Ancient Rome William E Dunstan Books
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Ancient Rome masterfully synthesizes the vast period from the second millennium BCE to the sixth century CE, carrying readers through the succession of fateful steps and agonizing crises that marked Roman evolution from an early village settlement to the capital of an extraordinary realm extending from northern Britain to the deserts of Arabia. A host of world-famous figures come to life in these pages, including Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Augustus, Livia, Cicero, Nero, Hadrian, Diocletian, Constantine, Justinian, and Theodora. Filled with chilling narratives of violence, lust, and political expediency, this book not only describes empire-shaping political and military events but also treats social and cultural developments as integral to Roman history. William Dunstan highlights such key topics as the physical environment, women, law, the roles of slaves and freedmen, the plight of unprivileged free people, the composition and power of the ruling class, education, popular entertainment, food and clothing, marriage and divorce, sex, death and burial, finance and trade, scientific and medical achievements, religious institutions and practices, and artistic and literary masterpieces. All readers interested in the classical world will find this a fascinating and compelling history.
Ancient Rome William E Dunstan Books
The strengths of this book are its comprehensiveness and its readibility. It covers everything important for a survey of ancient Rome, including politics, the endless wars, daily life and culture. Its prose is easy to read and divided neatly into bite-sized chunks which help one absorb the large amount of information presented. The maps and illustrations are generally excellent (see below).There is a tinge of political correctness to the book:
-- the author often emphasizes Roman cruelty and deceitfulness in foreign affairs, for example in its treatment of former allies Rhodes and Pergamum. While these charges are probably justified, they imply that Rome's behavior was worse than other states of the time, which is questionable.
-- in domestic Roman politics the author tends to side with "all citizens" against the "ruling class" and "voracious wealthy". This perspective colors his presentation, causing discussion of issues like land redistribution to miss nuance.
-- he correctly treats the Senate as a powerful elite but does not then explain why in 129 BC senators were suddenly excluded from the knighthood class, many of whom were businessmen - a division of power which had huge impact on politics thereafter, and doesn't fit the mold of "citizens" against the "rich".
-- Dunstan trendily spices up the book with sexuality, including the old news that homosexuality was openly accepted. He gets explicit about the do's and don'ts, and includes an illustration of a boy reaching for a man's genitals. There is also an illustration of Tiberius fooling around in Capri, though it is based only on "spicy whispers". A rather breathless discussion about Near Eastern temple prostitution in the section on Carthage concludes that it's uncertain whether it was practiced there - a bit of an anticlimax.
-- although the author accepts convention in the use of names, stating at the outset that he will use latinized forms of Greek names because they are "firmly rooted", he insists on replacing the even more rooted BC with "BCE" and AD with "CE". This simply causes reader irritation.
Rowman and Littlefield did a good job of editing, but a poor job of producing this book. Student "citizens" required to pay $109 for a copy will find a plasticy cover, albeit featuring a busty marble Roman babe (who may not have been truly Roman at all - p. 370) having a wardrobe malfunction; and the book is held together by a cheap glued binding. Mine cracked the first time I opened it.
Dunstan's book has significant strengths. After a few hundred pages, however, one feels fatigued by the burden of factual accumulation not balanced by deep insights about the broader meaning of what is presented. This caused me to move over to M. Cary's "History of Rome", which I found to be a masterpiece of historical prose, enjoyable to read both in its detail and its depth.
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Tags : Amazon.com: Ancient Rome (9780742568327): William E. Dunstan: Books,William E. Dunstan,Ancient Rome,Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,0742568326,Rome - Civilization,Rome - History - Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D,Rome - Politics and government - 30 B.C.-476 A.D,Rome;Civilization.,Rome;History;Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D.,Rome;Politics and government;30 B.C.-476 A.D.,30 B.C.-476 A.D,Ancient - Rome,Civilization,Classical history classical civilisation,Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D,History,History - General History,History Ancient Rome,History: Ancient Rome,History: World,Politics and government,Rome
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Ancient Rome William E Dunstan Books Reviews
Even though this book was a required text book for a history class, it was a great read. It was easy to read and filled with interesting and useful information that was not weighted down with flowery sentences. It was like having a massive history chanel series on Ancient Rome in one book. I recommend to everyone who has an interest in this subject.
A caveat is in order this is ostensibly a textbook for a 200-level course on ancient Rome. That qualification stated, it scarcely reads like a textbook. More than the volume of information Dunstan covers (and he covers a huge field of information), the writing is what struck me the most. I read a lot of textbooks (a professional hazzard) and I am always cognizant of the ages-old complaint by students that "the text is boring." (Suck it up - this is college. Learn to love it.) _Ancient Rome_ is the standard for how history texts should be written it is engaging, well-organized and discusses in detail not only the political events of ancient Rome, but also the econcomic, cultural, literary and artistic developments of 1000 years of classical history.
The first third of the text covers the Roman republic (roughly from 476 BCE - 44 BCE). The geography of the peninsula and early Etruscan influences are briefly addressed before the history of the republic (and its gradual expansion) is addressed. The strength of the book, however, is its depth - providing the broader political context of the time period, Dunstan goes on to show the cultural changes that took place alongside (and as a result of) the politics.
The bulk of the book is concerned with imperial Rome (from the ascendency of Caesar to the reign of Odoacer and Theodoric in the 5th century CE). As with the republican period, politics are used as the springboard for a closer examination of Rome as an institution culturally and economically. The interrelationship of these aspects of Rome, Dunstan shows, is critical in understanding why Rome was (and is) so important to the west today. His presentation of the parade of empeorors after Octavian (Augustus) breathes life into palace intrigue and insight into the personalities of these powerful rulers; however, attention is also provided to the faceless masses who, for so long, have served as "set decoration" in most histories of the age. That Dunstan gives these common Romans voice is both refreshing and part of the strength of the book.
His discussion of the birth and growth of the early Church was of particular interest. Dunstan again does a remarkable job of writing about the historical Jesus and the growth (and conflict) of the new religion. The only negative remark I can make regards his discussion of the Byzantine Empire - he ends the text with the reign of Justinian (d. 565), while I think Heraclius (r. 610 - 641) would have made a better ending point, given his exclusive attention to the East and policy of "writing off" the "western" Roman Empire. Admittedly this is hair-splitting, and there are a number of excellent reasons why the text concludes with Justinian - further testament to the thought and strength of the book.
For classicists, there is little new here. For students of classical history, this is a "must have" book, if only as a starting point for further reading or research. For history "geeks" or those simply interested in top-shelf history written in accessable language with a super-abundance of detail, look no further. Highly recommended.
Good review of the beginnings of ancient Rome. Used as a textbook for class on Ancient Rome and it provides a lot of good information for written assignments. Packaging was good except that the box was a bit oversized allowing content to slide around, but no damage to book.
Great overview of Roman history.
The strengths of this book are its comprehensiveness and its readibility. It covers everything important for a survey of ancient Rome, including politics, the endless wars, daily life and culture. Its prose is easy to read and divided neatly into bite-sized chunks which help one absorb the large amount of information presented. The maps and illustrations are generally excellent (see below).
There is a tinge of political correctness to the book
-- the author often emphasizes Roman cruelty and deceitfulness in foreign affairs, for example in its treatment of former allies Rhodes and Pergamum. While these charges are probably justified, they imply that Rome's behavior was worse than other states of the time, which is questionable.
-- in domestic Roman politics the author tends to side with "all citizens" against the "ruling class" and "voracious wealthy". This perspective colors his presentation, causing discussion of issues like land redistribution to miss nuance.
-- he correctly treats the Senate as a powerful elite but does not then explain why in 129 BC senators were suddenly excluded from the knighthood class, many of whom were businessmen - a division of power which had huge impact on politics thereafter, and doesn't fit the mold of "citizens" against the "rich".
-- Dunstan trendily spices up the book with sexuality, including the old news that homosexuality was openly accepted. He gets explicit about the do's and don'ts, and includes an illustration of a boy reaching for a man's genitals. There is also an illustration of Tiberius fooling around in Capri, though it is based only on "spicy whispers". A rather breathless discussion about Near Eastern temple prostitution in the section on Carthage concludes that it's uncertain whether it was practiced there - a bit of an anticlimax.
-- although the author accepts convention in the use of names, stating at the outset that he will use latinized forms of Greek names because they are "firmly rooted", he insists on replacing the even more rooted BC with "BCE" and AD with "CE". This simply causes reader irritation.
Rowman and Littlefield did a good job of editing, but a poor job of producing this book. Student "citizens" required to pay $109 for a copy will find a plasticy cover, albeit featuring a busty marble Roman babe (who may not have been truly Roman at all - p. 370) having a wardrobe malfunction; and the book is held together by a cheap glued binding. Mine cracked the first time I opened it.
Dunstan's book has significant strengths. After a few hundred pages, however, one feels fatigued by the burden of factual accumulation not balanced by deep insights about the broader meaning of what is presented. This caused me to move over to M. Cary's "History of Rome", which I found to be a masterpiece of historical prose, enjoyable to read both in its detail and its depth.
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