Customer Reviews

The Rise of the Romans: The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, a Chronolgy: Volume One 753 BC-146 BC (v. 1)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very good chronological review of Roman history. Not only does the author give his opinion of what happened, when it is not clear, but explains other opinions as well. For someone looking for a quick and concise explaination of what happened in Roman history, this book will serve that goal well.

I liked this book. It is organized chronologically by year and then geographically within each year. For readers interested in the Roman Republic, and coin collectors of Roman denarii and bronzes, this is a handy reference on the times. The brief summaries are well-written, and in those cases where a really interested reader wants details, the entries are tantalizing.

My problem with this book, and why I didn't give it five stars, is that I really don't understand for whom the book was intended. I read it cover to cover, but I doubt very many readers will do that. The entries are far too short to really cover the ground, and most of the entries do not address anything important. So who's going to purchase and read this book? I guess that's why this review is the only the second review for a book that was published last year. In the case of most readers, I think the consuls and tribunes will be just names, and even the wars with other countries will just become a tedious recounting of very brief information so the reader fails to become involved with any type of story line.

At any rate, the book may become more important as something on which the reader can organize his Roman library. I doubt many of the casual readers will get beyond a few pages and simply put the book on the shelf for reference if a question should arise at the dinner table. But who discusses Roman Republican history anymore? Americans today can't even discuss anything that happened before Kennedy was assassinated. After all, that's all ancient history.