Roman History Books and More

'masters of command' by barry strauss, second and final chat november 20

In November we are discussing Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of Leadership  by Barry Strauss.
(also as eBook)

At the first chat, we completed chapter 3, "Resistance." Now for the rest!

What I like about the book is that it does not give three different biographies but rather compares the three men on various subjects and issues.

Review by N.S. Gill

Lecture by Barry Strauss, November 2012

We are testing a new chat client since the problems with Google Talk are mounting. I will keep you advised, however, this chat will still be at G-Mail. Do not log log via Google Talk!

book chats for june: 'fire in the east (warrior of rome series #1) by harry sidebottom

Fire in the East (Warrior of Rome, Book 1)  by Harry Sidebottom will be our book for June 5 & 19. It is taking place in CE 255.

"Fire in the East: Warrior of Rome serves as a vivid example of the best in historical fiction, where the genre serves to not only accurately inform its readers about the complexities of life and relationships between diverse cultures but imbues them with a passion to learn even more."  Review by our friend Mary Harrsch.

equites singulares

In our current read, How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower, Adrian Goldsworthy discusses the army in the second century C.E., and mentiones the "singulares," 59ff.

More can be learned at Wikipedia (as usual, handle with care):
Equites singulares Augusti

The Reliefs of Trajan's Column by Conrad Cichorius. Plate number LXV.
Wikimedia Commons

ancient sources for the spartacus war

One of the reasons why Spartacus is so difficult to assess is the scarcity and disparity of the ancient sources. Barry Strauss in The Spartacus War, our current read, discusses the issue on pages 218/219, and in more detail throughout the book.  If only we had the contemperary Sallust's "Histories," but there are only a few tantalizing fragements left. The only other contemporary is Cicero with various speeches and the Orations Against Verres.

Here are the online sources I could find:

Jona Lendering at livius.org has a page on Spartacus, and I compiled the ancient sources he links to:

• Appian 1.7 scroll down to 116
  from Civil Wars at LacusCurtius
• Plutarch on Spartacus
  from Lives of Plutarch at LacusCurtius
• Florus on Spartacus
  from Florus: Epitome of Roman History at LacusCurtius
• Periochae of Livy's History, 91-95, 96-100

From the sources discussed by Barry Strauss, there is also Frontinus: The Strategemata (LacusCurtius). Strauss writes:

The Strategemata are a collection of over 500 examples of devices, ruses, ploys, creative ideas from history, intended by Frontinus as a sort of checklist for the military commander. The work is an appendix to his work on the Art of War, which has not survived; I suspect the interesting "stories" appealed far more to medieval copyists and readers than the deeper theoretical work: it is a great pity.

I'd be gratefull for any other online links anyone can find.

I searched JSTOR for Spartacus but was rather disappointed with what I found.

mary beard: civilian casualties, leaks and the ancient view

Worth reading:

Civilian casualties, leaks and the ancient view

By and large, Greek and Roman military command had it relatively easy when it came to leaks, civilian casualties and the PR side of warfare. To put it at its crudest, the imperial Roman legions would go off to conquer some bit of foreign territory, they would do it any way they could and come back home and boast about it. Not many people in Rome knew or cared about war crimes. It was winning that mattered.

Of course, it looked different from the barbarian point of view, but the barbarians got very little chance to put their point of view at Rome.

But even in the ancient world, it wasn't quite so simple.

Read on

legio xiiii hispana

The storyline of the novel Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff, our discussion subject at the January 6 online chat (new members are always welcome!), is the attempt to recover the Eagle of the Ninth Legion, lost in Scotland around 117 CE. The novel follows the assumption that the entire legion was lost at the time.  However, recent research has shown that the legion still existed under Hadrian. Jona Lendering at livius.org has details: Legio VIIII Hispana.

In the U.S. there is a reenactment group: Legio IX Hispana.

for military history buffs: the roman legions …

… all you wanted know and more

Just a few days ago I came across these excellent pages at livius.org:  The Roman Legions, and Geographical Overview of same.  Jona Lendering has put together an extensive catalog:

On this site, you will find an alphabetical and chronological catalogue of the imperial legions. An overview of the armies in certain provinces is here.

Don't miss the New at Lacus Curtius & Livius blog by Jona Lendering and Bill Thayer.

Irene's photo:

Titus Flavius Bassus Stele 2nd half of 1st century CE
Top section of the funerary monument for T. Flavius Bassus Mucalae, an eques of an auxiliary troop from Noricum Province, of the tribe of the Desenter. Romano-Germanic Museum, Cologne.