read.  His conclusions are reasonable and well thought out.

"Cicero" by Anthony Everitt is just as good as Augustus.  I've read it twice.

I cannot agree more! I Just finished Augustus and found it to be an engrossing read with a wonderful, sweeping narrative.

Cicero is next on my list.

Offline Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #28 on: April 26, 2008, 06:12:39 pm »
They're both good. I just read An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire' by David Mattingly. it's full of detail, covering all aspects of the the province under occupation, and giving a (hopefully) realistic picture of the Britons themselves. The material on Scotland and Ireland is interesting, bringing out just how far Roman influence penetrated beyond the borders of the empire.
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Offline Jay GT4

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #29 on: April 26, 2008, 08:25:58 pm »
Quote from: Titus Pullo on April 02, 2008, 03:46:23 pm
Blood of the Caesars-How the murder of Germanicus led to the fall of Rome by Stephen Dando-Collins

I can't put this book down!  It's very fast paced and goes through all of the suspects from Tiberius, Livia, Sejanus and Piso and then offers up a new suspect.  It shows how the family tree of Antony and specifically his grandson Germanicus were systematically wiped out!  He is also the author of the previously mention book "Mark Antony's Hero's" which I also recommend. 

Well after finishing this book I'm not sure if I'm buying the theory.  It was excellent right up until he reveals who he thought killed Germanicus.  Are you ready for it..........?


Seneca!?!?!?   ???

While it is possible I'm not sure it was likely.  Still a good read and lots of background info on all the key players.  I'll still recommend it.   :laugh:

Offline Cleisthenes

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #30 on: April 27, 2008, 12:51:05 am »
Michael Grant is a well known author, here, on our Boards.  I am re-reading his, The Ancient Mediterranean.  If you don't know his work, he is not only a noted historian and numismatic scholar--he is quite a good writer.

Jim
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Offline David Atherton

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #31 on: April 27, 2008, 01:16:57 am »
Michael Grant was one of the last centuries best popularizers of ancient history, and I believe he does deserve a few mentions here as well.

The following is a list of his books I have found immensely enjoyable.

Nero
Cities of Vesuvius
A Guide to the Ancient World
History of Rome
The Roman Emperors
Jesus: An Historian's View of the Gospels
The Twelve Caesars
The Army of the Caesars
Gladiators
Eros in Pompeii
Roman Imperial Money

His translation of Tacitus' The Annals of Imperial Rome is very readable.

The first books I ever read about ancient Rome (at 13 yrs old) was Robert Grave's translation of The Twelve Caesars edited by Michael Grant. This illustrated edition is by far one of the more literate translations of the work.

Offline commodus

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #32 on: August 21, 2008, 10:27:55 pm »
Grant also wrote an excellent biography of Constantine: Constantine the Great: The Man and His Times.

edit: upon re-reading the entire thread I see that Roma mentioned this book on the previous page also. Well, doesn't hurt to mention it twice, I guess!
Eric Brock (1966 - 2011)

Offline Jay GT4

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #33 on: August 28, 2008, 09:20:30 pm »
I just purchased "Justinian's Flea" by William Rosen.  I'll be reading this on the plane to Italy next week.  So far I read the Introduction and I think it will be good.  I'll let you know how it ends up...

Offline James Anderson

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #34 on: August 28, 2008, 10:53:01 pm »
The Greeks Overseas: Their Early Colonies and Trade, Fourth Edition, by John Boardman. Informative without being dry, and well illustrated, some coins. Especially recommended for anyone who collects Greek coins and would like to know how the Greeks got to all those places!

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #35 on: September 21, 2008, 04:42:34 pm »
Finished Justinian's Flea great book.  Really highlights the history and politics behind the Eastern and Western Empire and the relation between "Rome" and Parthia, China and even Islam.  A few chapters were a bit of a tough read (the ones on how the plague genetically works) but it was still a fascinating and well written book.  I would recommend it highly even if like me you're not  into the Byzantine era

Offline moonmoth

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #36 on: September 22, 2008, 04:48:35 pm »
For some background reading, I recommend "Great Cities of the Ancient World" by L. Sprague de Camp.  The author was a very knowledgeable amateur historian and wrote many other books, both fiction and non-.   This book is dated 1972, but seems to be readily and cheaply available from Amazon.

The book is very readable.  It covers the history of Thebes, Jerusalem, Nineveh, Tyre, Babylon, Memphis, Athens, Syracuse, Carthage, Alexandria, Anurâdhapura, Rome, Pâtaliputra, and Constantinople. Not in huge detail, obviously, given the size of the subject!  There are many photographs, most taken by the author on his travels, and he gives first-hand information to counterpoint the historical accounts. The more you read, the more you see how the histories of the cities and the civilisations they supported are intertwined. Many of these cities produced interesting coinage, and though the coins themselves are not covered here, their existence is, because of the impact of the development of money on the fates of cities such as Tyre.

If you are already a historian, you will find this too shallow.  If not, you should enjoy it and get a better feel for the societies that produced all those coins.

(I would also recommend "The Ancient Engineers" by the same author, come to think of it.)

Bill
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Offline Jay GT4

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #37 on: November 08, 2008, 02:11:41 pm »
I finally bought "Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a day"  What a great book!  I feel like I'm an ancient tourist planning a trip.  Lots of fun and very informative.

Offline SVLLAIMP

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #38 on: December 07, 2008, 04:17:19 pm »
Well, I suppose I'll throw my hat into the ring here with a few suggestions.  As far as historical fiction goes, I've always enjoyed Mary Renault's books, especially those about Alexander and Theseus, though The Mask of Apollo is my favorite (it covers a Greek actor in Athens and Sicily during the time of Plato.)  Colleen McCullough also has a good series of historical fiction on the Roman Republic starting in the time of Marius, through Sulla and on to Caesar and Antony.  As far as non-fiction I would recommend Sallust, both books, and Tacitus.  For me, nothing beats the orginal sources.

Offline slokind

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #39 on: December 07, 2008, 05:29:20 pm »
The only time in my life when I had a hospital stay long enough for a whole book, a friend, a reading friend, brought me Gore Vidal's Creation, which is a very good read, indeed, and was newly published at that time.  He did do most of his homework, and the gaps are mostly due to the absence of sources.  What would be whoppers in most other authors, such as giving the Persian queen a mastectomy at the hands of a resident Greek doctor, are just Gore Vidal.  He's not bad at all in presenting the ideas prevalent across the world c. 400 BCE.  I remember envying him the experience of putting it all together and writing it; I hope he enjoyed it as much as I did.  I don't say it's the 20th century's greatest novel, and it does take folks who already know a bit of our kind of stuff to relish it.
Pat L.

Offline moonmoth

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #40 on: December 07, 2008, 06:11:14 pm »
No-one seems to mention L. Sprague de Camp's historical novels, so that I wonder if anyone has read them.  They are quite old now, dating mostly from the 1960s. Their titles are: The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate; The Arrows of Hercules; An Elephant for Aristotle; The Bronze God of Rhodes; and The Golden Wind. They are all based more or less on historical events or circumstances, and have lots of interesting background detail.  They are all covered in Wikipedia, for those who are interested.

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Offline wandigeaux (1940 - 2010)

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #41 on: December 07, 2008, 08:05:41 pm »
I have read L. Sprague de Camp's books!  Still have copies of most.  His object was to entertain, and his engineering background provides a hardheaded realism.  Cheers, George Spradling
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Offline Bacchus

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #42 on: December 08, 2008, 02:10:30 am »
I seem to recall him adding to the "Conan" canon ... not sure how historically accurate they were though  :D ... but thanks for the tip - I'm always on the lookout for good historical novels.

I'm currently reading the series on the detective (ish) laywer "Shardlake" by C.J. Sansom.  These are set in London at the time of the dissolution of the monastaries  (Henry VIII) which is one of the more unusual settings.  They are excellent though, I would recommend them.

Malcolm

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #43 on: December 12, 2008, 11:16:53 pm »
I'm just finishing off The Civil War by Caesar  I've read the Gallic War before but I just never got around to reading the Civil War.  He leave's quite a bit out!  I just wish I could read and understand enough latin to read it in it's original form. 

Offline commodus

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #44 on: December 13, 2008, 12:29:01 am »
Slokind speaks of Gore Vidal's Creation above. I recently read his Julian, a biographical novel of the fourth century emperor. Also an excellent and enjoyable read and a book I highly recommend.
Eric Brock (1966 - 2011)

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #45 on: January 06, 2009, 05:30:57 pm »
On the recommendation of SemperPecuniamRequiro I bought Colleen McCullough's First man in Rome which is a novel around the civil war between Marius and Sulla.  I haven't started yet but I will let you know...

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #46 on: January 29, 2009, 11:19:50 pm »
Millennium-The end of the world and the forging of Christendom by Tom Holland

I've enjoyed both Rubicon and Persian Fire so I am really looking forward to this one.

Offline SVLLAIMP

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #47 on: February 01, 2009, 04:35:15 pm »
Titus, I hope you like the McCullough book, I definitely did.  Also I'd like to throw out a Robert Graves book unmentioned on this thread yet, Count Belisarius.

Offline commodus

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #48 on: March 28, 2009, 12:11:01 pm »
Mary Beard's The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found (Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard, 2008).
Although the subject of another thread on this board, this fine and sensible book deserves mention in this thread as well.
I strongly, strongly recommend it.
Eric Brock (1966 - 2011)

Offline cliff_marsland

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Re: Recommended Reading Thread...
« Reply #49 on: June 13, 2009, 07:57:35 pm »
Since this topic came up, perhaps someone could answer a long-standing question.  I remember reading a fictional Roman mystery when I was a teenager (it wasn't Lindsay Davis).  I remember it being set in the Empire, I think 3rd century, and one of the characters was named Claudiux Maximus.  Any ideas?  It was in the early 90s, so I can't really be more specific than that, as I can't remember all the details.

 

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