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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
We've caught up!, March 12, 2001
This review is from: The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c.1000-264 BC) (The Routledge History of the Ancient World) (Paperback)
Like Professor Cornell, I am a Romanist, and during the 1980s, I lived and worked in the old city. Doing so was a stimulus to read what was being written about archaic Rome by Italian and other scholars, and produced a sigh or two of discouragement: the ideas put forward in those works were not readily available to my students nor to non-academics who might have an interest in that period of Roman and Italian history. Professor Cornell has not only absorbed all those ideas, he has presented them and his own with clarity and insight, and has done so in a highly readable, occasionally piquant, style. If you're curious about the origin and early history of Rome, I can recommend no better introduction to and presentation of the best work being done, not to mention an insightful critique and development of much of it.
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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
First rate scholarly work, June 29, 2001
This review is from: The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c.1000-264 BC) (The Routledge History of the Ancient World) (Paperback)
This is an excellent book that I think is primarily intended for a scholarly audience (experts in the field, professional historians and archaeologists, etc.) but is also very valuable to an interested amateur like myself. Cornell goes through the early history of Rome and sets out what the evidence is and what we can reliably conclude from it. One of the best features of the book is his willingness, all too rare even among scholars, to recognize when the evidence is inconclusive and to admit that we have no way of knowing the answer to a particular question. He is also clear about the limitations of archaeological data, and recognizes the way it is often misused to support historical theses when, in fact, it is rather the histoprical ideas that allow for the interpretation of the archaeologucal data in the first place. However, while Cornell is pretty good about presenting the narrative historical tradition, the book generally covers the history with fairly large brushstrokes and jumps from one large topic to another without trying to string together a coherent narrative. Because of this, this book is best used as a second reference on early Roman history. That is, it shouldn't be the first book you read on the topic. I think you'd be best served by first reading a good narrative history to provide the framework, and then read this work to fill in the details and show up any inaccuracies. It is well written and suprisingly readable, not at all dry. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who has some knowledge of early Roman history but would like to learn more about the "state of the art" in that field.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
He is careful with the evidence., April 3, 2000
This review is from: The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c.1000-264 BC) (The Routledge History of the Ancient World) (Paperback)
I've read this book twice. The reason I love it, aside from the inherent interest of the subject, is that Professor Cornell is so careful with the evidence. He starts out by telling us exactly what the evidence IS, as well as what it is not. He then discusses the major theories in light of the evidence. When a theory is clearly the result of muddy thinking, unsupported by the facts, he says so. This rigor is wonderful and makes the book a joy to read. There are 15 chapters. From the first, introductory, chapter ("The Evidence") to the last ("Rome in the Age of the Italian Wars"), the book is well written and illuminates an era of history that has been dark for too long. For once, I agree with every word of the editorial reviews above. Buy this book and you will treasure it as I do.
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