The Civil Wars
by Appian
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Taken from Appian's Roman History, the five books collected here form the sole surviving continuous historical narrative of the era between 133 and 35 BC - a time of anarchy and instability for the Roman Empire. A masterly account of a turbulent epoch, they describe the Catiline conspiracy; the rise and fall of the First Triumvirate; the murder of Julius Caesar; the formation of the Second Triumvirate by Antonius, Octavian and Lepidus; and brutal civil war. A compelling depiction of the show more decline of the Roman state into brutality and violence, The Civil Warsportrays political discontent, selfishness and the struggle for power - a struggle that was to culminate in a titanic battle for mastery over the Roman Empire, and the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra by Octavian in 31 BC. John Carter's modern translation conveys the compelling style of the original. His extensive introduction provides an in-depth assessment of Appian as historian and places the work in context. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This is how Appian should be done in English. He has a way of dropping you straight in as he’s not about to start explaining things that would have been common knowledge 1900 years ago. This edition has so many notes, appendices, and a really good introduction. It’s a shame the earlier parts of the book are only available from Loeb.
Fast-paced at times, exceptionally vivid and intense. It’s got everything, really. Spartacus, Cleopatra. Loads of famous Romans. Men who rank as high as anyone. Particularly good is the whole Julius Caesar part. You can clearly see it all in your mind’s eye, if you have one. Also worth looking out for are the proscriptions of Octavian and Mark Antony which are done as a montage.
It’s a cautionary show more tale. At this point America has been changed out of all recognition by her own success and has now herself become the prey. Yet she still has the constitution of a city state and this has left her open to the predations of men with a lust for ultimate power. Watch helplessly as the Republic falls. Sorry, I’ve just realised I wrote ‘America’ just now. I did of course mean Rome. Rome has been changed out of all recognition. show less
Fast-paced at times, exceptionally vivid and intense. It’s got everything, really. Spartacus, Cleopatra. Loads of famous Romans. Men who rank as high as anyone. Particularly good is the whole Julius Caesar part. You can clearly see it all in your mind’s eye, if you have one. Also worth looking out for are the proscriptions of Octavian and Mark Antony which are done as a montage.
It’s a cautionary show more tale. At this point America has been changed out of all recognition by her own success and has now herself become the prey. Yet she still has the constitution of a city state and this has left her open to the predations of men with a lust for ultimate power. Watch helplessly as the Republic falls. Sorry, I’ve just realised I wrote ‘America’ just now. I did of course mean Rome. Rome has been changed out of all recognition. show less
Kind of a slog between the Ides and the founding of the second triumvirate, otherwise great reading.
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102+ Works 1,205 Members
Born probably during the reign of Domitian (81--96), Appian was an Alexandrian Greek who rose to high imperial office under Antoninus Pius (137--61). He wrote a history of Rome's wars from the founding of Rome to the reign of Trajan, arranged ethnographically. Of the 24 original books, or papyrus rolls of standard length written in Greek, 16 have show more survived essentially complete. Appian was not an original historian but a derivative and pedestrian narrator who understood only imperfectly the institutions of the former Republic about which he wrote. However, he used sources for his work that made it valuable modern scholars. This is particularly true of his Civil Wars, describing the last convulsions of the Republic and the rise of Octavian. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Civil Wars
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 937.05 — History & geography History of ancient world (to ca. 499) Italian Peninsula to 476 and adjacent territories to 476 Period of civil strife, 146-31 B.C.
- LCC
- DG254 .A6713 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania City History of Italy Ancient Italy. Rome to 476 History By period Kings and Republic, 753-27 B.C. Republic, 509-27 Fall of the Republic and establishment
- BISAC
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- Reviews
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- Rating
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- Languages
- 6 — Dutch, English, French, Greek (Ancient), Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 6
