Empire of the Romans From Julius Caesar to Justinian: Six Hundred Years of Peace and War, Volume II: Select Anthology

Offers a broad range of texts spanning six centuries of imperial Roman history—Volume II of Empire of the Romans, from Julius Caesar to Justinian

Empire of the Romans: From Julius Caesar to Justinian: Six Hundred Years of Peace and War, Volume II: Select Anthology is a compendium of texts that trace the main historical changes of the empire over six hundred years, from the death of Julius Caesar to the late Middle Ages. The second volume of Empire of the Romans, from Julius Caesar to Justinian, this anthology balances literary texts with other documentary, legal, and epigraphic sources. Acclaimed author John Matthews presents texts that reflect individual, first-person experiences rather than those from historians outside of the time periods of which they write. 

Each selection includes an introduction, annotations on points of interest, author commentary, and suggestions for further reading. Excerpts are organized thematically to help readers understand their meaning without requiring an extensive knowledge of context. Six sections—running in parallel to the structure and content to Volume I—explore the topics such as the building of the empire, Pax Romana, the new empire of Diocletian and Constantine, and barbarian invasions and the fall of the Western Empire. Selected texts span a wide array of subjects ranging from political discourse and Roman law, to firsthand accounts of battle and military service, to the civic life and entertainment of ordinary citizens. This volume:

• Covers a vast chronological and topical range
• Includes introductory essays to each selected text to explain key points, present problems of interpretation, and guides readers to further literature
• Balances the different categories and languages of original texts
• Enables easy cross-reference to Volume I
• Minimizes the use of technical language in favor of plain-English forms

Whether used as a freestanding work or as a complement to Volume I, the Select Anthology is an ideal resource for students in Roman history survey courses as well as interested general readers seeking a wide-ranging collection of readings on the subject.

John Matthews is Professor Emeritus of Classics and History, Yale University, USA. He received his PhD from Oxford University in 1969 and taught Greek and Roman history at Oxford for many years before moving to Yale in 1996.  He was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 1990.  He is author of many books including Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court, A.D. 364-425, The Roman Empire of Ammianus, Laying Down the Law: A Study of the Theodosian Code, and Roman Perspectives: Studies in the social, political and cultural history of the First to Fifth Centuries. He is also co-author of the acclaimed Atlas of the Roman World.

Preface

Lis of Figures

Part I. Building an Empire

  1.   “Contests of the Powerful”; Appian’s Civil War

  2.    A Roman senator mourns his wife; “Laudatio Turiae”

  3.    Vitruvius, On Architecture, Preface & Introduction

  4.    Past and future in Vergil’s Aeneid; the battle of Actium

  5.    The Authorised Version; Augustus’ Res Gestae

  6.    The Secular Games:

1.  Zosimus, New History

2.  Inscriptions on the conduct of the games

3.  Q. Horatius Flaccus, Carmen Saeculare

  7.    An admirer of Tiberius; Velleius Paterculus, History of Rome

  8.    An embassy to Caligula; Philo, Legatio ad Gaium

  9.    Victims of tyranny; the deaths of Seneca and Lucan

10.    Episodes from the last years of Nero:

1. Tiridates at Rome

2. The Grand Tour of Hellas

3. The Liberation of Hellas

11.   Plautus Silvanus, legate of Moesia

Part II. Pax Romana: “A Polite and Powerful Empire”

12.   The life and death of the elder Pliny

13.   The Discourses of Epictetus

14.   Scenes from Metropolitan Life: Epigrams of Martial

15.   Civic Life at Ephesus:

1. Duties of the proconsul

2. A wealthy professor

3. A disruptive visitor

4. Inscriptions of Ephesus

5. The Plancii of Perge: a prominent family of Asia Minor

16.   Public life and occupations in Artemidorus’ Dream-Book

17.   A career choice; Lucian’s Dream

18.   Labour costs in Diocletian’s Edict on Maximum Prices:

1. Trades and Professions

2.  Prices of slaves

19.   Games and entertainments:

1. Epitaphs of gladiators

2. A record-breaking charioteer; G. Appuleius Diocles

20.   A visit to the country

21.   Travelling to court in the Digest

22.   Lucian, The Ship:

1. The Ship

2.  Letter from a crewman

3.  The sailing season

23.   Life in the Armed Forces:

1. A military exploit

2. Hadrian addresses the troops

3. A tour of inspection; Arrian’s Circumnavigation of the Black Sea

4. A legionary surveyor and engineer

5. Joining the navy; recruits write home

6. Retirement from the army; a military diploma

7. A soldier makes his will

24.   Religion, Philosophy, Science:

1. Apuleius & the goddess Isis

2. Aelius Aristides & the god Asklepios

3. A Chapter of Accidents: Fronto and Marcus Caesar

4. Galen’s Prognosis

5. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, “To Himself”

25.   Crime and punishment in the Digest

26.   A Hearing before the Proconsul: Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs

Part III. Rising to the Challenge

27.  A witness to his age; the Roman History of Cassius Dio:

1.  The last days of Commodus

2.  The end of Dio’s History

28.  The Great King blows the trumpet

29.  The Thirteenth Sibylline Oracle

30.  The Canonical Letter of Gregory Thaumaturgus

31.  A philosopher’s circle; Eunapius’ Life of Porphyry

32.  The Herulian attack on Athens

33.  The Martyrdom of Cyprian

34.  Christian persecutions in the papyri

35.  Maximinus and the Christians

36.  Legal Proceedings before the consularis Numidiae

Part IV. A New Empire

37.  Diary of an official

38. Cities of Constantine (1), Constantinople, “New Rome”:

1. Zosimus, New History

2. Chronicon Paschale

39.  Cities of Constantine (2), Rome: the Liber Pontificalis

40.  Cities of Constantine (3), Jerusalem: the church of the Holy Sepulchre

41.  Orcistus and Nacolia: a question of civic status

42.  Sopatros and Ablabius; the philosopher and the politician

43.  Tribulations of an army officer; the Abinnaeus Archive

44.  On Their Majesties’ Service

1. The emperor restores a reputation

2. Obelisks’ tales

45.  Warfare and Romance on the Tigris frontier

1. An officer in the field

2. The wife of Craugasius

46.  An adventure in the desert; Jerome, Life of Malchus

47.  Julian and the Platonists

48.  Letter to a Priest

49.  A letter from Hierapolis

50.  The surrender of Nisibis:

1. Ammianus Marcellinus 25.8.13-9.6

2. Ephraim, Third Hymn against Julian

51.  Pagan and Christian Virtues in the Roman Aristocracy

1. Vettius Agorius Praetextatus

2.  Sextus Petronius Probus

52.  The last days of Monica in Augustine Confessions 9.23(33)

53.  Their Majesties’ Voice; Selections from the Theodosian Code

Part V. Facing the Future

54.  The life & work of Ulfila:

1.  Philostorgius, Ecclesiastical History 2.5

2.  Jordanes, Getica 267

3.  The Letter of Auxentius

55.  The origin of the Huns in Jordanes (Getica 121-133)

56.  The Eucharisticon of Paulinus of Pella

57.  Rutilius Namatianus, De Reditu Suo

58.  Claudius Postumus Dardanus and the City of God

59.  At the Royal Court of Attila:

1. An embassy to Attila

2.  Attila’s banquet

3.  The death of Attila

60.  The end of Roman Noricum; extracts from the Life of Severinus

61.  Public Business (1): “Gesta amplissimi senatus”

62.  Public Business (2): The Council of Chalcedon

63.  A Hall of Mirrors: Ostrogoth and Roman at the court of Ravenna:

1. Cassiodorus’ Variae

2.  The Consolation of Philosophy

64.  Emperor and people at Byzantium: the Nika Riot

1. Procopius Wars 1.24-1-7

2. “Acts against Calapodius”

3.  Malalas, Chronicle s.a. 532

4.  Chronicon Paschale

65.  Confirmation of the Digest

66.  Recovering the west in Procopius

1. Syracuse (Wars 3.14.1-17)

2.  Lepcis Magna (Buildings 6.4.1-10)

3  Rome (Wars 5.18.6-29)

Part VI. Epilogue: Ruins of a Roman Landscape

67.  The lost pleasures of a hot bath

68.  Venetian origins?

69.  Accident in a derelict amphitheatre

70.   “The Works of Giants”

71.   “Maumbury Rings”

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