Antiquity is where it's at
June 1, 2009 11:59 PM Subscribe
Recommend your favourite books about the ancient world.
I recently read Peter Ackroyd's The Fall of Troy, a highly fictionalized account of the archeologist behind the excavation of Troy, and as the book progresses, there are fascinating details about the historical city of Troy.
I've also read and loved Jared Diamond's Collapse for the amount of esoteric details he puts in to describe collapsed civilizations.
It got me thinking that I'd definitely enjoy reading more books, fiction or narrative non-fiction, about the ancient world. So, recommendations away!
I recently read Peter Ackroyd's The Fall of Troy, a highly fictionalized account of the archeologist behind the excavation of Troy, and as the book progresses, there are fascinating details about the historical city of Troy.
I've also read and loved Jared Diamond's Collapse for the amount of esoteric details he puts in to describe collapsed civilizations.
It got me thinking that I'd definitely enjoy reading more books, fiction or narrative non-fiction, about the ancient world. So, recommendations away!
susan wise bauer - the history of the ancient world ... sample chapters on her website
Possibly the most approachable introduction to the ancient world
posted by jannw at 12:50 AM on June 2, 2009
Possibly the most approachable introduction to the ancient world
posted by jannw at 12:50 AM on June 2, 2009
Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:55 AM on June 2, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:55 AM on June 2, 2009 [4 favorites]
The brilliant awesome classicist, world expert on ancient poisons, and incidentally delightful wife of an equally awesome classicist professor of mine, is soon to come out with The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy. It's.. well...
Also, I second the Thucydides.
posted by paultopia at 1:02 AM on June 2, 2009 [2 favorites]
Machiavelli praised his military genius. European royalty sought out his secret elixir against poison. His life inspired Mozart's first opera, while for centuries poets and playwrights recited bloody, romantic tales of his victories, defeats, intrigues, concubines, and mysterious death. But until now no modern historian has recounted the full story of Mithradates, the ruthless king and visionary rebel who challenged the power of Rome in the first century BC. In this richly illustrated book--the first biography of Mithradates in fifty years--Adrienne Mayor combines a storyteller's gifts with the most recent archaeological and scientific discoveries to tell the tale of Mithradates as it has never been told before.Yeah. Sexy.
The Poison King describes a life brimming with spectacle and excitement. Claiming Alexander the Great and Darius of Persia as ancestors, Mithradates inherited a wealthy Black Sea kingdom at age 14 after his mother poisoned his father. He fled into exile and returned in triumph to become a ruler of superb intelligence and fierce ambition. Hailed as a savior by his followers and feared as a second Hannibal by his enemies, he envisioned a grand Eastern empire to rival Rome. After massacring 80,000 Roman citizens in 88 BC, he seized Greece and modern-day Turkey. Fighting some of the most spectacular battles in ancient history, he dragged Rome into a long round of wars and threatened to invade Italy itself. His uncanny ability to elude capture and surge back after devastating losses unnerved the Romans, while his mastery of poisons allowed him to foil assassination attempts and eliminate rivals.
The Poison King is a gripping account of one of Rome's most relentless but least understood foes.
Also, I second the Thucydides.
posted by paultopia at 1:02 AM on June 2, 2009 [2 favorites]
Thomas Cahill's Hinges of History series?
posted by codswallop at 1:20 AM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by codswallop at 1:20 AM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
I enjoyed Rome and the Enemy. Imperial Strategy in the Principate by Susan P. Mattern.
Mattern's chief concern in all this, and really throughout her book, is to portray the aristocratic mentalities that resulted in the particular kind of advice offered by Herodian's Pompeianus. She accomplishes that task admirably and, in doing so, presents us with a forceful model for understanding generally the processes of decision-making that underlay Roman imperial foreign affairs. But, in addition to this, the model she presents offers a kind of middle ground between the two camps in the strategy debate. That is to say, there was, as Mattern tells it, a consistent logic to Roman foreign policy; it was not, however, the logic we might incline to expect and has therefore been neglected.posted by Abiezer at 1:22 AM on June 2, 2009
Thucydides is the first and last word on history writing, the template for every writer who ever wrote anything worthwhile about history and still the pinnacle…so I concur with the above suggestions. I'll also go ahead and give a recommendation as far as translation, if you're going to try reading him: skip the big, shiny tome that is The Landmark Thucydides—yeah, the maps and stuff are cool, but the translation is flaccid and often wrong—and pick up the cheap-ass Penguin edition with a translation by Rex Warner. Some of the most exciting parts of Thucydides are the speeches, the often eloquent statements that are made on behalf of communities and nations, and Warner's translations of these speeches are clear, precise, and sometimes riveting.
Another book I've recommended here before more than once is the one book which I believe takes up and faithfully strives toward the goal of introducing modern readers to the ancient world: The Ancient City by Numa Denis Fustel De Coulanges.
The essential thing to remember when we're reading about the ancient world, something that I can warn you even most classicists don't realize and keep in mind, is that the ancient world is almost infinitely foreign to us. It is very, very easy to give in to the temptation to believe that the ancients conformed to some simple idea we have of how they lived, what they believed or what they strove for. There wasn't much that was simple about the ancient way of seeing the world; they were highly religious and highly familial, worshipping at the altars of their ancestors and following extremely strict and sometimes harsh customs. As Coulanges himself puts it so well early in his preface: “We rarely fail to deceive ourselves regarding these ancient nations when we see them through the opinions and facts of our own time.”
Here's a pdf of the entire text.
posted by koeselitz at 1:47 AM on June 2, 2009 [7 favorites]
Another book I've recommended here before more than once is the one book which I believe takes up and faithfully strives toward the goal of introducing modern readers to the ancient world: The Ancient City by Numa Denis Fustel De Coulanges.
The essential thing to remember when we're reading about the ancient world, something that I can warn you even most classicists don't realize and keep in mind, is that the ancient world is almost infinitely foreign to us. It is very, very easy to give in to the temptation to believe that the ancients conformed to some simple idea we have of how they lived, what they believed or what they strove for. There wasn't much that was simple about the ancient way of seeing the world; they were highly religious and highly familial, worshipping at the altars of their ancestors and following extremely strict and sometimes harsh customs. As Coulanges himself puts it so well early in his preface: “We rarely fail to deceive ourselves regarding these ancient nations when we see them through the opinions and facts of our own time.”
Here's a pdf of the entire text.
posted by koeselitz at 1:47 AM on June 2, 2009 [7 favorites]
Thucydides is excellent (especially for his portrayal of the breakdown of ancient democracy in the face of disaster) but I enjoyed reading Herodotus a lot more. He's not exactly rigorously accurate (well, not at all) but he's more entertaining than Thucydides.
My favourite part is the story about how Indians steal the gold from the giant ants.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 2:15 AM on June 2, 2009
My favourite part is the story about how Indians steal the gold from the giant ants.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 2:15 AM on June 2, 2009
If you like fictionalised history, I'd recommend anything by Edward Rutherfurd
posted by sunkzero at 2:17 AM on June 2, 2009
posted by sunkzero at 2:17 AM on June 2, 2009
I should have added - if you're after esoteric details about collapsed civilisations, Herodotus is even better. Sure a lot of it is made up, but a lot of it isn't and it's all fascinating.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 2:17 AM on June 2, 2009
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 2:17 AM on June 2, 2009
The Silver Chalice.
Seconding Edward Rutherford, specifically Sarum and London.
And you may enjoy Margaret George (especially The Memoirs of Cleopatra).
The Mists of Avalon was also an enjoyable read.
posted by litterateur at 2:37 AM on June 2, 2009
Seconding Edward Rutherford, specifically Sarum and London.
And you may enjoy Margaret George (especially The Memoirs of Cleopatra).
The Mists of Avalon was also an enjoyable read.
posted by litterateur at 2:37 AM on June 2, 2009
I, Claudius By Robert Graves, and it's sequel Claudius the God are excellent, as is the BBC tv serial
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:41 AM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:41 AM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the recommendations so far, they look really interesting. Clicked on The Ancient City pdf and it looks like a great read.
BTW, I should have mentioned this up in the main post: major props if anyone can recommend a good book about the Shang Dynasty and the oracle bones.
posted by so much modern time at 2:58 AM on June 2, 2009
BTW, I should have mentioned this up in the main post: major props if anyone can recommend a good book about the Shang Dynasty and the oracle bones.
posted by so much modern time at 2:58 AM on June 2, 2009
If you are into graphic novels, you might want to check out Age of Bronze by Eric Shanower. A review follows:
From Publishers Weekly
Shanower won 2001's Will Eisner Comics Industry Award for Best Writer/Artist for this extraordinary project: the first part of a seven-volume graphic novel about the Trojan War. He has researched every imaginable source about the war, from ancient legends to medieval romances to contemporary scholarship, and synthesized them into a fantastically rich narrative. He's also delved deep into the architectural history of Mycenaean Greece, so that the dress and settings in the book look like Bronze Age artifacts, rather than the Classical Greek styles normally associated with the story. The book begins with the story of Paris, the milk-white bull and the kidnapping of Helen, and goes up to the start of the war Shanower still has a ways to travel before touching the material of the Iliad. He treats the material as historical fiction rather than mythology, as a tale of people, not of gods, though the supernatural aspects of the story are worked in through dreams and visions. Shanower subtly alters his visual style for every flashback sequence: when Priam relates the story of Herakles, the images are cartoonish and the characters larger than life. His dialogue is formal but not florid, and the narrative flow is clear and simple. But the story also has many amazing scenes for an artist the erotic entanglement of Achilles and Deidamia, the feigned madness of Odysseus, the launching of the thousand ships to rescue Helen and lay waste to Troy and Shanower makes the most of them, with a fine-lined style in black and white drawings evoking woodcuts and classical paintings.
posted by kryptos at 4:00 AM on June 2, 2009
From Publishers Weekly
Shanower won 2001's Will Eisner Comics Industry Award for Best Writer/Artist for this extraordinary project: the first part of a seven-volume graphic novel about the Trojan War. He has researched every imaginable source about the war, from ancient legends to medieval romances to contemporary scholarship, and synthesized them into a fantastically rich narrative. He's also delved deep into the architectural history of Mycenaean Greece, so that the dress and settings in the book look like Bronze Age artifacts, rather than the Classical Greek styles normally associated with the story. The book begins with the story of Paris, the milk-white bull and the kidnapping of Helen, and goes up to the start of the war Shanower still has a ways to travel before touching the material of the Iliad. He treats the material as historical fiction rather than mythology, as a tale of people, not of gods, though the supernatural aspects of the story are worked in through dreams and visions. Shanower subtly alters his visual style for every flashback sequence: when Priam relates the story of Herakles, the images are cartoonish and the characters larger than life. His dialogue is formal but not florid, and the narrative flow is clear and simple. But the story also has many amazing scenes for an artist the erotic entanglement of Achilles and Deidamia, the feigned madness of Odysseus, the launching of the thousand ships to rescue Helen and lay waste to Troy and Shanower makes the most of them, with a fine-lined style in black and white drawings evoking woodcuts and classical paintings.
posted by kryptos at 4:00 AM on June 2, 2009
Hello - how about Persian Fire by Tom Holland? It's a narrative history of the rise of ancient Persia, culminating in Xerxes' battles against Athens and Sparta. I found it particularly interesting because there are chapters not just on Athens and Sparta, but also on ancient Persia, Babylon, and the fractious Greek colonies on the Ionian coast.
It's loaded with lots of interesting tidbits about each of the cultures - for example, who knew that "to do a Corinthian" meant "to fuck" (because of the famous temple to Aphrodite there)?
Finally, it has very exciting, accessible descriptions of several key battles: for example, Thermopylae, Marathon and Salamis -- and in all cases I really appreciated both the heroism and the tactics involved. His descriptions of the politicking intrigues of Persia and Greece are equally exciting.
posted by laumry at 4:12 AM on June 2, 2009
It's loaded with lots of interesting tidbits about each of the cultures - for example, who knew that "to do a Corinthian" meant "to fuck" (because of the famous temple to Aphrodite there)?
Finally, it has very exciting, accessible descriptions of several key battles: for example, Thermopylae, Marathon and Salamis -- and in all cases I really appreciated both the heroism and the tactics involved. His descriptions of the politicking intrigues of Persia and Greece are equally exciting.
posted by laumry at 4:12 AM on June 2, 2009
I, Claudius By Robert Graves, and it's sequel Claudius the God are excellent, as is the BBC tv serial
As is the Robert Graves translation of Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars.
posted by gimonca at 5:20 AM on June 2, 2009
As is the Robert Graves translation of Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars.
posted by gimonca at 5:20 AM on June 2, 2009
Charles Freeman's The Closing of the Western Mind was mostly a pretty good read, author has some interesting insights and opinions about the transition from classical civilization and thought to Christianity. (Note that the first Amazon review is a nice one from the author himself.)
Robin Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians is a nice look at life in the Roman Empire in the 100s and 200s. Nice for it's "life went on" approach to looking at ordinary people and life: people didn't spend every freakin' day fighting battles and getting thrown to lions.
posted by gimonca at 5:36 AM on June 2, 2009
Robin Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians is a nice look at life in the Roman Empire in the 100s and 200s. Nice for it's "life went on" approach to looking at ordinary people and life: people didn't spend every freakin' day fighting battles and getting thrown to lions.
posted by gimonca at 5:36 AM on June 2, 2009
Guy Gavriel Kay. Sailing to Sarantium has a grave and lovely feel to it and that is what hooked me.
Lindsey Davis. This is lightweight, police procedural stuff with a PI in Rome around 300 AD. The series is uneven.
posted by jet_silver at 6:08 AM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
Lindsey Davis. This is lightweight, police procedural stuff with a PI in Rome around 300 AD. The series is uneven.
posted by jet_silver at 6:08 AM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
He Died Old: Mithradates Eupator, King of Pontus by Alfred Duggan for more on the poison king. Also his Family Favorites for a view of Elagabalus, one of the weirder emperors.
Herotodus for Fun, Thucydides for Serious.
posted by IndigoJones at 6:17 AM on June 2, 2009
Herotodus for Fun, Thucydides for Serious.
posted by IndigoJones at 6:17 AM on June 2, 2009
From a science/cultural standpoint I suggest Ancient Inventions. Haven't read it for many a year, but it runs from early man through the 1400's.
posted by Chuckles McLaughy du Haha, the depressed clown at 6:37 AM on June 2, 2009
posted by Chuckles McLaughy du Haha, the depressed clown at 6:37 AM on June 2, 2009
Seconding I, Cladius. Currently reading "Creation" by Gore Vidal which is good although I'm only 150 pages in.
posted by Busmick at 6:57 AM on June 2, 2009
posted by Busmick at 6:57 AM on June 2, 2009
If we're getting into graphic novels now, I have to mention an ongoing series by one of my favorite comic writers, Historie. It's an imagining of the life of Eumenides, a secretary of Alexander the Great's, who appears in Plutarch.
Also, I don't think this is exactly what you're looking for, but since you brought up Chinese history I can't help expressing my undying love for Sima Qian.
posted by mustard seeds at 7:00 AM on June 2, 2009
Also, I don't think this is exactly what you're looking for, but since you brought up Chinese history I can't help expressing my undying love for Sima Qian.
posted by mustard seeds at 7:00 AM on June 2, 2009
"Great's"? and why is that comma there? Gah. It must be gnomes.
posted by mustard seeds at 7:04 AM on June 2, 2009
posted by mustard seeds at 7:04 AM on June 2, 2009
Nthing I, Claudius and The Memoirs of Cleopatra.
Someone upthread recommended Tom Holland's Persian Fire. I haven't read that book (yet), but the same author has a fairly good book about the fall of the Roman Republic, Rubicon, which I can recommend.
And if you ever get tired of reading, you may find the History of Rome podcast to be very entertaining and educational.
posted by bristolcat at 7:10 AM on June 2, 2009
Someone upthread recommended Tom Holland's Persian Fire. I haven't read that book (yet), but the same author has a fairly good book about the fall of the Roman Republic, Rubicon, which I can recommend.
And if you ever get tired of reading, you may find the History of Rome podcast to be very entertaining and educational.
posted by bristolcat at 7:10 AM on June 2, 2009
Rise and Fall of Alexandria...
Wide ranging, but approachable.
The plays of Plautus are funny/racy/entertaining.
posted by Tchad at 8:11 AM on June 2, 2009
Wide ranging, but approachable.
The plays of Plautus are funny/racy/entertaining.
posted by Tchad at 8:11 AM on June 2, 2009
Seconding Herodotus, and I can't believe no one's mentioned the wonderful historical novels of Mary Renault.
And paultopia, thanks for that recommendation of The Poison King—I just added it to my Amazon wishlist.
I would discourage anyone from Robin Lane Fox's latest book, Travelling Heroes: Greeks and Their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer; it sounds great, but I just finished reading it and it's a huge disappointment.
posted by languagehat at 8:32 AM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
And paultopia, thanks for that recommendation of The Poison King—I just added it to my Amazon wishlist.
I would discourage anyone from Robin Lane Fox's latest book, Travelling Heroes: Greeks and Their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer; it sounds great, but I just finished reading it and it's a huge disappointment.
posted by languagehat at 8:32 AM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History
Using a slew of both primary and secondary sources, Jo-Ann Shelton takes us through the life of the Romans. Covering topics as varied as slavery, provincial administration, the family unit, the magistrates and occupations, we are brought directly into Roman life with all of its practices, norms, values and peculiarities. The key feature of this book is the focus on the common Roman and how they lived with a section devoted entirely to woman in Roman society, a much overlooked topic. From dinner parties to funeral clubs, all aspects of the common Romans life are discussed.
posted by aquafortis at 8:54 AM on June 2, 2009 [2 favorites]
Umberto Eco: Baudolino and The Name of the Rose
Not quite as ancient a setting as some of these suggestions, but great reads nonetheless.
posted by JaredSeth at 12:03 PM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
Not quite as ancient a setting as some of these suggestions, but great reads nonetheless.
posted by JaredSeth at 12:03 PM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
Personally, I have really enjoyed Steven Saylor's works. His Roma Sub Rosa series has been so much fun for me to read. It may not be as heavy hitting as I, Claudius, but his protagonist is quite loveable, and I really apreciate the way Saylor dramatizes the fall of the Roman repulblic and the rise of the Roman empire. I have to second Mary Renault as well. She rocks.
posted by omphale27 at 1:03 PM on June 2, 2009
posted by omphale27 at 1:03 PM on June 2, 2009
Fiction: Mary Renault's novels. She's best known, I think for the trilogy about Alexander (Fire From Heaven, The Persian Boy, and Funeral Games).
My favorite Troy book (there's *so* many!) is Mark Merlis' An Arrow's Flight, a re-imagining of the Trojan War to tell the story of Achilles' son, the reluctant warrior Pyrrhus, who would much rather stay a dancer in his gay neighborhood in the big city than go off to fight a foreign war. A cool postmodern reworking of the Aeneid and Sophocles' Philoctetes. ('Adult' content.)
Non-Fiction: I really liked James Davidson's Courtesans and Fishcakes, which is a popularizing look at, as he puts it, "the consuming passions of ancient Athens." I think it provides a good contrast to the image of the stately philosopher lounging about the Stoa declaiming on truth and beauty. :)
Primary sources: Well, it depends on what you're interested in. If you like the Trojan War story, you can't go wrong with *the* story, in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Vergil's Aeneid. I like the Lattimore translations of Homer, as they sound the most like the Greek to me; I've never found an Aeneid I really love, but most people like Mandelbaum's.
posted by lysimache at 4:20 PM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
My favorite Troy book (there's *so* many!) is Mark Merlis' An Arrow's Flight, a re-imagining of the Trojan War to tell the story of Achilles' son, the reluctant warrior Pyrrhus, who would much rather stay a dancer in his gay neighborhood in the big city than go off to fight a foreign war. A cool postmodern reworking of the Aeneid and Sophocles' Philoctetes. ('Adult' content.)
Non-Fiction: I really liked James Davidson's Courtesans and Fishcakes, which is a popularizing look at, as he puts it, "the consuming passions of ancient Athens." I think it provides a good contrast to the image of the stately philosopher lounging about the Stoa declaiming on truth and beauty. :)
Primary sources: Well, it depends on what you're interested in. If you like the Trojan War story, you can't go wrong with *the* story, in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Vergil's Aeneid. I like the Lattimore translations of Homer, as they sound the most like the Greek to me; I've never found an Aeneid I really love, but most people like Mandelbaum's.
posted by lysimache at 4:20 PM on June 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
Both Tom Holland books, Persian Fire and Rubicon, are gems - engaging, highly informative and smoothly readable. Can't recommend them highly enough as detailed, fascinating looks at two key moments in ancient history.
For a general intro to the Greek world, it's hard to do better than Thomas Martin's Ancient Greece, taken from Martin's work at the sprawling, wonderful Perseus site. It really helped me get a handle on the basic historic outline and got me excited to dive deeper.
You should definitely read a couple of good editions (Oxford World's Classics, e.g.) of Greek drama, with intro essays and notes, and could do worse than starting with Aristophanes - he'll have you laughing out loud with all the smutty jokes (same for Plautus on the Roman side). Ovid's Art of Love is a helluva lot of smutty fun as well, as is what's survived of Petronious' Satyricon.
One of the most pleasant surprises of the time I spent last year reading ancient history was the slim-but-dense-and-fascinating Spartacus and the Slave Wars: A Brief History with Documents. It uses excerpts from original source material, along with a sharp opening essay and commentary to contextualize one of the most famous stories from Roman times. A very cool little book (and part of a larger series of smart books from Bedford that's very much worth exploring for amateur history buffs).
One last thing: my lay advice is to stay away from Thomas Cahill's Hinges of History series; there are far better written - and far less patronizing and opinionated - books out there. After reading and moving beyond Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, I realized how idiosyncratic and unnecessarily annoying Cahill's take on history can be (that's even more true for How the Irish Saved Civilization - an overblown, misleading mess barely saved by the filler detail).
posted by mediareport at 6:42 PM on June 2, 2009 [4 favorites]
For a general intro to the Greek world, it's hard to do better than Thomas Martin's Ancient Greece, taken from Martin's work at the sprawling, wonderful Perseus site. It really helped me get a handle on the basic historic outline and got me excited to dive deeper.
You should definitely read a couple of good editions (Oxford World's Classics, e.g.) of Greek drama, with intro essays and notes, and could do worse than starting with Aristophanes - he'll have you laughing out loud with all the smutty jokes (same for Plautus on the Roman side). Ovid's Art of Love is a helluva lot of smutty fun as well, as is what's survived of Petronious' Satyricon.
One of the most pleasant surprises of the time I spent last year reading ancient history was the slim-but-dense-and-fascinating Spartacus and the Slave Wars: A Brief History with Documents. It uses excerpts from original source material, along with a sharp opening essay and commentary to contextualize one of the most famous stories from Roman times. A very cool little book (and part of a larger series of smart books from Bedford that's very much worth exploring for amateur history buffs).
One last thing: my lay advice is to stay away from Thomas Cahill's Hinges of History series; there are far better written - and far less patronizing and opinionated - books out there. After reading and moving beyond Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, I realized how idiosyncratic and unnecessarily annoying Cahill's take on history can be (that's even more true for How the Irish Saved Civilization - an overblown, misleading mess barely saved by the filler detail).
posted by mediareport at 6:42 PM on June 2, 2009 [4 favorites]
Gustave Flaubert's Salammbô, a fictionalized account of the Mercenary War of Carthage that took place after the first Punic War. It's got torture, crucifixion, battles, starvation, cannibalism, and, if the translation's any good, Flaubert's great prose.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 7:39 PM on June 2, 2009
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 7:39 PM on June 2, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
Polybius, The Rise of the Roman Empire
Cicero, On Duties
Tacitus, Empire and Emperors
posted by wfrgms at 12:10 AM on June 2, 2009