Propelled to power by the age of 17 by an ambitious mother, self-indulgent to the point of criminality, inadequate, paranoid and the perpetrator of heinous crimes including matricide and fratricide, and deposed and killed by 31, Nero is one of Rome’s most infamous Emperors.But has history treated him fairly? Or is the popular view of Nero as a capricious and depraved individual a travesty of the truth and a gross injustice to Rome's fifth emperor?This new biography will loo...

From renowned and respected author David Shotter, this updated and expanded edition of Roman Britain offers a concise introduction to this period, drawing on the wealth of recent scholarship to explain the progress of the Romans and their objectives in conquering Britain.Key topics discussed include:* the Roman conquest of Britain* the evolution of the frontier with Scotland* the infrastructure the Romans put in place* the place of religion in ...

The name of Rome excites a picture of power and organisation, as do the widely-spread ruins that Roman civilization left behind. Yet Rome grew out of a collection of small villages and major developments such as the growth of Empire were unplanned and completely unprepared for.Influenced by a small number of self-interested aristocrats who lacked a broader vision, Rome was often threatened by their intrigues. Brought to the ground on a number of occasions, its leaders were able to snatch v...

Revised throughout, the second edition of this successful book takes the most recent research in the field into account and reviews the evidence in order to place Augustus firmly in the context of his own times.History sees Augustus Caesar as the first emperor of Rome, whose system of ordered government provided a firm and stable basis for the expansion and prosperity of the Roman Empire. Hailed as 'restorer of the Republic' and regarded by some as a deity in his own lifetime, Augu...

Revised and updated to include the latest research in the field, this second edition of a popular history text examines how the Roman republic was destabilized by the unplanned growth of the Roman Empire.Central discussion points include:the government of the republichow certain individuals took advantage of the expansion of the empireJulius Caesar's accession to powerthe rise of the Augustan principate following Julius Caesar's murder.

Taking into account the latest research on the subject, David Shotter has updated this second edition of Tiberius Caesar throughout and provides a concise and accessible survey of the character and life of Tiberius Caesar, heir of Augustus Caesar and emperor of Rome from AD 14 to AD 37.Tiberius Caesar sheds light on many aspects of the reign of this enigmatic emperor, including the influential and often problematic relationships Tiberius maintained with the senate...

The reign of Nero is often judged to be the embodiment of the extravagance and the corruption that have, for many, come to symbolise ancient Rome. David Shotter provides a reassessment of this view in this accessible introduction to Nero, emperor of Rome from 54 to 68 AD. All the major issues are discussed including:• Nero’s early life and accession to power• Nero’s perception of himself• Nero’s domestic and international policies• the reasons for Nero’s fall f...

For nearly four centuries, from AD 43 to 410, Britain was a small province on the north western edge of the vast Roman Empire. Patricia Southerns masterly new history tells the story from first contact, through invasion and conquest, coexistence to eventual decline incorporating the political, social and cultural history of Britannia. For the first time the wealth of voices from the varied population of Roman Britain are placed centre stage in the narrative. Indirectly via the works of anc...

**New York Times BestsellerA New York Times Notable BookNamed one of the Best Books of the Year by the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Foreign Affairs, and Kirkus ReviewsFinalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction)Shortlisted for the Cundill Prize in Historical LiteratureFinalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (History)A San Francisco Chronicle Hol...

In this lively and very readable history of the Roman Empire from its establishment in 27 BC to the barbarian incursions and the fall of Rome in AD 476, Kershaw draws on a range of evidence, from Juvenal's Satires to recent archaeological finds.He examines extraordinary personalities such as Caligula and Nero and seismic events such as the conquest of Britain and the establishment of a 'New Rome' at Constantinople and the split into eastern and western empires.Along the way...

With a new foreword by Tim Cornell‘Can anyone be so indifferent or idle as not to care to know by what means and under what kind of polity almost the whole inhabited world was conquered and bought under the dominion of a single city of Rome?’ – Polybius, Greek HistorianThe city of Rome created the foundations of an empire that would come to challenge and conquer the great civilizations of Europe and the Near East. H.H. Scullard’s d...

THE race which played the leading part in history after the break-up of the Roman Empire was the race known as the Teutons. Their early history is shrouded in obscurity, an obscurity which only begins to be lightened about the end of the second century of our era. Such information as we have we owe to Greeks and Romans; and what they give us is almost exclusively contemporary history, and the few fragmentary statements referring to earlier conditions, invaluable as they are to us, do not g...