Customer Reviews

Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome

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Anyone serious about Roman history ought to own this book. Be warned...it is not a narrative text. Don't expect to linger over it at a coffee shop. Instead, it is more in the nature of an encyclopedia. Organized thematically, there are 9 chapters covering all aspects of Roman life: A brief historical overview; military affairs; geography; town life; trade; language; religion; economy; everyday life. Within each chapter one finds a series of short essays, numerous very helpful illustrations and maps, chronologies, and the like. I have been reading a lot of Roman law lately, as well as history of the early church, and have kept this handbook by my side. It has answered almost every question my reading raised about Rome. If it has any failing, it is that it covers only the historical period up to the fall of the Western Empire. Information about the later Eastern Empire is sparse, at best. Having said that, it is highly recommended.

One of the first things the serious student of Roman history learns is how complicated the subject is. The neat, orderly account in the freshman history text quickly proves to be misleading (while at the same time a testimony to the painstaking efforts of scholars). When the minutiae become overwhelming, and you have trouble relating or remembering all the parts, that's a good time to refer to this handbook--whether you need to know something basic, like who was emperor in 192 or what the offices were in the cursus honorum, or want to know something more specialized, like which legions Caesar commanded. Its articles have the right balance of detail and brevity to make them useful for both beginning and advanced students.

The authors, being archaeologists, devote a lot of space to material culture. Students should appreciate this; classroom study of ancient Rome usually emphasizes literary monuments, and it's the things, the "stuff," the common objects of daily life, which by their sheer ordinariness are least likely to be described by authors. Unfortunately, this does mean that certain other topics are given short shrift. There is virtually no material on Roman law--its content, its development, and its institutions--unless you're content with a few paragraphs and references. There's a great section on arms and armor, but almost nothing on the specific rights of citizenship.

The perfect guide to ancient Rome probably hasn't been written yet, but until it appears, I'm using this one and do give it my recommendation. Great for filling in the background of your picture of Roman life.

Overall a very handy book that should have a place in every classicists library, or anyone who has even a slight interest in ancient Rome for that matter. Only a few complaints. One may come across minor errors and contradictions, for example: At one point it says that the historian Tacitus was the father-in-law of Agricola, but later in the book corrects itself and says that Agricola was the father-in-law. On page 122 on the map of Egypt the Nile river is missing (a rather significant omission that should have been caught). Bio's of the emperors are extremely brief, so buy a copy of Michael Grant's The Roman Emperors. But then again the purpose of this book seems to be to touch on as many subjects as possible in a limited space. The section on abbreviations is particularly useful. Overall, very much worth its price.

In one volume, the authors, expert archeologists, have given a comprehensive view into Roman life of the monarchy, republic, and empire (c. 753 BC - 565 AD) to provide a wealth of easy-to-access information which might require many other works to encompass.
Organized thematically into areas such governmental and social structure, military affairs, trade and travel, religion, and aspects of everyday life, the information is further subdivided into brief essays and enhanced with photos, sketches, good maps, and much essential information arranged in convenient tables and diagrams.
The work is well conceived, very competently produced, and is highly recommended for students or anyone else interested in the everyday life of the Romans.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

No student of Roman history should be without this exceptional volume on his shelf. "Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome" is a worthy -- in fact, necessary -- investment for every serious classics enthusiast and all-around ancient civilisation buff.

Combining nearly four hundred pages of concise, jargon-free text with a vast selection of illustrations -- including maps, plans, line drawings and black-and-white photographs -- the Handbook provides a comprehensive introduction for almost every aspect of Roman life, covering such fields as politics and religion in broad strokes without sacrificing detail. Need a quick conversion from Roman measures to metric equivalents? The tables on pages 313-314 will take care of that for you. Want to find out the modern name for Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium? A list on page 124 will tell you that it's now referred to as Cologne.

Despite its relatively small size (404 regularly-numbered pages, index included), the Handbook could prove a lot more practical for everyday reference purposes than such heavyweights as the 1640-page "Oxford Classical Dictionary". It has just about everything a history enthusiast will ever require (or never even thought he'd need): detailed lists of gods and goddesses (including minor ones), information on the origin and deployment of several dozen legions, cross-section diagrams of Roman glassware, etc. Although serious classical scholars should not limit themselves to this book when doing research, the extensive bibliographies accompanying each major subdivision will help direct them to more detailed sources. And if the situation does not call for exhaustive articles on the lives of Roman luminaries like Caesar or Suetonius, the brief biographical essays included in the Handbook may go a long way towards helping Colleen McCullough and Steven Saylor fans navigate their way through the chaotic mess of names that one so often finds in historical fiction.

All things considered, the Handbook is worth every penny on its price tag.

Without delving into the full complexities of any one aspect of Roman history, this well-constructed reference book provides concise explanations of subjects ranging from architecture, law, and religion to food, clothing, and coinage (to name a few). There are also timelines and brief delineations of the lives of key emperors. All topics are easily accessible, and since entries are written succinctly and organized neatly, the reading is rarely ponderous. As a whole, this handy work is a painless and informative introduction to a remarkable empire. Of course, any one of its areas can be further supplemented with additional sources, depending on a person's interest level, and the ample bibliography can be used for this purpose. In all, the authors accomplish satisfying both the casual reader and the serious student of history--an admirable task indeed.

Lesley and Roy Adkins' book on Roman civilization is a thourough categorical text covering everything from political institutions to fashion. The book also has extensive photographs and illustrations detailing countless subjects such as military formations and equipment, roads, city plans and development, architecture, etc., etc. For a general reference guide, it's the most exhaustive, detailed, and accurate text I have ever found. A perfect book that can be easily used by adults or children, and teachers or students.

If you are just beginning to learn about Roman civilization, I strongly recommend this book above all other introductory texts: there's simply no comparison! As you learn more of the basic information, the book has an excellent bibliography and reference guide to authoritative books or academic texts that focus on a specific area. This book is truly one of the best investments one can make in the study of ancient Rome.

Hi, I got this book from the public library for a report on Roman ships. This book was full of information on the subject, and many other subjcts besides. It has information on many aspects of Roman life, from daily life to government to military. I'll probably be getting this book for myself, it's such a great book.

If you have a passion for learning about ancient Roman life, as I do, then this book is a must for you. It contains a wealth of encyclopedic detail about everything from Roman roads to religion, writing to wine pressing, eating and drinking to healing and thinking. Moderns can only reconstruct ancient Rome in the mind in fleeting glimpses nudged into being at random moments. This book, more than any other that I know of, succeeds in bringing many such satisfying moments to life.

This book is a single-volume encyclopedia of the Roman Empire from Rome's traditional founding in 753 BC until the "fall" of Rome and the Western Empire in 500 AD. Chapters on the military, government, private life, and literature are comprehensive and very readable. There's even an excellent overview of the Latin Language as well as a list of common abbreviations used on inscriptions and statuary. Equally important, after each section there are recommended books and articles for further reading. Whether you have a serious interest in Roman history, or even if the movie "Gladiator" sparked an interest in reading about Rome and its Imperium, this book will be invaluable to you.