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Need some recommendations of literature on ancient Rome. (self.ancientrome)

submitted ago by Iamkazam

I'm in my second semester of college working on my BA in Social Studies Education. I took my first introductory history course, and while Rome was covered thoroughly, I still want to learn more. I have the courses I'm taking throughout my time here pretty much planned out to the tee, and unfortunately none of them really involve much Roman history. So I was wondering if you kind folks could recommend some awesome books!

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[–]wookieking 8 points9 points ago

Suetonius, Sallust, Tacitus, and Lucan are all excellent sources to look into.

[–]Algernon_Asimov 9 points10 points ago

Apart from the classic sources already cited here, my bookshelf also includes:

  • 'A History of the Roman World' by H.H. Scullard

  • 'From the Gracchi to Nero', by H.H. Scullard

These are a bit dry, but very informative.

  • 'History of Rome', by Michael Grant

From start to finish, all in one volume.

  • 'Rubicon', by Tom Holland

Focuses on Gaius Julius Caesar. Very readable.

If you like your history in novel form, as well as straight fact, I highly recommend the Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough, starting with 'The First Man in Rome'. That's what got me interested in this period.

[–]spacemanspiff30 1 point2 points ago

I came here to recommend OP send you a PM

[–]Algernon_Asimov 0 points1 point ago

Why me? As you see, there are plenty of other people around with more knowledge than me. I'm merely one among many - and an amateur one, at that.

[–]jayesanctus 6 points7 points ago

Suetonius '12 Caesars' is a great place to start.

[–]nthensome 5 points6 points ago

Anything and everything by Livy.

[–]Sealbhach 2 points3 points ago

Robert Harris has written some enjoyable historical novels based in ancient Rome. Imperium is great.

[–]Algernon_Asimov 0 points1 point ago

I'm still waiting for the third one in that trilogy to come out! GRRR!

[–]Brock_Sexington -1 points0 points ago

'The Ghosts of Canae' By Robert...Cook I believe. One of the most enjoyable reads out there and it incorporates a lot of Livy's work as well

[–]the_grapefruits 0 points1 point ago

Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres

Not to troll, but I really didn't expect most of the recommendations to come straight out of ancient history. ಠ_ಠ

That said, they all do make for pretty interesting (albeit a bit hardcore at times) reads.

[–]Algernon_Asimov 2 points3 points ago

Why not go for the sources closest to the period in question? Having Roman history written by a Roman historian is the next best thing to being there.

That said, you do need to mix in some more modern historians, who have the benefit of combining the ancient sources with archaelogical findings.

[–]luxiqi 0 points1 point ago

If you want a smattering of everything about ancient Roman culture and history, I'd recommend As the Romans Did. I'm using it right now in my Roman Civilization class, and it has excerpts from many classical sources about everything Roman. From there, I would recommend looking into the sources that you enjoy reading. I have enjoyed Suetonius' Twelve Caesars immensely.

[–]Thanatos89 0 points1 point ago

What era of Roman history are you interested in? The Republic? Empire? Late antiquity? Overall?

[–]Iamkazam[S] 0 points1 point ago

I don't know much about the early Latin League, so I would like to learn more about it. The Julio-Claudian dynasty is pretty interesting to me also.

[–]Algernon_Asimov 0 points1 point ago

Oh, well, if you want Julio-Claudian... have I got a deal for you!

Seutonius's The Twelve Caesars starts with Julius Caesar himself, and devotes a chapter to each of the successive Caesars, through Augustus, up to Nero - and then more. There's also a "companion volume" (that's what the author calls it!) to complement Seutonius' work, called The Caesars by historian Allan Massie.

Rubicon, as I said elsewhere, focusses on Caesar and the civil war.

There's a recent biography called Augustus by Anthony Everett which I read only a couple of months ago: that's quite good.

There's Robert Graves's I, Claudius - which I admit I haven't read, but have heard good things about.

Then, of course, there are Tacitus's Annals and Histories.

If you want to watch your history, there's the TV series 'Rome', which focusses on Caesar and Augustus. And, the old BBC series 'I, Claudius', based on the book. I even have a miniseries called 'Augustus' on DVD.

[–]Root-Germanicus 0 points1 point ago

A great work on the late Empire is Adrian Goldsworthy's How Rome Fell, which features a compelling narrative history from the death of Marcus Aurelius to the last emperor Romulus Augustulus.

[–]HistoryBluff 0 points1 point ago

'Ancient Rome: An Introductory History' by Paul A. Zoch. He's a very clear and very interesting writer.

[–]joecomatose 1 point2 points ago

Can't believe Gibbon's Decline and Fall hasn't been mentioned. Its a great read, and although some of his assertions have been challenged, as a whole it remains a very authoritative work in the field

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