Customer Reviews

Ordering Anarchy - Armies and Leaders in Tacitus' Histories

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Rhiannon Ash's in-depth analysis of Tacitus' Histories, makes a phenomenal contribution to the understanding of the mind set of the ancient Roman's. The book looks at the Histories from not just an historical viewpoint, but from a literary one as well. Ash illustrated how Tacitus' skills as a writer were as equally important as his skills as an historian.

Ash follows Tacitus' work, illustrating how he interpreted and reported the traumatic events that ensued the year Rome had four emperors. She not only explains Tacitus' techniques, but she also compares his works to others covering the same events.

I found this book to be riveting. However, it is of an academic nature and many readers may find the book a bit dry. The topic covered, is however, so enthralling that they will soon become enmeshed in the narrative and will be able to overlook the 'academia' inherent in the book. For those who are academics, this book is a wonderful research tool and has an extensive, and well-annotated, set of endnotes.

Potential readers would benefit from first having read Tacitus' Histories, as well as other works by ancient historians that wrote about the Roman Civil Wars of 68-9 A.D.