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Drawing on new archaeological evidence, an authoritative history of
Rome’s Great Fire—and how it inflicted lasting harm on the
Roman Empire According to legend, the Roman emperor Nero set fire
to his majestic imperial capital on the night of July 19, AD 64 and
fiddled while the city burned. It’s a story that has been told
for more than two millennia—and it’s likely that almost none of
it is true. In Rome Is Burning, distinguished Roman historian
Anthony Barrett sets the record straight, providing a comprehensive
and authoritative account of the Great Fire of Rome, its immediate
aftermath, and its damaging longterm consequences for the Roman
world. Drawing on remarkable new archaeological discoveries and
sifting through all the literary evidence, he tells what is known
about what actually happened—and argues that the disaster was a
turning point in Roman history, one that ultimately led to the fall
of Nero and the end of the dynasty that began with Julius Caesar.
Rome Is Burning tells how the fire destroyed much of the city and
threw the population into panic. It describes how it also destroyed
Nero’s golden image and provoked a financial crisis and currency
devaluation that made a permanent impact on the Roman economy. Most
importantly, the book surveys, and includes many photographs of,
recent archaeological evidence that shows visible traces of the
fire’s destruction. Finally, the book describes the fire’s
continuing afterlife in literature, opera, ballet, and film. A
richly detailed and scrupulously factual narrative of an event that
has always been shrouded in myth, Rome Is Burning promises to
become the standard account of the Great Fire of Rome for our time.
The Roman Empire has always exercised a considerable fascination.
Among its numerous colourful personalities, no emperor, with the
possible exception of Nero, has attracted more popular attention
than Caligula, who has a reputation, whether deserved or not, as
the quintessential mad and dangerous ruler. The first edition of
this book established itself as the standard study of Caligula. It
remains the only full length and detailed scholarly analysis in
English of this emperor's reign, and has been translated into a
number of languages. But the study of Classical antiquity is not a
static phenomenon, and scholars are engaged in a persistent quest
to upgrade our knowledge and thinking about the ancient past. In
the thirty years since publication of the original Caligula there
have been considerable scholarly advances in what we know about
this emperor specifically, and also about the general period in
which he functioned, while newly discovered inscriptions and major
archaeological projects have necessitated a rethinking of many of
our earlier conclusions about early imperial history. This new
edition constitutes a major revision and, in places, a major
rewriting, of the original text. Maintaining the reader-friendly
structure and organisation of its predecessor, it embodies the
latest discoveries and the latest thinking, seeking to make more
lucid and comprehensible those aspects of the reign that are
particularly daunting to the non-specialist. Like the original,
this revised Caligula is intended to satisfy the requirements of
the scholarly community while appealing to a broad and general
readership.
Drawing on new archaeological evidence, an authoritative history of
Rome's Great Fire-and how it inflicted lasting harm on the Roman
Empire According to legend, the Roman emperor Nero set fire to his
majestic imperial capital on the night of July 19, AD 64 and
fiddled while the city burned. It's a story that has been told for
more than two millennia-and it's likely that almost none of it is
true. In Rome Is Burning, distinguished Roman historian Anthony
Barrett sets the record straight, providing a comprehensive and
authoritative account of the Great Fire of Rome, its immediate
aftermath, and its damaging longterm consequences for the Roman
world. Drawing on remarkable new archaeological discoveries and
sifting through all the literary evidence, he tells what is known
about what actually happened-and argues that the disaster was a
turning point in Roman history, one that ultimately led to the fall
of Nero and the end of the dynasty that began with Julius Caesar.
Rome Is Burning tells how the fire destroyed much of the city and
threw the population into panic. It describes how it also destroyed
Nero's golden image and provoked a financial crisis and currency
devaluation that made a permanent impact on the Roman economy. Most
importantly, the book surveys, and includes many photographs of,
recent archaeological evidence that shows visible traces of the
fire's destruction. Finally, the book describes the fire's
continuing afterlife in literature, opera, ballet, and film. A
richly detailed and scrupulously factual narrative of an event that
has always been shrouded in myth, Rome Is Burning promises to
become the standard account of the Great Fire of Rome for our time.
This study uses recent archaeological, numismatic and historical
evidence to reveal the character of Agrippina, a key imperial
figure of classical antiquity. She was the sister of Caligula, wife
of Claudius and mother of Nero. She attained a level of power
unprecedented for a woman in first century Rome with a lifestyle
which embraced treachery, incest and murder. Barrett assesses the
historical and personal impact of Agrippina's marriage to the
emperor Claudius and explores her relationship with her son, Nero,
the monster of her own making. Anthony Barrett is also the author
of "Caligula".
This study uses recent archaeological, numismatic and historical
evidence to reveal the character of Agrippina, a key imperial
figure of classical antiquity. She was the sister of Caligula, wife
of Claudius and mother of Nero. She attained a level of power
unprecedented for a woman in first century Rome with a lifestyle
which embraced treachery, incest and murder. Barrett assesses the
historical and personal impact of Agrippina's marriage to the
emperor Claudius and explores her relationship with her son, Nero,
the monster of her own making. Anthony Barrett is also the author
of "Caligula".
There can be few historical figures who have made such a powerful
impact on the popular imagination as the Roman emperor Caligula
(died AD 41). Yet an accurate reconstruction of his life and reign
largely eludes us. This is paradoxical. The source material is
plentiful, even lavish, by the standards of antiquity. The problem
lies not so much in the quantity of evidence available, but in its
quality. For our information we are obliged to draw on ancient
accounts that can be colourful and wonderfully entertaining but
have a flexible notion of historical truth and often seem to border
on fiction. The consequence is that there is hardly a detail that
the modern historian can present without deep reservations about
its reliability. A biography of Caligula, in the regular modern
sense of the word, is an insurmountable task, and can be at best be
a summary personal interpretation by an individual historian of a
mass of incoherent and often inconsistent material. Where does this
leave the serious general reader? This book approaches Caligula
from a quite different angle, by presenting the reader with the raw
material of the ancient sources. It provides over 300 translated
passages of texts, taken mainly from ancient writers, but also from
coins and inscriptions. The translations are accompanied by
extensive introductions and notes. These are tailored to the
non-specialist, and intended to help such readers navigate material
that is often contradictory, sometimes downright incredible, and
helps to place events and institutions in their historical
contexts. The colourful and exotic incidents are still here, but
are presented in a context that will help the reader gain a more
sophisticated understanding of how scholars try to reconstruct
events of the past. This approach allows the reader to tackle
head-on the stark reality that what we read in our sources is not
necessarily the truth.
The Roman Empire has always exercised a considerable fascination.
Among its numerous colourful personalities, no emperor, with the
possible exception of Nero, has attracted more popular attention
than Caligula, who has a reputation, whether deserved or not, as
the quintessential mad and dangerous ruler. The first edition of
this book established itself as the standard study of Caligula. It
remains the only full length and detailed scholarly analysis in
English of this emperor's reign, and has been translated into a
number of languages. But the study of Classical antiquity is not a
static phenomenon, and scholars are engaged in a persistent quest
to upgrade our knowledge and thinking about the ancient past. In
the thirty years since publication of the original Caligula there
have been considerable scholarly advances in what we know about
this emperor specifically, and also about the general period in
which he functioned, while newly discovered inscriptions and major
archaeological projects have necessitated a rethinking of many of
our earlier conclusions about early imperial history. This new
edition constitutes a major revision and, in places, a major
rewriting, of the original text. Maintaining the reader-friendly
structure and organisation of its predecessor, it embodies the
latest discoveries and the latest thinking, seeking to make more
lucid and comprehensible those aspects of the reign that are
particularly daunting to the non-specialist. Like the original,
this revised Caligula is intended to satisfy the requirements of
the scholarly community while appealing to a broad and general
readership.
Nero's reign (AD 54-68) witnessed some of the most memorable events
in Roman history, such as the rebellion of Boudica and the first
persecution of the Christians--not to mention Nero's murder of his
mother, his tyranny and extravagance, and his suicide, which
plunged the empire into civil war. The Emperor Nero gathers into a
single collection the major sources for Nero's life and rule,
providing students of Nero and ancient Rome with the most
authoritative and accessible reader there is. The Emperor Nero
features clear, contemporary translations of key literary sources
along with translations and explanations of representative
inscriptions and coins issued under Nero. The informative
introduction situates the emperor's reign within the history of the
Roman Empire, and the book's concise headnotes to chapters place
the source material in historical and biographical context.
Passages are accompanied by detailed notes and are organized around
events, such as the Great Fire of Rome, or by topic, such as Nero's
relationships with his wives. Complex events like the war with
Parthia--split up among several chapters in Tacitus's Annals--are
brought together in continuous narratives, making this the most
comprehensible and user-friendly sourcebook on Nero available.
This essential document for the study of Roman history traces the
story of Rome from Romulus and the foundations of Rome to the reign
of the Emperor Tiberius. It is especially valuable to historians
and students for its vivid eyewitness account of the dramatic years
that saw the Roman Empire emerge from the chaos left by the
shattered Republic. Rendered with the non-specialist in mind, the
translation-the first English language translation in nearly ninety
years-seeks to remain faithful to the original while avoiding
technical and obscure jargon. The volume includes a substantial
introduction to Velleius' life and times, and to the literary
context of his historical work, as well as generous and detailed
notes on the text, a bibliography, map, glossary of unfamiliar
terms, and an index.
'He was atrocious in his brutality, but his lechery was kept
hidden... In the end, he erupted into an orgy of crime and ignominy
alike' Such is Tacitus' obituary of Tiberius, and he is no less
caustic in his opinion of the weak and cuckolded Claudius and the
'artist' Nero. The Annals is a gripping account of the Roman
emperors who followed Augustus, the founder of the imperial system,
and of the murders, sycophancy, plotting, and oppression that
marked this period in Rome. Tacitus provides the earliest and most
detailed account of Boudicca's rebellion in Britain, and his
history also relates the great fire of Rome in the reign of Nero,
and the persecution of the Christians that followed. He deplores
the depravity of the emperors, whose behaviour he sees as proof of
the corrupting force of absolute power. J. C. Yardley's translation
is vivid and accurate, and Anthony A. Barrett's introduction and
notes provide invaluable historical and cultural context. ABOUT THE
SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made
available the widest range of literature from around the globe.
Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship,
providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable
features, including expert introductions by leading authorities,
helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for
further study, and much more.
This essential document for the study of Roman history traces the
story of Rome from Romulus and the foundations of Rome to the reign
of the Emperor Tiberius. It is especially valuable to historians
and students for its vivid eyewitness account of the dramatic years
that saw the Roman Empire emerge from the chaos left by the
shattered Republic. Rendered with the non-specialist in mind, the
translation-the first English language translation in nearly ninety
years-seeks to remain faithful to the original while avoiding
technical and obscure jargon. The volume includes a substantial
introduction to Velleius' life and times, and to the literary
context of his historical work, as well as generous and detailed
notes on the text, a bibliography, map, glossary of unfamiliar
terms, and an index.
There can be few historical figures who have made such a powerful
impact on the popular imagination as the Roman emperor Caligula
(died AD 41). Yet an accurate reconstruction of his life and reign
largely eludes us. This is paradoxical. The source material is
plentiful, even lavish, by the standards of antiquity. The problem
lies not so much in the quantity of evidence available, but in its
quality. For our information we are obliged to draw on ancient
accounts that can be colourful and wonderfully entertaining but
have a flexible notion of historical truth and often seem to border
on fiction. The consequence is that there is hardly a detail that
the modern historian can present without deep reservations about
its reliability. A biography of Caligula, in the regular modern
sense of the word, is an insurmountable task, and can be at best be
a summary personal interpretation by an individual historian of a
mass of incoherent and often inconsistent material. Where does this
leave the serious general reader? This book approaches Caligula
from a quite different angle, by presenting the reader with the raw
material of the ancient sources. It provides over 300 translated
passages of texts, taken mainly from ancient writers, but also from
coins and inscriptions. The translations are accompanied by
extensive introductions and notes. These are tailored to the
non-specialist, and intended to help such readers navigate material
that is often contradictory, sometimes downright incredible, and
helps to place events and institutions in their historical
contexts. The colourful and exotic incidents are still here, but
are presented in a context that will help the reader gain a more
sophisticated understanding of how scholars try to reconstruct
events of the past. This approach allows the reader to tackle
head-on the stark reality that what we read in our sources is not
necessarily the truth.
Agrippina the Younger attained a level of power in first-century
Rome unprecedented for a woman. According to ancient sources, she
achieved her success by plotting against her brother, the emperor
Caligula, murdering her husband, the emperor Claudius, and
controlling her son, the emperor Nero, by sleeping with him. Modern
scholars tend to accept this verdict. But in his dynamic biography
- the first on Agrippina in English - Anthony Barrett paints a
startling new picture of this influential woman. Drawing on the
latest archaeological, numismatic, and historical evidence, Barrett
argues that Agrippina has been misjudged. Although she was
ambitious, says Barrett, she made her way through ability and
determination rather than by sexual allure, and her political
contributions to her time seem to have been positive. After
Agrippina's marriage to Claudius there was a marked decline in the
number of judicial executions and there was close cooperation
between the Senate and the emperor; the settlement of Cologne,
founded under her aegis, was a model of social harmony; and the
first five years of Nero's reign, while she was still alive, were
the most enlightened of his rule. According to Barrett, Agrippina's
one real failing was her relationship with her son, the monster of
her own making who had her murdered in horrific and violent
circumstances. Agrippina's impact was so lasting, however, that for
some 150 years after her death no woman in the imperial family
dared assume an assertive political role.
Livia-wife of the first Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, and mother
of the second, Tiberius- wielded extraordinary power at the center
of Roman politics. In this biography of Livia, the first in
English, Anthony Barrett sets aside the portrait of a cunning and
sinister schemer to reveal Livia as a complex figure whose enduring
political influence helped shape Roman government long after her
death. "An excellent biography of Livia-as appealing to the general
reader as it is satisfying to the scholar."-Colin M. Wells, Trinity
University, San Antonio "In reading Anthony Barrett's biography of
Livia, I not only learned about this remarkable woman, but also
gained a meaningful appreciation of life and society in her
time."-Howard Alper, President, The Royal Society of Canada
"First-rate."-Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement
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