Product Description

The Roman Empire was a remarkable achievement. It had a population of sixty million people spread across lands encircling the Mediterranean and stretching from drizzle-soaked northern England to the sun-baked banks of the Euphrates in Syria, and from the Rhine to the North African coast. It was, above all else, an empire of force - employing a mixture of violence, suppression, order, and tactical use of power to develop an astonishingly uniform culture. This Very Short Introduction covers the history of the Empire from Augustus (the first Emperor) to Marcus Aurelius, describing how the empire was formed, how it was run, its religions and its social structure. It examines how local cultures were "romanised" and how people in far away lands came to believe in the emperor as a god. The book also examines how the Roman Empire has been considered and depicted in more recent times, from the writings of Edward Gibbon, to the differing attitudes of the Victorians and recent Hollywood blockbuster films.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79157 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

Review
This mervellous little book...succeeds in sketching the remarkable way in which the Roman Empire spread across Europe... (Barbara Finney, The Journal of Classics Teaching )

"...the author has succeeded admirably. This is no cop out - themes are chosen sensibly and well presented. This book does what it says on the cover... This book is intellectual, yet accessible, well written, stimulating, original, and essential for those who wish to gain a rapid overview of the subject without getting bogged down." (Dr Mark Merrony, Minerva )

About the Author
Christopher Kelly is University Lecturer in Classics, Director of Studies in Classics, and Senior Tutor of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He regularly writes for the Times Literary Supplement, he is an editor of the Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, and has contributed major chapters to the Cambridge Ancient History, The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine, and to Harvard University Press' Late Antiquity: A Guide to the
Postclassical World. His monograph, Ruling the Later Roman Empire was published by Harvard in 2004.

Customer Reviews

Excursions through Imperial Rome
This Very Short Introduction is blessedly free of the typos that usually infect this otherwise excellent series, and for once, the illustrations are relevant, indeed central, to the text. There is a timeline and a very useful map at the end of the book, but the text itself is not a conventional, chronological narrative of the rise of Empire. It is rather a series of essays on a selection of topics, covering the period from Augustus to Commodus, that is, from around 30 BC to about AD 190. These excursions through aspects of the subject are concerned almost as much with how history is rewritten and reinterpreted as it is with the actual facts of history. There is an emphasis on architecture, particularly as an expression of social status and political ideology, an emphasis that will suit the taste of some readers more than others. The prose is clear and very readable, with the occasional topical, colloquial flourish ("The Empire writes back", "Through the keyhole") which can seem somewhat forced. Authoritative and illuminating, this little book is an essential addition to the reading list of anyone interested in ancient history.

Slim but powerful Introduction
This excellent introduction to the Roman Empire is succinct and selective rather than superficial. Its compass ranges from the iconography of the Imperial cult to contemporary perceptions of Rome in the cinema.

Far from being a conventional, political history centred on the Roman elite, Kelly is most impressive when trying to recreate the ordinary lives of the silent and all but invisible majority, who have left no historical trace and only the faintest of impressions in the archaeological record. He is especially interesting and perceptive when writing about elusive topics like population studies within the Empire. Hard evidence on such matters is, naturally, very scant. Kelly uses statistical models and contemporary demographic studies of the developing world to reach his conclusions, some of which are startling - for example, the life expectancy at birth for emperors who died from natural causes between the 1st and 7th centuries: 26.3 years (no greater, therefore, than the life expectancy of people in much poorer and less privileged social groups).

This slim volume manages to be authoritative, concise and thought-provoking. Anyone wanting to investigate further, meanwhile, can make good use of its extensive bibliography.

Roman empire
This is a brilliant introduction to this topic. It is no way dry or dull to read and gives great insight into Roman life and how they administered their empire. It looks at symbols in Roman architecture and how they are used to increase the legend of the empire and emperor, as well as link into local tradition to prevent dissent. It also looks at local life and households, as well as Christians and their martyrdom in the Colosseum. You can find out what aspects of the empire intrigue you most before going on to the massive range of books out there that are more specific. Simply superb.