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No historian of ancient Rome in this century has had a greater
influence on historical research or won greater international
acclaim than Sir Ronald Syne (1903-89). His outstanding position
was due mainly to his first two books, The Roman Revolution, which
appeared in 1939, and Tacitus (two volumes, 1958) - although he
went on to produce many more monographs, and seven volumes of his
Roman Papers have so far appeared. The long gap between his first
two books is partly explained by the war, which took him on
official duties to Belgrade and Ankara; and he spent the years
1943-5 at Istanbul as Professor of Classical Philology. It was
known that in spite of the war, Syme had continued to write in
these years, in particular `Strabonia', investigations into the
famous ancient Geography composed by Strabo, a native of Asia Minor
in the time of Augustus. After Syme's death, the manuscript was
discovered among his papers: he had not quite completed the work,
but what he had written, with almost complete annotation,
represents a substantial and fascinating study of the historical
geography of Anatolia in the Hellenistic and early Roman period.
Syme ruthlessly dissects the often incoherent and inconsistent text
of Strabo, at the same time providing rich detail on client kings,
Roman generals and emperors, writers and travellers. Above all, he
shows unequalled ability to understand the landscape and settlement
of Anatolia; and the work is composed in the same forceful and
elegant style that made his other books classics of historical
literature.
Sir Ronald Syme has been a major figure in classical studies for
almost half a century, and this final volume contains his most
recent papers. Syme offers insightful discussions of ancient
authors such as the younger Pliny and Tacitus, and also sheds much
new light on the classical Roman age's important political events
and figures.
This volume collects twenty-six previously unpublished studies on
Republican history by the late Sir Ronald Syme (1903-1989), drawn
from the archive of Syme's papers at the Bodleian Library. This set
of papers sheds light on aspects of Republican history that were
either overlooked or tangentially discussed in Syme's published
work. They range across a wide spectrum of topics, including the
political history of the second century BC, the age of Sulla, the
conspiracy of Catiline, problems of constitutional law, and the
Roman conquest of Umbria. Each of them makes a distinctive
contribution to specific historical problems. Taken as a whole,
they enable us to reach a more comprehensive assessment of Syme's
intellectual and historiographical profile. The papers are preceded
by an introduction that places them within the context of Syme's
work and of the current historiography on the Roman Republic, and
are followed by a full set of bibliographical addenda.
Shortly before his death in September 1989, Sir Ronald Syme
approved the selection and publication of these fifty-nine papers.
Volume VI, composed of previously published articles and reviews,
offers a splendid cross-section of Syme's interests: the Roman
revolution; the Augustan aristocracy; Tacitus and Sallust;
historical geography; the Roman army; a variety of classical
authors (Horace, Ovid, Strabo, Seneca, Justin, the Historia
Augusta); the Emperor Hadrian; colonial elites; historiography,
ancient and modern; and Roman political thought and society. Volume
VII consists of twelve unpublished papers (originally intended to
form part of a separate book, `Pliny and Italia Transpadana'), in
which the two Plinies and their age are put under searching
scrutiny. It is rounded off by a Latin text purporting to derive
from a lost book of Tacitus' Histories (duly equipped with
commentary); and by an Index to both volumes.
Before his death in late 1989, Sir Ronald Syme approved the
publication of these 59 papers on Roman history which complete this
collection of his life's work. Volume VI covers such varied topics
as "Human Rights and Social Status at Rome", "Marriage Ages for
Roman Senators", "Oligarchy at Rome: A Paradigm for Political
Science", "Military Geography at Rome", "Diet on Capri ", "A Dozen
Early Priesthoods", and "Some Unrecognized Authors from Spain ".
Volume VII contains solely later, unpublished work which was still
in manuscript form at the time of Sir Ronald's death. The final
item is a spoof on Tacitus, comprising a Latin text on the story of
Titus and Berenice with historical commentary. The work is aimed at
scholars and students of Roman history, Roman literature, Roman
philosophy, and classics.
While the monarchy established by Caesar Augustus attracts
assiduous study, not enough has been said about the old nobility
renascent after years of civil war. One clear reason is the nature
of the evidence, most of it sporadic or recondite. To be made
intelligible, the theme demands constant recourse to better
documented periods. The exposition has to range backward to the
closing age of the Republic and forward to Nero's death. In fact,
the best testimony to the Augustan aristocracy derives from the
Annals of Tacitus. After splendour and success, evident notably in
the second decade of the reign (on which this book is centred), the
ancient houses went down in the embrace of the dynasty, itself from
the outset an aristocratic nexus. Covering something like a century
and a half in the history of Roman families, this book may be taken
as a supplement no less than sequel to The Roman Revolution (OUP
1939) and to Tacitus (OUP 1958).
Volumes Iv and V of Roman Papers contain forty-two of Sir Ronald
Syme's papers composed between 1981 and 1985. A good many deal with
the younger Pliny and Tacitus; other ancient authors examined here
include Strabo, the elder Pliny, Statius, Quintilian, and Arrian.
Several papers focus on the Spanish provinces and on the Greek
east. New light is shed on the 'Hispano-Narbonensian nexus' that
emerged under the Flavians and was to form the Antonine dynasty, on
the emperor Hadrian and his Antonine successors, and on the usurper
Avidius Cassius. There is an Index of Persons for the two volumes
at the end of Roman Papers V.
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Sallust (Paperback, Revised)
Ronald Syme; Foreword by Ronald Mellor
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R919
R780
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With this classic book, Sir Ronald Syme became the first historian
of the twentieth century to place Sallust--whom Tacitus called the
most brilliant Roman historian--in his social, political, and
literary context. Scholars had considered Sallust to be a mere
political hack or pamphleteer, but Syme's text makes important
connections between the politics of the Republic and the literary
achievement of the author to show Sallust as a historian unbiased
by partisanship. In a new foreword, Ronald Mellor delivers one of
the most thorough biographical essays of Sir Ronald Syme in
English. He both places the book in the context of Syme's other
works and details the progression of Sallustian studies since and
as a result of Syme's work.
This is a new release of the original 1956 edition.
This is a new release of the original 1956 edition.
Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of
rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for
everyone!
Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of
rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone
Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of
rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for
everyone!
Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of
rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for
everyone!
The Roman Revolution is a profound and unconventional treatment of a great theme - the fall of the Republic and the decline of freedom in Rome between 60 BC and AD 14, and the rise to power of the greatest of the Roman Emperors, Augustus. The transformation of state and society, the violent transference of power and property, and the establishment of Augustus' rule are presented in an unconventional narrative, which quotes from ancient evidence, refers seldomly to modern authorities, and states controversial opinions quite openly. The result is a book which is both fresh and compelling.
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