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TheodoreFelix
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Topic: Book on later Roman Emperors! Posted: 10-Oct-2005 at 18:53 |
Im looking for a good detailed account of the later Roman emperors, from the Empires hightime to the empires declining. All except for Gibbons. Any good recomendation?
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Byzantine Emperor
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Kastrophylax kai Tzaousios
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Posted: 10-Oct-2005 at 20:31 |
Here are some good books that I know of:
Averil Cameron. The Later Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.
Chris Scarre. Chronicle of the Roman Emperors: the Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1995.
A. H. M. Jones. The Later Roman Empire, 284-602: A Social and Economic Survey. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1973.
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TheodoreFelix
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Posted: 10-Oct-2005 at 20:49 |
thanks! If anyone has more then please give out some.
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Cywr
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Posted: 11-Oct-2005 at 11:57 |
Anything except Gibbons should be OK
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Arrrgh!!"
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Reginmund
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Posted: 12-Oct-2005 at 13:49 |
I hope the reason why you don't want Gibbon is because you've already read him. Despite all modern criticism, Gibbon remains a great writer, and the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a monumental work of both history and literary finesse wether you agree with him or not.
Personally I'm no fan of his anti-Byzantine attitude, but that doesn't reduce my admiration for his work one bit.
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Byzantine Emperor
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Posted: 12-Oct-2005 at 19:17 |
Originally posted by Reginmund
I hope the reason why you don't want Gibbon is because you've already read him. Despite all modern criticism, Gibbon remains a great writer, and the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a monumental work of both history and literary finesse wether you agree with him or not.
Personally I'm no fan of his anti-Byzantine attitude, but that doesn't reduce my admiration for his work one bit. |
Gibbon's Decline and Fall is considered by modern scholars to be more of a work of good classic literature than solid historical analysis. So he is a great writer with literary finesse, like you pointed out, but he is not used for his work as a historian because of his overt Enlightenment-era biases, and because his work is extremely outdated by now.
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TheodoreFelix
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Posted: 12-Oct-2005 at 20:35 |
Indeed, Im rather picky with what I read. It took me quite a long time to event try and read Theodore Dodge's Hannibal because of how baised he was toward the man...
What Im trying to do is basically try and collect book after book to go into an indepth history of the Roman Empire. I've went through much of it online through different sources but a collection of books would really be better. I will then move into the Byzantine one.
Anyone have a good list of historians in the empire? I recently picked up Suentonius, who goes up to Domitians reign. Im looking for historians after that.
Edited by Iskender Bey ALBO
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Reginmund
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Posted: 13-Oct-2005 at 13:54 |
Originally posted by Byzantine Emperor
Gibbon's Decline and Fall is considered by modern scholars to be more of a work of good classic literature than solid historical analysis. So he is a great writer with literary finesse, like you pointed out, but he is not used for his work as a historian because of his overt Enlightenment-era biases, and because his work is extremely outdated by now. |
Outdated, yes, but still monumental. A milestone in the history of the history of Byzantine studies, if you will.
Many later works are written in direct response to Gibbon's, I therefore recommend his work not only as a work of art, but also as a significant piece of historical research. And where else can one find depth, if not in the immense tomes of Decline and Fall?
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TheodoreFelix
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Posted: 01-Nov-2005 at 14:25 |
Byzantine Emperor, which book would you consider better of the three recommended books. Right now the main two Im focusing on in getting are Jones and Cameron, which do you consider to have more depth?
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Heraclius
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Posted: 01-Nov-2005 at 23:50 |
Uck! everytime I see the name "Gibbon" I look across my room and see "the decline and fall of the Roman empire" and contemplate burning it.
luckily reason and a total lack of matches/lighter prevents this.
Edited by Heraclius
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A tomb now suffices him for whom the world was not enough.
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Byzantine Emperor
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Posted: 02-Nov-2005 at 00:24 |
Originally posted by Iskender Bey ALBO
Byzantine Emperor, which book would you consider better of the three recommended books. Right now the main two Im focusing on in getting are Jones and Cameron, which do you consider to have more depth? |
The Jones books (there are three volumes, I believe) are quite old but still retain their authority on the subject matter. Jones pays particular attention to the late Roman bureaucracy, econonomy, and administrative machinery. He was an expert in these areas...he still is an expert as a matter of fact!
The Cameron book is a good read on a diverse range of topics in late Roman history. She covers the emperors, the economy, religion, culture, etc. in neat little chapters. Compared to Jones' colossal work, Cameron is a lot less technical in approach.
Hope this answers your question!
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