Product Description

Goodman presents a lucid and balanced picture of the Roman world examining the Roman empire from a variety of perspectives; cultural, political, civic, social and religious.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57367 in Books
• Published on: 1997-07-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

From the Back Cover

Examining the Roman world from an unusual and illuminating angle, this volume explores the central period of the Roman empire from Julius Caesar to Marcus Aurelius.

Martin Goodman focuses on the perspective of its peoples and its fringe areas, rather than from the Emperor's household, giving a balanced view of the Roman world in its entirety.
Goodman outlines and discusses the major aspects of Roman rule and culture, as well as the marginal; the city state of Rome, politics, social and civic life, and religion.

The Roman World 44 BC – AD 180 offers a stimulating and provocative addition to the study of the Roman world in this period, which will be of vital interest to anyone concerned with the origins of Western civilization.

About the Author
Martin Goodman is positioned at the Oriental Institute, Oxford. He has written numerous books, including The Ruling Class of Judaea (1987), State and Society in Roman Galilee (1983) and contributed to The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (1986).

Customer Reviews

A fantastic starting point
This is another book in this series that is absolutely fantastic. These books were a godsend when I was studying for a Classics degree. They're not technical or weighed down in heavy jargon. Instead, this book is an ideal and intelligent introduction to the Roman World. The style is approachable and snappy. The aim of the book is to provide an overview but this is excellently supplemented by an extensive bibliography for those who wish to study the subject further. If you're looking for a book on this period, you couldn't do much better than this.

Good Historical Overview
This is a decent historical overview of the Roman world. This book is a lot of history so its usefulness to all fields of human study, such as archaeology or anthropology, is limited. I was disappointed by how trade, infrastructure, and material culture were mostly glossed over. I was also dismayed about how brief some parts of the book were and how it was somewhat disorganized (for example, the activities and raison d'etre of the praetorian guard were introduced early in the book in the section on emperor's but not explained until the discussion on society). I have read better books on the subject of the Roman Empire, but this one is ok for a general synopsis of Roman society and history.

Clear and Concise overview of the early Roman Empire
Goodman's book is written in a clear and eloquent style. He uses many ancient and more recent sources wisely - he doesn't try to baffle you with too many quotes but what he does use are always concise and helpful.

I've read a number of books on the Roman Empire but this one is probably the best. In 329 pages (the rest of the book is devoted to notes, bibliography and the index) Goodwin brings to life the Roman World in all its splendour, gaudiness, depravity and even, in parts, its squalor.

Part one is an introduction to sources and the Roman worldat the start of the peridod (in 50BC). Part two deals with the Emperors and politics. Part three with various aspects of the functioning of the state. Part four is split between society in various parts of the empire (Rome, Italy, France, Britain, Germany, Greece, the East, Egypt, Africa etc) Finally Part five is on the Pagan Godsa nd then Judaism and Christianity.

All in all quite acomprehensive book for such a short book and one that will whet your apptetite to delve further in many of these areas.

A book I wholeheartedly recommend!