Product Description: From the reign of Septimius Severus at the end of the second century A.D., the Roman Empire was continuously beset by internal unrest, revolts, usurpations, civil wars, and attacks along its far-flung frontiers. Scarcely a part of the empire was unaffected, and some areas were forced to deal with several serious problems at the same time...read more

Domitian was only nineteen when he made his first appearance in the senate. It was also his first meeting with the men who were to bring about his downfall. Following his assassination in 96 AD after a reign that had lasted fifteen turbulent years, the senate declared the memory of this, the last of the Flavian emperors damned forever. Why? The surviving record relates tales of unbelievable depravity - Domitian's reign being described as the darkest in history, full of terror and uncertainty. Suetonius documents all Domitian's eccentricities, idiosyncrasies and crimes in ascending order of seriousness, culminating in the list of executions of senators - ten in fifteen years. But was his reign as bad as it has been portrayed? Why did contemporary authors have no good word for him even though their careers were advanced by his imperial favour? Many of the emperor's earlier achievements were enduring and well-advised - his administrative arrangements survived him, unchanged by later emperors - and his frontier wars were by no means ill-considered. Indeed, the number of senators murdered by him was far smaller than those killed by Claudius. Something indefinable had gone wrong between Domitian and the senate, but what? In this new in-depth study, Pat Southern distinguishes fact from fiction. She strips away the hyperbole and sensationalism from the literary record to present a clear picture of the youth and reign of a man who was not as black as he was painted but who caused undoubted suffering which must be accounted for. For the first time Domitian is examined from a psychological point of view, to reveal a living breathing individual - offering a more reasonable explanation of thetragedy of his reign to satisfy both his detractors and his few champions.

Product Description: The ancient sources for the life and times of Zenobia are sparse, and the surviving literary works are biased towards the Roman point of view, much as are the sources for two other famous women who challenged Rome, Cleopatra and Boudica...read more

Uses both primary and secondary sources to provide an overview of the history of the Roman army from its beginnings to the end of the Empire.

Product Description: This book is part of the Images of England series, which uses old photographs and archived images to show the history of various local areas in England, through their streets, shops, pubs, and people.

Product Description: This long-overdue study of Pompey reveals his achievements as a military commander, politician, international statesman, and noted patron of literary men and the arts. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Cleopatra was intimately involved in the critical years that saw the Roman Republic transformed into the Roman Empire. How this transition appeared to the Queen of Egypt—and the part she played in it—is the subject of Pat Southern's engrossing biography...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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