the Roman era is my favorite period of history, yet I only know Roman history in broad strokes.
What book should I read first to make me aware of the political structure of Rome, its greatest generals, its emperors and their achievements/fuckups, and their expansion?
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The history of rome podcast is a great start.
A TON of information, and it's in a very good format.
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I normally hate asking for spoonfeeding and hate spoonfeeding other anons, but could you direct me? A link, or the name of the website / radio where I could find it. I have never dealt with podcasts in my life so I have no idea where to find them.
It's all free
Seconding the History of Rome Podcast. The new book SPQR is pretty solid too. Suetonius isn't the most reliable source for imperial Rome but he is the most fun.
Tacitus is solid.
Could I get some general info on the Roman Republic's structure and military under Dictators and Triumvirs?
History of Rome is the best for that. It goes through the setup and evolution of the political system.
It literally does a relatively in depth review of the entire western empire from start to finish. Just keep an open mind at the beginning because it was his first podcast. It gets really good as he gets into his groove.
Adrian Goldsworthy is the realest nigga, I love his work.
For OP, In the Name of Rome covers a pretty wide period of history, focuses a lot on how Roman politics interact with the military, and is overall just a really good read.
The works of Peter Heather are great for an overview of Late Rome
Everything by Goldsworthy is worth a read. I also liked Everitt's "The Rise of Rome" for an interesting integration of the myth and history of the founding of Rome through the history of the middle Republic. It may be more general tan OP is looking for, but lays a good foundation for more detailed reading.
what period? Typically it gets broken into 3 eras with their own unique culture, polity, and aesthetic.
>Republic
Rome's initial expansion and Hellenization. Most interesting and complex government structure and was the model for most post-enlightenment european republics.
>Principate
The first half the Empire and Rome's apex starting with Augustus and ending with the civil wars in the 3rd century. Everything that we typically think of as Ancient Rome probably comes from this period.
>Dominion
Starts with the rise of Diocletian and his reorganization of the government. Includes the christianization of europe, germanic invasions, and fall of the western empire. Mostly ignored by pop history.
There's also the original Monarchy but there's barely anything other than fairytales from that time.
I'd also like to break it down to pre-Punic republic and post-punic republic
The constant threat of annihilation really made the Romans work well with each other and get shit done whereas when they stopped having that threat the structure started unraveling.
history of Rome is fantastic, and he released a transcript of it as well if you want to read it rather than listen to it.
the whole thing is free though and 10/10
>There's also the original Monarchy but there's barely anything other than fairytales from that time.
It's sad when myth shadows over """objectively-documented""" history.
Have you seen how to buy his book? I heard about it (years late) and can't find it anywhere.
If your options are "nothing at all," and "foundation myths," I'll take the myths every time.
There may be some hints about the reality that can be teased from the myths, and even if not, which stories a society choses to embrace and preserve about its past tells you a lot about that society.
True.
The only issue I had with it was the early Empire. The pace slowed down too much and he focused too much on the Imperial court.
I think he even acknowledges this later on.
I agree, up till after the Julio-Claudians it's a bit of a slog. It's still really good after that, but the Republic parts were my favorite. The characters and the struggles Rome had to gain supremacy were more interesting than maintaining borders and fighting neverending battles near the Rein and Persia.
Currently watching HBO's Rome, anyone know how accurate it is?
I'm assuming they take some liberties
They take some which i don't mind like Octavian's mother is characteristically flavoured and the relationship between some characters like Octavian and his sister or Caesar and Servilia are further dramatised.
They do, but overall it gives you a good feel for what it was like to live as a Patrician and a pleb. I like how they do things like show the crossing the Rubicon from a soldier's perspective when Lucius Vorenus flips his shit. Or just the brief scene of Julius' daughter dying in childbirth and Pompey totally losing it.
But nothing beats HE WAS A CONSUL OF ROME!
History of Rome was great, but it left me starved for a sequel about History of Constantinople.
Then are you in luck. I haven't listened to it myself, but apparently the dude picks right up and even had the history of Rome guy on as a guest. (I'm nearly done with the history of Rome and I'll start this next)
Just got up to date with the History of Byzantium, personally I think it's about even with the history of Rome. Although he does delve a lot more in the details since there's already nearly all 130 episodes and he's only just getting into the 10th century
"The Grandeur that was Rome."
Scipio Africanus: Greater than Napoleon, by Liddell Hart
Scipio Africanus: Rome’s Greatest General by Richard A. Gabriel, < more up to date.
And then to summarise why, read: Ego Is the Enemy. By Ryan Holiday
Oh shit, thanks user. My daily commute is about to get much more interesting again.
I listen to a ton of podcasts when I work and things like this are the absolute best.
Looking for serious bools/articles about local administrations and their links to Rome city.
couldn't agree more with this guy history of Rome is fantastic! As is his current podcast series, Revolutions, which he just finished.