Product Description

Ammianus Marcellinus was the last great Roman historian, and his writings rank alongside those of Livy and Tacitus. The Later Roman Empire chronicles a period of twenty-five years during Marcellinus’ own lifetime, covering the reigns of Constantius, Julian, Jovian, Valentinian I, and Valens, and providing eyewitness accounts of significant military events including the Battle of Strasbourg and the Goth’s Revolt. Portraying a time of rapid and dramatic change, Marcellinus describes an Empire exhausted by excessive taxation, corruption, the financial ruin of the middle classes and the progressive decline in the morale of the army. In this magisterial depiction of the closing decades of the Roman Empire, we can see the seeds of events that were to lead to the fall of the city, just twenty years after Marcellinus’ death.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #263470 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

About the Author
Ammianus Marcellinus was the last great Roman historian, continuing the histories of Tacitus from AD 96 down to his own day. The first thirteen of his thirty-one books are lost: the remainder describe AD 354 - 378. Walter Hamilton translated Plato's Symposium, the Gorgias, Phaedrus and Letters VII and VIII for Penguin Classics. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill is Professor of Classics at Reading University. His books include Suetonius: the Scholar and his Caesars.

Customer Reviews

The last great Roman historian
Ammianus was an eyewitness to momentous events during the mid-fourth century, and he writes the history of his own times vividly, lucidly and with an eye for posterity that makes his work both indispensable for historians (he is the first and only source for much of this information) as well as for the general reader. Here we find venal Emperors (Constantius), wicked prosecutors (Paul "The Chain") and numerous plotters and caballers who all help bring on the decline (if not quite the fall) of the old Roman way of life. Ammianus was present at the epic siege of Amida (for a fictional account of which, read "Amida: A Novel", ISBN 0954747305),as well as accompanying the ill-fated Emperor Julian on his Persian expedition: both events are related with a gripping immediacy that carries the reader back to the dusty, dangerous desert of Mesopotamia on the fringes of the embattled Empire.

Ammianus enlivens his narrative with learned literary references and frequent entertaining though often inaccurate digressions -- some of these are omitted from this Penguin translation, which preserves most of the text but not all. As Gibbon gratefully noted, he is a genial and candid writer whose company is a joy for the reader. Anyone interested in Roman history should own a copy of this book -- after Livy and Tacitus it is not only essential but eminently readable.

Very good translation
I found this is to be a very good translation and most enjoyable reading. In my opinion Ammianus is much more fun to read than Herodotus's Histories, because he makes his world much more vivid; especially battle scenes where he exposes his military knowledge. Ammianus also makes intriguing side notes, or digressions as some could say, on different matters.

The very reason I can't give 5 stars is that the translator has omitted some of Ammianus' interesting parts in the translation. So, if someone is looking for mentions of Saracens and siege machines for example, one should consult J. C. Rolfe's translation (Loeb series). I don't, however, find Rolfe's translation as smooth and fun as this.

Finally, I'd like to give credit for useful notes and maps that made understanding much easier.

not exactly herodotus
mmm, interesting but hard work- get a general modern summary first or you'll be lost. If you're reading it as literature not history try Herodotus or Dio Cassius they're much more fun.