Mary Taliaferro Boatwright

Daniel J. Gargola

Richard J. A. Talbert

How did a single village community in the Italian peninsula eventually become one of the most powerful imperial powers the world has ever known? In The Romans: From Village to Empire, Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel Gargola, and Richard J.A. Talbert explore this question as they guide readers through a comprehensive sweep of Roman history, ranging from the prehistoric settlements to the age of Constantine. Vividly written and accessible, The Romans traces Rome's remarkable evolution from village, to monarchy, to republic, and eventually to one-man rule by an emperor whose power at its peak stretched from Scotland to Iraq and the Nile Valley. Firmly grounded in ancient literary and material sources, the book describes and analyzes major political and military landmarks, from the Punic Wars, to Caesar's conquest of Gaul and his crossing of the Rubicon, to the victory of Octavian over Mark Antony, and to Constantine's adoption of Christianity. It also introduces such captivating individuals as Hannibal, Mithridates, Pompey, Cicero, Cleopatra, Augustus, Livia, Nero, Marcus Aurelius, and Shapur. The authors cover issues that still confront modern states worldwide, including warfare, empire building, consensus forging, and political fragmentation. They also integrate glimpses of many aspects of everyday Roman life and perspective--such as the role of women, literature, entertainment, town-planning, portraiture, and religion--demonstrating how Rome's growth as a state is inseparable from its social and cultural development. Ideal for courses in Roman history and Roman civilization, The Romans is enhanced by almost 100 illustrations, more than 30 maps (most produced by the Ancient World Mapping Center), and 22 textual extracts that provide fascinating cultural observations made by ancient Romans themselves.

From Village to Empire

The Romans

Ancient Perspectives encompasses a vast arc of space and time—Western Asia to North Africa and Europe from the third millennium BCE to the fifth century CE—to explore mapmaking and worldviews in the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In each society, maps served as critical economic, political, and personal tools, but there was little consistency in how and why they were made. Much like today, maps in antiquity meant very different things to different people. Ancient Perspectives presents an ambitious, fresh overview of cartography and its uses. The seven chapters range from broad-based analyses of mapping in Mesopotamia and Egypt to a close focus on Ptolemy’s ideas for drawing a world map based on the theories of his Greek predecessors at Alexandria. The remarkable accuracy of Mesopotamian city-plans is revealed, as is the creation of maps by Romans to support the proud claim that their emperor’s rule was global in its reach. By probing the instruments and techniques of both Greek and Roman surveyors, one chapter seeks to uncover how their extraordinary planning of roads, aqueducts, and tunnels was achieved. Even though none of these civilizations devised the means to measure time or distance with precision, they still conceptualized their surroundings, natural and man-made, near and far, and felt the urge to record them by inventive means that this absorbing volume reinterprets and compares.

Maps and Their Place in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome

Ancient Perspectives

How did a single village community in the Italian peninsula eventually become one of the mightiest imperial powers the world has ever known? This question is the focus of A Brief History of the Romans, an abbreviated version of the highly acclaimed The Romans: From Village to Empire by Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel J. Gargola, and Richard J.A. Talbert. This shorter version lucidly unfolds Rome's remarkable evolution through monarchy, republic, and then an empire that, at its height, stretched from Scotland to Iraq and the Nile Valley. Concise narrative integrates the political, military, social, and cultural landmarks of over 1,500 years--from the early struggles against Etruscans, Samnites, and Gauls to the sack of Rome by Alaric and his Visigoths. The book gives readers a basic yet engaging introduction to Roman history and society. It is an ideal text for courses on Ancient civilization, Roman civilization, or Roman history. FEATURES * Fourteen boxes featuring excerpts from writings by Romans themselves * Extensive variety of photos and illustrations, all with detailed captions; twenty-four custom-drawn maps of the city of Rome, Italy, the Mediterranean, and the wider Roman world * Narrative enlivened by such fascinating individuals as Hannibal, Mithridates, Pompey, Caesar, Cleopatra, Augustus, Livia, Nero, Trajan, Shapur, and Constantine * Selective, up-to-date recommendations for further reading; timeline of key events; glossary of Latin terms

A Brief History of the Romans

Kai Brodersen

How was space perceived and presented in the Roman world? While it is tempting to assume that any modern historical atlas, with its maps of "the world as the Romans saw it", gives a sufficient answer to these questions, recent research has suggested that the issue is more complex than this. To follow up such questions in more detail, the five original contributions to this volume, by leading experts from Britain, Germany, the United States, and Switzerland, discuss the tradition of scientific geography, Roman itinerary literature, and the Tabula Peutingeriana.

Its Perception and Presentation

Space in the Roman World

Talbert investigates miniature sundials which can be adjusted for the owner's whereabouts. They incorporate a list of locations and latitudes for ready reference, data that offers insight into Romans' worldviews. To some perhaps, these sundials were primarily symbols of scientific awareness as well as imperial mastery of time and space.

The Empire in Your Hand

Roman Portable Sundials

These two volumes have no maps. But all the Greek and Roman place names which are mapped in the atlas volume are here given together with references to the original research which marshals the evidence for how we know where the ancient places were.

Map-by-map Directory

Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World

John Bodel

Susan E. Alcock

"The unparalleled network of roads in the empire of ancient Rome was a remarkable achievement--yet this Roman road network is just the most notable example of an important feature of many pre-modern societies worldwide. Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-Modern World presents a comparative analysis of several sophisticated systems of overland transport and communication networks across pre-modern cultures. Featuring contributions from an international team of scholars, these readings delve deeply into the societal, cultural, and religious implications of various transportation networks around the globe. The latest research from the Mediterranean and the Near East is brought together with fresh work from the Americas, Africa, and Asia to reveal the significance and logistics of the movement of people and ideas in the pre-modern world. Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-Modern World sheds important new light--and fills a gap in contemporary scholarship--by exploring the importance and interconnectedness of the countless physical pathways of peoples and cultures"--Provided by publisher.

Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-Modern World

Richard Watson Unger

There was no sharp break between classical and medieval map making. Contributions by thirteen scholars offer fresh insight that demonstrates continuity and adaptation over the long term. This work reflects current thinking in the history of cartography and opens new directions for the future.

Richard J. A. Talbert

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