Roman History Books and More

corrected reading list for 2017

edited

Upon further checking, it turns out that we read Robert Harris' second book in the Cicero series under another title already. Thus we will continue with the third and final novel, "Dictator."

Chat List for 2017

January 4 & 18, February 1	The Grass Crown by Colleen McCullough also as eBook
February 15, March 1 & 15	Rubicon by Tom Holland also as eBook
April 5 & 19	Antony by Allan Massie
May 3 & 17	The Edge of the Empire: A Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall by Bronwen Riley UK title: Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall, AD 130 also as eBook
June 7 & 21	A Year of Ravens: a novel of Boudica's Rebellion by The H-Team (Ruth Downie, Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Vicky Alvear Shecter), S.J.A. Turney, Russell Whitfield, E. Knight) also as eBook possible authors chat (U.S. based authors)
July 5 & 19	Daughters of Rome (Empress of Rome) by Kate Quinn also as eBook Author chat
August Recess
September 6 & 13 (because of Rosh Hashanah)	Dictator by Robert Harris (Cicero III) also as eBook
October 4 & 18, November 1	SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard also as eBook
November 15	The War with Jugurtha by Sallust at LacusCurtius
December 6	The Ides of April: A Flavia Albia Mystery Book 1by Lindsey Davis also as eBook
December 13 (Chanukah starts December 13)	Nox Dormienda by Kelly Stanley also as eBook possible author chat

 

upcoming book chat: 'letters from a stoic' by seneca, april 1 & 15

Our upcoming chats on April 1 & 15 are letters by Seneca:
Corrected to adjust dates.

Letters from a Stoic (Penguin Classics)
Online

The Penguin book contains the following letters which we will discuss - ideally - as follows:

April 1:

II, III, V, VI through IX,
XI, XII, XV, XVI, XVIII.
XXVI through XXVIII,
XXXIII, XXXVIII,
XL, XLI, XLVI through XLVIII,
LIII through LVI

April 15:

LXIII, LXV, LXXIII, LXXV, LXXVII, LXXVIII,
LXXXIII, LXXXVI, LXXXVIII,
XC, XCI,
CIV, CVII, CVIII,
CXIV, CXXII, CXXIII

Chat Room Directions for Newcomers

Seneca, the fat-cat philosopher

Connected: June 3 & 17 chats
Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero
by James Romm / author chat
also as eBook

strabo's 'geography': geographers, historians and philosophers mentioned or referenced (more)

More references to older geographers and historians referenced by Strabo, in alphabetical order (be careful with Wikipedia):

• Athenodorus Cananites  (ca. 74 BC – 7 AD)
• Artemidorus Ephesius (flourished around 100 BC)
• Ephorus (c. 400–330 BC)
• Hipparchos (c. 190 BC – c. 120 BC)
• Polybius (ca. 200–118 BC)
  Text of Histories at Perseus
• Pytheas of Massalia (4th century BC)
  The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek, The Man Who Discovered Britain
  Review of Barry Cunliffe's Account of Pytheas, by Bingley
• Theopompus of Chios (378-ca.320)
• Tyrannion of Amisus (1st century BCE)

strabo's 'geographica': musings

Reading Strabo's Geography, I am absolutely amazed! Not only by the easy to read content and critical analyses of his sources, which latter surely were not easy to evaluate given the scientific state of the times, but also by the physical research done: imagine putting all those sources together!

No file folders, no computer to keep one's notes organized and handy, only scrolls and tablets …  ;-)

As to Homer, Strabo maybe could recite Homer verse by verse, what do you think?

other ancient geographers

Strabo of Amasia, our current read (Geographica) mentions, among others, two ancient geographers. He analyses and critiques Eratosthenes  c. 276 BC – c. 195 BC (Wikipedia, handle with care) and references Posidonius of Apamea ca. 135 BCE - 51 BCE, of whom I have written a few years ago.

first of two chats coming coming up: strabo, geographica, books 1 through 7

On Wednesday, we'll discuss Strabo's Geography, Books I through VII. A brief content description is available on Wikipedia.

• Books I and II discuss the philosophy (remember, we are in the ancient world) of geography: history and mathematics, with praise of Homer and analysis & criticism of later geographers.
• Books III through VII concern themselves with the western half of the known world.

Strabo's map

An older post,  Strabo of Amasia, gives more information. I'm reading the work online and personally prefer Perseus.

articles on ancient medicine, history of the ancient world

History of the Ancient World is the website for articles, videos and great resources about  Ancient History, focusing on the Ancient Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, Chinese and other civilizations.

The most recent entry is Ancient Medicine, a wide ranging list of articles on the subject.   

History of the Ancient world also posts on Facebook. Lots of good stuff to download.

strabo of amasia

In our current read, Augustus, the novel by John Williams, Nicolaus of Damascus writes letters to Strabo of Amasia, the ancient geographer and an exact contemporary of Augustus.  This Wikipedia page (as usual handle with care) has a link to a biography at Perseus Digital Library, and indeed the entire work can be found there:  Strabo, Geography

It is also at LacusCurtius: Strabo: The Geography. Bill Thayer writes:

As with most ancient authors, not that much is known of Strabo, and the Loeb edition's introductory material, by the translator Horace Leonard Jones, is about as good as one can get. The Loeb edition also provides a thorough bibliography, including a very summary discussion of the principal manuscripts of the Geography: that too will eventually find its way onsite, except for some few addenda made by the Loeb editors in the later reprintings and therefore still under copyright. Further good information, especially on editions and translations, may be found on Sarah Pothecary's site.

More editions can be found at the Internet Archive.

Loeb's Classical Library edition in print makes up 17 volumes with the Greek text and English translation side by side.

It certainly is an amazing work for its time.  Maybe we should put selections from The Geography on next year's reading list.

a book chat member's background information on marcus aurelius' 'meditations'

(better late than never, my apologies to Garumm)

My personal favorite Aurelius is the George Long translation (available in hard copy and public domain on the web).  As I promised Irene, here is some information on a book I recently purchased, for comparison.  This one is (IMHO) a good starting point for anyone with no background in philosophy in general, or Stoicism in particular.  Note that it is "selections" and does not include the entire text of the Meditations:

TITLE:  The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius:  Selections annotated and explained
AUTHOR:  Russell McNeill
PUBLISHER:  Skylight Paths Publishing, Woodstock (Vermont, USA)
ISBN 978-1-59473-236-2

BACK COVER BLURB (not on Amazon link):

The timeless wisdom of an ancient Stoic can become a companion for your own spiritual journey.

Stoicism is often portrayed as a cheerless, stiff-upper-lip philosophy of suffering and doom.  Yet as experienced through the thoughtful and penetrating writings of roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180 CE), the Stoic approach to life is surprisingly rich, nuanced, clear-eyed and friendly.

With facing-page commentary that explains the texts for you, Russell McNeil, PhD, guides you through key passages from Aurelius's Meditations, comprised of the emperor's collected personal journal entries, to uncover the startlingly modern relevance his words have today.  From devotion to family and duty to country, to a near-prophetic view of the natural world that aligns with modern physics, Aurelius's words speak as potently today as they did two millennia ago.

Now you can discover the tenderness, intelligence and honesty of Aurelius's writings with no previous background in philosophy or the classics.  This SkyLight Illuminations edition offers insightful and engaging commentary that explains the historical background of Stoicism, as well as the ways this ancient philosophical system can offer psychological and spiritual insight into you contemporary life.  You will be encouraged to explore and challenge Aurelius's ides of what makes a fulfilling life -- and in so doing you may discover new ways of perceiving happiness.

The Amazon link will allow you to see the format and sample the language of the book.

NOTE:  Selections NOT included in the book are available online here: The Manual of the New Stoicism.

McNeil's blog

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:  McNeil was a featured guest on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's weekly radio hour on spirituality.

stoicism online

To better understand "The Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius, our current read, one should be a bit familiar with Stoicism.  Information can be found online at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

Stoicism

This image of Zeno of Citium (c. 334-262 BC), founder of the Stoic school, is courtesy Wikimedia Commons and can be found at the Wikipedia page for Stoicism (as usual, handle with with care).  That page leads to a list of Stoic philosophers.