Roman History Books and More

how to publish without perishing

Food for thought!

Op-Ed Contributor, The New York Times
How to Publish Without Perishing
By JAMES GLEICK

Published: November 30, 2008

Even in the digital age, books have a chance for new life: as a physical object, and as an idea, and as a set of literary forms.

Illustration by Max, The New York Times

veleda, bructerian prophetess

Veleda was the Bructerian prophetess whom Falco – and Justinus – tangle with in The Iron Hand of Mars, or read next Wednesday.

Jona Lendering has more about Veleda:

The word Veleda seems to be a title:  it has been assumed that it is a Latin rendering of the Celtic word 'prophetess', but there is a problem – she was not living in a region where Celtic languages were spoken.  Perhaps West-Germanic, 'to have power', is a better parallel.  The Veleda we know about predicted the successes of the Batavians when they revolted against the Roman empire (69).  It is not known whether she merely prophesied, or actively incited the rebellion.

read on    

Veleda at Wikipedia (as usual handle with care) gives more references.

the view from my window

Stamford, CT, Thanksgiving 2008, 12:30 PM
High School Football at Boyle Stadium
Darien Blue Waves playing New Canaan Rams
The Stamford Black Knights last night on home turf here beat the Westhill Vikings for the "city crown".  The noise wafting up was accordingly …

barack obama – the new cicero?

I've tried so far to keep this blog out of politics, but with a president now elected, and a friend pointing me to this column in The Guardian, and I could not resist:

The new Cicero
Barack Obama's speeches are much admired and endlessly analysed, but, says Charlotte Higgins, one of their most interesting aspects is the enormous debt they owe to the oratory of the Romans.

Hat tip to Aulus

Happy Thanksgiving!

bingley is blogging falco and the legions

Having recently witnessed the death of Moguntiacum in Eagle in the Snow, the Roman History Reading Group returns there with Marcus Didius Falco in The Iron Hand of Mars.  Falco is sent to Moguntiacum, ostensibly with a gift from the Emperor for Legio XIV Gemina, who are sharing quarters with Legio I Adiutrix, where Helena Justina's brother is serving.  Falco's own military service was with Legio II Augusta. This leads to problems.

Continue reading Matters Arising:  Falco and the Legions and watch the video from the Legio II Augusta re-enactment group.

"netflix" for books

What will they think up next?

A book as Christmas gift? Here’s a smarter idea

Online Book Rental

BookSwim is the first online book rental library service lending you paperbacks and hardcovers, Netflix®-style, directly to your house, without the need to purchase! Whether it's new releases, bestsellers, or classics, we have something for everyone, with free shipping both ways! Read your books as long as you want — no late fees! Even choose to purchase and keep the titles you love!

(Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan)

In praise of negative book reviews

For all you book reviewers out there, here comes an essay in the NYT:

Enough With the Sweet Talk
By JOE QUEENAN
Published: November 16, 2008
Forget unfair negative reviews. The real problem is the unfair positive ones.

Illustration by Ron Barrett, The New York Times

the conspiracy of gaius julius civilis (the batavian rebellion of 69/70 CE)

One of the tasks the emperor Vespasian has given Marcus Didius Falco for his assignment in Germania (The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis, our next read) is to find the fugitive leader of the Batavian Rebellion, Gaius Julius Civilis.  Read the mystery novel and find out what "really" happened to Civilis before he "disappears from history," as it is phrased in one of the articles below.  The whole sorry story as reported in history:

Gaius Julius Civilis
Revolt of the Batavi
both Wikipedia, handle with care
The Batavian revolt at livius.org

Ancient writers:

The History by Tacitus
Cassius Dio Epitome of Book LXIV

The image at right comes from a large canvas titled The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis, by Rembrandt, 1662 (Nationalmuseum Stockholm).   It's accompanied by an excellent text.

new map: the waters of the city of rome

 Very neat once one has figured out navigation.  (thanks to N.S. Gill)

Aquae Urbis Romae

Aquae Urbis Romae is an interactive cartographic history of the relationships between hydrological and hydraulic systems and their impact on the urban development of Rome, Italy. Our study begins in 753 BC and will ultimately extend to the present day. Aquae Urbis Romae examines the intersections between natural hydrological elements such as springs, rain, streams, marshes, and the Tiber River, and constructed hydraulic elements such as aqueducts, fountains, sewers, bridges, conduits, etc., that together create the water infrastructure system of Rome.

lindsey davis, author of the "marcus didius falco" mystery series

Our next book is The Iron Hand of Mars, a Marcus Didius Falco mystery by Lindsey Davis, the fourth book in the series. (Wednesday, December 3)

For interested readers, here is Ms. Davis' website.

another entertaining mythology installment by bingley: pyramus and thisbe

Pyramus and Thisbe at Matters Arising

Don't miss the Beatles video!

Image:  Pyramus and Thisbe, from Caxton's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, circa 1480.

More Ovid Illustrations and facsimiles from The Classics Text, Traditions and Interpretations.

topographia: rome reborn – update (more)

Update 2:  Mary Beard:  What's the matter with Google Earth's Ancient Rome?

2008 Update 1:  It's been upgraded and is now Rome Reborn 2.o  / Gallery.  It can also be viewed on Google Earth 4.3, but I personally find this complicated.  (courtesy N.S. Gill)

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In my recent review of Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day by Philip Matyszak I referred to its illustrations by Altair 4 Multi-Media Roma. That leads to a timely reminder of the new project at the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, University of Virginia, officially rolled out on June 11:

Rome Reborn 1.0

This initial site version (4th century A.D.) is only the beginning of an undertaking that will span the time from the Bronze Age (c. 1000 B.C.) to A.D. 552.  However, what is there so far, is well worth exploring in depth.  Also, under Resources, there are recommended sites on Roman Topography, from Piranesi to Platner’s Topographical Dictionary (best seen at LacusCurtius’  TOPOGRAPHIA URBIS ROMÆ) to current versions.

Related Smithsonian Magazine Article, July 2007

augustus: res gestae

As we are finishing up Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor by Anthony Everitt, it might be worthwhile looking at Augustus' res gestae divi augusti  (Wikipedia, handle with care as usual).

(Top part of a photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons, Monumentum Ancyranum)

The text was widely published throughout the empire, in Latin and in the Greek translation.  LacusCurtius has it in both languages and the English translation, side by side:  Monumentum Ancyranum (Res Gestae Divi Augusti).  However, an easier read of the English text is available at the Internet Classics Archive:  The Deeds of the Divine Augustus.

some comments on wednesday's book chat … augustus by everitt vs. augustus by g. p. baker

I started my review of Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor thus:

"[Augustus] himself is a shadowy figure. Many books have been written about his achievements, but they have tended to focus on the Augustan age, rather than on the man as he was. My hope is to make Augustus come alive. As well as narrating his own doings, I place his story in his times and describe the events and personalities that affected him. Shipwrecks, human sacrifice, hairbreadth escapes, unbridled sex, battles on land and at sea, ambushes, family scandals, and above all the unforgiving pursuit of absolute power. Augustus lived out an extraordinary and often terrifying drama. The stage is crowded with larger-than-life personalities… "

So writes the author in his Preface. After my second read-through of the book, I'm still not enthusiastic about it. In fact, rather than breathlessly following an ‘often terrifying drama,’ I got bored at times, and more often than not, Augustus did not ‘come alive,’ at least not to me.

We discussed this in our first chat about the biography by Anthony Everitt.  I said I was even more bored than before and thought the depiction of Octavian rather bloodless, and some participants agreed that it was a bit hard to get a handle on Octavian the person (and on others):  one comment was, "I find the characters here pretty skeletal."   Two members mentioned that they had read or were reading Augustus: The Golden Age of Rome by G. P. Baker.

next book: 'augustus, the life of rome's first emperor'

Our first of two chats on Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor by Anthony Everitt is this coming Wednesday, November 5.

Let's try through Chapter XII "East is East and West is West," which is about half-way through the actual body of the book.

Here is my review from 2007.  As you can see, I do have some problems with the book, but that may be all to the good, as it creates plenty of discussion points for our chat  ;-)