The Antonines: The Roman Empire in Transition [Hardcover]

Michael Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0415107547 | ISBN-13: 978-0415107549 | Edition: 1St Edition

The Antonines - Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus and Commodus - played a crucial part in the development of the Roman empire, controlling its huge machine for half a century of its most testing period. Edward Gibbon observed that the epoch of the Antonines, the 2nd century A.D., was the happiest period the world had ever known.
In this lucid, authoritative survey, Michael Grant re-examines Gibbon's statement, and gives his own magisterial account of how the lives of the emperors and the art, literature, architecture and overall social condition under the Antonines represented an `age of transition'. The Antonines is essential reading for anyone who is interested in ancient history, as well as for all students and teachers of the subject.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The prolific Grant, from whom last issued Constantine the Great , here summarizes the careers of three mid-second century emperors and the surviving works of a dozen contemporary writers. Coming after the active reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, who brought the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial extent and left walls and columns testifying to the apogee of expansion, the Antonines--Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and Commodus--projected a policy of stability. Militarily, this involved pulling back from the Euphrates frontier with the Parthians and fixing the Danube line against the German tribes. Socially, the conservative senatorial status quo continued, and Grant accords a similar lack of innovation in the arts (with the exception of sculpture) during the years of the three reigns, 138 to 192. Not uniformly bland, with its share of barbarian invasions and revolts of proconsuls, these years also harbored the earliest Christian apologists alongside defenders of Roman religion (including Marcus Aurelius himself, in his famous Meditations). Though not one of Grant's monumental works, this short study should still interest his legion of readers. Gilbert Taylor

From Kirkus Reviews

The distinguished, prolific classical historian (Constantine the Great, p. 681, etc.) here critically examines the reigns of the Roman Empire's three Antonine emperors (a.d. 138192). Eighteenth-century historian Edward Gibbon considered the reigns of Antoninus Pius (a.d. 138161) and Marcus Aurelius (a.d. 161180) the period ``during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous.'' Grant looks carefully at this traditional view of the Antonine Pax Romana and points out that during Antoninus Pius's long rule there were disturbances in Greece, Britain, Dacia, Judaea, and Africa; he also criticizes Pius's administration as static, backward-looking, and uncreative, though competent enough. At his death, in a decision that presaged the disastrous power-sharing arrangements of the later empire, Antoninus Pius bequeathed a shared authority to Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (who died a natural death in a.d. 169). Aurelius, author of the Stoic classic Meditations, ruled successfully during a turbulent period; he had to stave off challenges to Roman rule in Britain and Gaul, fight wars against the Parthians and on the Danube frontier, and govern an empire riven by a grave pestilence. Weakened by ``incessant winter campaigning,'' he died on the Danube frontier in a.d. 180, leaving the empire in the hands of his son, the cruel megalomaniac Commodus (a.d. 180192), whose reign is noteworthy mainly for its absolutism and arbitrary violence. Grant reviews Antonine art, architecture, literature, and rhetoric, arguing that thematically (the rejection even by pagan writers of classical paganism) and in style and form (the works of Apuleius presage the modern novel) Antonine culture marks a transition from the ancient to the early medieval world. With characteristic lucidity, Grant shows that Rome during its vaunted ``golden age'' contained seeds of its future collapse and of the Europe to come. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1St Edition edition (October 19, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415107547
• ISBN-13: 978-0415107549
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,170,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Typical Michael Grant Greatness!, February 26, 2000

By 

D. Roberts "Hadrian12" (Battle Creek, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Antonines: The Roman Empire in Transition (Hardcover)

This is a book about Rome's "Golden Age." It covers the period from Antoninus Pius to Commodus (138-192 A.D.). Antoninus Pius & Marcus Aurelius (as well as Trajan & Hadrian, who came shortly before) are among the greatest of the Roman emperors. Sadly, Commodus (Aurelius' son) was one of the worst leaders of all time. As a matter of fact, Commodus was SO bad that many Romans accused his mother of infidelity as they could not believe how such an egregious fellow could have possibly sprung from the loins of one so noble as Aurelius.

Grants' book gives a detailed look at this epoch, as well as a glimpse at the art & literature of the time. The book contains helpful illustrations & photographs of Roman architecture & coinages of the time.

This book gives a detailed picture of one of the most pivotal moments in Roman history. Some would say that Roman history went downhill from the reign of Commodus onward. While I think that this is a slight exaggeration, there is nonetheless evidence that this was (until Commodus) the closest that Rome ever came to achieving their utopian "Camelot." A great work by an astute scholar.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good general history of the Antonines, January 23, 2003

By 

ilmk "ilmk" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Antonines: The Roman Empire in Transition (Hardcover)

`The Antonines' is a necessary work on the second century A.D. by a respected Roman historian.
Part One of this work by Michael Grant gives a brief presentation of the salient imperial powers of the time, Antonius Pius (138-161), Marcus Aurelius (161-180), Lucius Verus (161-169) and Commodus (180-192) in a concise manner. However, it is as it reads - a nicely presented synopsis of Roman imperial history from 138 to 192 A.D.
Part One's opening chapter provides the reader with details of Antonius Pius' actions, a diagnostic on his character to explain those actions - leaning heavily on the potential explanations for the Pius appellation - Aurelius' conservatism, Veres ineffectiveness and Commodus dramatic impact on the empire to a degree not seen since Nero. Moving swiftly onto Marcus Aurelius, Grant summarizes his reign as coping "with appalling problems with a conscientiousness that raised him to the top class of rulers." Touching on Aurelius' time spent on the Rhine frontier, his famous Meditations, conflict with Avidius Cassius, his wife Faustina and his state of health, Grant portrays Marcus Aurelius as a ruler who engendered a great deal of respect, a respect that swiftly disappears with the biography of Commodus.
After a brief note on the eternal critcism of Aurelius for having his son succeed him, (there is an insistence by the author on the idea of hereditary dynastic succession in Imperial Rome which doesn't bear much proof particularly as two pages later he states that "the senate, though conscious that the selection of the `best man' had ceased to have any reality..." thus implying there was no concept) Grant sweeps into his biography of Commodus. Grant's commentary on Commodus highlights him as a ruler who provided a strong and favourable impression in the first few years of his reign, but later biographies depict him as a drunkard, debauched from the earliest years, and focus on his unseemly gladiatorial enthusiasm all of which leads to serious administrative disaster for the empire. Eventually, as Grant states: his `wild self-indulgence and quasi-mystical autocratic religiosity' led to his murder.
Part Two deals with two themes of the Antonine Age: literature and art.
The first is split into three sections: Latin, Greek and Christian writings and is no more than a brief biography and synopis of the extant works of each. Moving from first rate (as the author terms it) authors such as Fronto, Lucian, Aurelius, Pausanias Justin to other authors including the Second Sophists, the Apologists, Gnostic writers Grant gives what is fundamentally a brief history, notable works and precis of the major writings of each in each section.
The second focuses on the art and architecture of the Antonine period, from busts and statues to theatres, expanded by many pictures and Grant concludes with a chapter on the Antonine Age.
The work comes through as a neat biographical history of the Antonine Emperors and the leading literay and artistic names of the period. As such this is an excellent starter book for anyone interested in the period and a useful reference book to students more familiar with the period.