Selections include many of the high points of Romes climb to world domination: the defeat of Hannibal; the conquest of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean; the defeat of the Catilinarian conspirators; Caesars conquest of Gaul; Antony and Cleopatra; the establishment of the Empire by Caesar Augustus; and the Roman Peace under Hadrian and long excerpts from Tacitus record the horrors of the reigns of Tiberius and Nero.
The book is intended both for undergraduate courses in Roman history and for the general reader interested in approaching the Romans through the original historical sources. Hence, excerpts of Polybius, Livy, and Tacitus are extensive enough to be read with pleasure as an exciting narrative. Now in its third edition, changes to this thoroughly revised volume include a new timeline, translations of several key inscriptions such as the Twelve Tables, and additional readings. This is a book which no student of Roman history should be without.
ROUTLEDGE SOURCEBOOKS FOR THE ANCIENT WORLD
TRIALS FROM CLASSICAL ATHENS, 2ND EDITION
Christopher Carey
ANCIENT GREECE, 3RD EDITION
Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland
READINGS IN LATE ANTIQUITY, 2ND EDITION
Michael Maas
GREEK AND ROMAN EDUCATION
Mark Joyal, J.C. Yardley and Iain McDougall
THE REPUBLICAN ROMAN ARMY
Michael M. Sage
THE STORY OF ATHENS
Phillip Harding
ROMAN SOCIAL HISTORY
Tim Parkin and Arthur Pomeroy
DEATH IN ANCIENT ROME
Valerie Hope
ANCIENT ROME
Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland
SEXUALITY IN GREEK AND ROMAN LITERATURE
Marguerite Johnson and Terry Ryan
ATHENIAN POLITICAL ORATORY
David Phillips
POMPEII
Alison E. Cooley and M.G.L. Cooley
GREEK SCIENCE OF THE HELLENISTIC ERA
Georgia Irby-Massie and Paul Keyser
WOMEN AND LAW IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Judith Evans Grubbs
WARFARE IN ANCIENT GREECE
Michael M. Sage
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Barbara Levick
PAGANS AND CHRISTIANS IN LATE ANTIQUITY
A.D. Lee
ANCIENT GREEK LAWS
Ilias Arnaoutoglou
GREEK AND ROMAN TECHNOLOGY
John Humphrey, John Oleson and Andrew Sherwood
ROMAN ITALY 388 BCAD 200
Kathryn Lomas
THE ROMAN ARMY 31 BCAD 337
Brian Campbell
THE ROMAN HOUSEHOLD
Jane F. Gardner and Thomas Wiedemann
ATHENIAN POLITICS
G.R. Stanton
GREEK AND ROMAN SLAVERY
Thomas Wiedemann
Forthcoming:
ANCIENT CITY OF ROME
Christopher Smith, J.C.N. Coulston, Hazel Dodge
WOMEN OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
Mark Chavalas
GREEK RELIGION
Emma Stafford and Karen Stears
THE HISTORIANS OF
ANCIENT ROME
An Anthology of the
Major Writings
Third Edition
Ronald Mellor
First published 1997 by Routledge
Second edition first published 2004 by Routledge
This third edition published 2013 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
1997, 2004, 2013 Ronald Mellor.
The right of Ronald Mellor to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
The historians of ancient Rome / [edited by] Ronald Mellor. 3rd ed.
p. cm. (Routledge sourcebooks for the ancient world)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. RomeHistory. I. Mellor, Ronald.
DG207.H57 2012
937dc23
2012009074
ISBN: 978-0-415-52715-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-52716-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-09737-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Taylor & Francis Books
CONTENTS
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
This collection grew out of my frustration in trying to find translated sources for my students in Roman history or western civilization courses. Forcing undergraduates to buy several volumes each, for example, of Livy and Tacitus taxed my conscience, since even paperback books can quickly exhaust a students budget. Since few college libraries can afford to purchase multiple copies of source material, I tried to provide a rich selection of the most important literary sources for Roman history.
There has also been a growing interest in ancient history among the general population, and I hope this book will provide a handy collection of what the Romans (and a few Greeks) themselves say over 600 years about Roman history. In my general Introduction, I have tried to sketch the development of Roman historical and biographical writing, and also to provide short introductions situating the historians in the political and literary contexts of their time. A select bibliography will direct the more intrepid reader to more complete translations and modern scholarship.
My graduate studentsTrevor Bond, Stephen Chappell, and Jason Moraleeserved as excellent research assistants for the first edition of 1997. William Germano of Routledge, who published my earlier book, Tacitus , initially encouraged me in this project and has been supportive in every way. I think Bill and I both wished to continue a commercial relationship that provides a respectable professional veneer for our many passionate conversations about opera. For encouragement for a third edition, I must thank Matthew Gibbons, the Classics editor of Routledge (UK) and his editorial assistant Amy Davis-Poynter for expediting the process. I am grateful to my wife Anne for many things, here specifically for her editorial revision of the Introduction.