The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 9: The Last Age of the Roman Republic, 146-43 BC [Hardcover]

J. A. Crook (Editor), Andrew Lintott (Editor), Elizabeth Rawson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0521256038 | ISBN-13: 978-0521256032 | Edition: 2

Volume IX of the second edition of The Cambridge Ancient History has for its main theme the process commonly known as the "Fall of the Roman Republic." Chapters 1-12 supply a narrative of the period from 133 B.C. to the death of Cicero in 43 B.C., with a prelude analyzing the situation and problems of the Republic from the turning-point year 146 B.C. Chapters 13-19 offer analysis of aspects of Roman society, institutions and ideas during the period.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The new CAH IX is a welcome achievement, a readable and reliable political narrative with significant thematic contributions that mark major progress in sophistication and incisiveness of thought." The Classical Journal

Book Description

Volume IX of the second edition of The Cambridge Ancient History has for its main theme the process commonly known as the 'Fall of the Roman Republic'.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 920 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (April 29, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521256038
• ISBN-13: 978-0521256032
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very Learned but something is missing, July 19, 2000

By 

William Prueter (Chesterland, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 9: The Last Age of the Roman Republic, 146-43 BC (Hardcover)

Cambridge has a wonderful reputation. It has the advantage of putting into one book some of the greatest scholars. In this volume E. Rawson, A. Lintott and Crook have themselves along with other scholars written about the last period of the Roman Republic. I feel that a scholar, Eric S. Gruen, has not been given his due in this volume. Gruen in his ground breaking book the Last Generation of the Roman Repubic asserts that the Republic, contrary to common thought, was not showing signs of decay, neglect or sloth. Quite the contrary. He shows a Republic meeting problems with skill and determination. I do not mean to imply that Gruen feels that all was well. He simply annihilates the view that corruption ruled, ignorance prevailed and rot was running riot. He is a very thorough scholar. One may disagree with him. However after his book I do not see how his thesis can be simply ignored. Ignore is what CAH (Last Age...) does. I do not feel that the scholarship in this volume reflects full and fair grappling with the views set forth by Gruen. However, I have found the last chapters on Law, plebs urbana, intellectual growth and religion very helpful and interesting. This book is very much worth reading, if one keeps in mind that certain ideas, for whatever reasons, have not been given their due.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you need to know...and more!, August 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 9: The Last Age of the Roman Republic, 146-43 BC (Hardcover)

This volume in Cambridge's Ancient History series covers the last years of the Roman republic from 146-43BC.This was the period of the dynasts when men like Marius,Sulla,Pompey and Caesar competed with each other for power.This book covers that period in extensive detail,describing not only the political developments but also changes in the society,economy and culture of Rome.Readers who consider buying this book should be aware that it is a specialist history and reference book and therefore perhaps not for everyone.Some of the writing and some of the chapters can be very dry at times eg.the chapter on the development of Roman law.However if you want a book which is an authoritative source for almost any topic concerning the late Roman Republic then this it.For this reason I gave it five stars.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the Best, January 19, 2007

By 

Bruce Brocka (Quad Cities) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 9: The Last Age of the Roman Republic, 146-43 BC (Hardcover)

The CAH series is without peer. I'm an armchair historian, not a professional, yet found this work eminently readable. Enjoyable, in fact. What really struck me about this older edition is the level of scholarship and the lack of silly sidebars that contemporary historians fall into. I've read many works published after the 1980's or so, but very few before WWII, so reading this was something new for me.

No "gender identity" politics (although the roles of women and well presented) and silly solipsistic and deconstructionist panderings in this volume. It is truly refreshing to read something without the foibles and circumlocutions to which contemporary academic writings fall prey.

Buy the new edition - difficult as it is given Amazon's bad bibliographic citations of this series- but buy this one too. You'll be pleased you did. And the old book are darned handsome, too.