Customer Reviews

A Brief History From the Founding of the City

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This is an elegant easy-to-read translation of a classic work of Roman history written by Eutropius around 370 AD. The book calls itself a history of Rome but it's actually a history of Rome's rulers from the mythical founding in 753 BC up until the time the author is writing.

The book is a nice review for someone like myself, who has a slightly deeper than average but quite patchy knowledge of Roman history. It's fascinating to see Roman history through the eyes of a true Roman, rather than through the eyes of modern interpreters. Eutropius has a knack for getting to the essence of the ruler in short pithy phrases, a necessity if he's going to outline the full 1,100 years in a hundred pages. My favorite example of brevity might be this. He said of one emperor's reign:

Aemilianus was of very obscure birth and ruled even more obscurely.

That's it. Nothing more to say about poor ol' Aemilianus. Note also, in the phrase "obscure birth," the Roman concern with lineage. This is an example of the little details that you get from someone who was actually there.

For me, the most interesting parts were the Punic Wars and also the events and personalities during the era when the Republic became an Empire: Marius, Sulla, Caesar, Pompey, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, Augustus. Once the empire is firmly in place, the personality of the emperor becomes all-important. Some were diligent and sincere, though invariably flawed. Many were incredibly degraded. Maybe it's only because a long history is compressed into a few pages, but civil wars and border wars, some of unbelievable ferocity, are incessant, making me wonder if this was really Pax Romana.

Anyway, this is a great translation and exciting read for anyone interested in Roman history.

Eutropius must hold the world's record for brevity among historians. Who else could speed through 1100 years of Roman history in 100 pages?

Brace yourself for a rapid-fire documentation of conquest, assassination and civil wars that may leave you shocked and amazed, as I was. The famous assassination of Caesar is only the tip of the iceberg. Apparently, if you were a Roman leader, you had to watch out for friends, relatives and in-laws--otherwise, you, too, could be a dead man. Watch out also for ex-Romans who organize armies to march against you.

All the while, Eutropius' condensation of history refers to legendary characters, murders, untold battlefield deaths and keeps on going through centuries without batting an eye.

Just the facts ma'am. That's all.

The book is a great reference for the chronology of the Roman Empire, containing information not commonly available.

But, the most refreshing thing about this book is the translation from Latin. You won't find awkward phrases or convoluted sentence structure gleaned from the Latin idiom--something you might expect from elite professors from Harvard. Gibbons writes in meticulously correct English, strong on accuracy and meaning, and short on pretension.

We can only hope he gives us more.

Loved the translation and am hoping this author translates more from this period in history.