From the Gracchi to Nero (edição 1976)

Solid prose, great breadth, impeccable footnoting. ( )

This was the basic University text from my student years, and it stands up well if you count the reprints. ( )

Over the course of more than a year, I read this excellent Roman history one chunk at a time. It was well worth it. For good reason this is Scullard's most well known work. It is thorough, interesting and covers that important transition period of Roman history. He begins with the agrarian struggle which leads to the tottering and dysfunctional late Republic. This eventually settles into the successful constitutional settlement of Augustus and a well managed empire. Eventually, though Tiberius and Claudius were worthy successors of Augustus, Caligula and Nero bring about the moral and political collapse of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Scullard's chronology ends with the chaotic "Year of the Four Emperors". Chapters on literature, society, religion and the arts were enlightening though inescapably superficial surveys of the times. Like many ancient histories, Scullard extrapolates from outside of the covered time periods to supplement his generalizations. My heart longs to read this book again because there are so many fascinating characters in there. Knowing how long it took me to get through this once and how many other books distracted me from staying on task, I'm going to leave it alone and wait for the right moment and allow Scullard to distract me from some other book I'm trying to plow through. ( )

Books like Scullard are essential for anyone who wants to engage with history. Where do you go after being intrigued by History Channel programs about the "mysteries" of the ancient world? You could hinge on colour photo exposes of Rome from the local discount bookstore. And photos and images are very important. But to increase your insight and understanding of a period of history, overview histories by reputable historians such as this are essential.

Scullard was one of the postwar doyens of British classical scholarship. Sure this book is dated, last revised in 1982 and largely reflecting the concerns of the 1950s-1970s. But it is excellent as a readable introduction to the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. Most modern readers will struggle with some brief lines of untranslated Latin, but Scullard himself acknowledged this as an issue. Nowadays you can study ancient history without knowing Greek or Latin. Scullard's generation learnt it at school.

Once you have injested this introduction you will be well-equipped to read more deeply.

"2012-10-26 12:00:00"