A History of the Roman World 753-146 BC

Scullard is a long time favorite. I have read From the Gracchi to Nero a couple of times. Cary and Scullard, A History of Rome (3rd ed.) was the textbook for the Roman history class that I had in college. Somehow I never got around to reading this one until now. After a chapter on prehistoric Rome, Scullard begins with regal Rome and continues to the end of the Third Punic War and the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC. He divides the book into four sections: Rome and Italy, Rome and Carthage, Rome and the Mediterranean, and Roman Life and Culture. The first three sections cover the history proper chronologically and by region. This necessitates some duplication and cross referencing. Scullard focuses almost entirely on traditional show more political and military history in these sections. The fourth and final section covers everyday life and culture by topic: family, the city itself, law, literature, religion, etc. It is a nice survey that succinctly explains the basics of Roman culture before the Gracchi.

Scullard is generally clear and engaging. He takes inscriptions and archaeology into account, but tends to stick to the traditional Roman accounts when there is no compelling reason to do otherwise (the most sensible course). Although Scullard knew the sources and the scholarship of his time thoroughly and provides extensive notes, there have been a number of developments since. A couple of examples. He recounts the traditional version of the destruction of Carthage: burning it, ploughing it under, sowing it with salt. That's what I learned in school. Only it turns out there is absolutely no ancient evidence for the salting, and the first references to it date from the nineteenth century. A good story that should be true and isn't. Another: he refers (no less than three times) to the Praeneste Fibula as one of the earliest examples of archaic Latin to survive, supposedly from ca. 650 BC. Also what I learned in a survey of Latin lit in college. But since Scullard wrote there has been a serious challenge to its authenticity; the jury is still out but many now believe it to be a nineteenth-century forgery. The dangers of reading an older book. But Scullard is informative and often entertaining; he gets a lot more right than not. show less

I did not read all of this, but most and the parts necessary for the curriculum I am working on. Easy read, clear, detailed, and well written.

I did not read all of this, but most and the parts necessary for the curriculum I am working on. Easy read, clear, detailed, and well written.

"2012-10-26 12:00:00"

Rome