‘I hope my passion for Rome’s past has not impaired my judgement; for I do honestly believe that no country has ever been greater or purer than ours or richer in good citizens or noble deeds’

• Contains Robert Ogilvie’s introduction of 1971, a new preface examining the text in the light of recent Livy scholarship, detailed index, full bibliography and maps. •

Published in 1928, Volume VII of the Cambridge Ancient History orginally covered both the history of the Hellenistic world from the battle of Ipsus in 301 BC down to the Peace of Naupactus and the battle of Raphia in 217 BC and the history of Rome from its foundation down to the same date. In the new edition the Greek and Roman sections have been assigned to two separate volumes. Of these, VII part I opens after the death of Alexander, in 323 BC, as being a more logical starting-point for Hellenistic history; but 217 has been retained as the terminal date since, as Polybius noted, it is from then onwards that Rome begins to play a substantial role in Greek affairs. The volume has been completely rewritten by specialists from Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Canada, and takes full account of the vast amount of new material that has become available in the last fifty years. Separate chapters deal with the main kingdoms - Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Asia and Macedonia - and with mainland Greece, Sicily and the smaller states including Pergamum. Political events are fully described and assessed, but there is less emphasis on military detail than in the first edition. The space thus saved has been given over to chapters on the historical sources, on the institution of monarchy and the ideology surrounding it, on the main cultural, social and economic aspects of the Hellenistic world and on the development of Hellenistic science, especially in relation to its application in peace and war. This up-to-date and authoritative account of the early Hellenistic world is designed to serve both the student and the general reader of this and subsequent generations as the first edition has served those of the last fifty years.

This volume of the second edition of The Cambridge Ancient History traces the history of Rome from its origins to the eve of the Second Punic War. It begins with a survey of sources for early Roman history. An examination of the first discernible traces of the Bronze Age settlement is followed by an assessment of the regal period. The complex and often controversial history of the early republic is analyzed with reference to its internal development, the evolution of its relationships with the Latins, and its ruthless assaults upon various parts of Italy. Later sections discuss the intervention of Pyrrhus and its aftermath which leads to consideration of Rome's relationships with Carthage, the First Punic War, and the beginnings of overseas empire.

Volume VIII covers the period from immediately before the Second Punic War to 133 B.C., the time when Rome acquired effective political mastery of the Mediterranean lands. From the Carthaginians in Spain, the Second Punic War, and the first Roman involvement across the Adriatic, the advance of Roman power is traced through the conquests in Cisalpine Gaul, Spain and Africa in the west and through the conflicts in the east with Macedonia, the Seleucid empire, and finally the Greeks. Interspersed with these themes are chapters on the Seleucids and their rivals, the Greeks of Bactria and India, the internal political life of Rome, and developments in Rome's relationships with her allies and neighbors in Italy. Two concluding chapters explore the interactions, both intellectual and material, between the Roman and Italian tradition and the Greek world.

Books VI to X cover a dramatic century —from Rome’s apparent collapse after defeat by the Gauls in 386 B.C. to its emergence as the premier power in Italy in 293 B.C.

Tacitus (Cornelius), famous Roman historian, was born in 55, 56 or 57 CE and lived to about 120. He became an orator, married in 77 a daughter of Julius Agricola before Agricola went to Britain, was quaestor in 81 or 82, a senator under the Flavian emperors, and a praetor in 88. After four years' absence he experienced the terrors of Emperor Domitian's last years and turned to historical writing. He was a consul in 97. Close friend of the younger Pliny, with him he successfully prosecuted Marius Priscus.

Works: (i) "Life and Character of Agricola," written in 97-98, specially interesting because of Agricola's career in Britain. (ii) "Germania" (98-99), an equally important description of the geography, anthropology, products, institutions, and social life and the tribes of the Germans as known to the Romans. (iii) "Dialogue on Oratory" ("Dialogus"), of unknown date; a lively conversation about the decline of oratory and education. (iv) "Histories" (probably issued in parts from 105 onwards), a great work originally consisting of at least twelve books covering the period 69-96 CE, but only Books I-IV and part of Book V survive, dealing in detail with the dramatic years 69-70. (v) "Annals," Tacitus's other great work, originally covering the period 14-68 CE (Emperors Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius, Nero) and published between 115 and about 120. Of sixteen books at least, there survive Books I-IV (covering the years 14-28); a bit of Book V and all Book VI (31-37); part of Book XI (from 47); Books XII-XV and part of Book XVI (to 66).

Tacitus is renowned for his development of a pregnant concise style, character study, and psychological analysis, and for the often terrible story whichhe brilliantly tells. As a historian of the early Roman empire he is paramount.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Tacitus is in five volumes.