Jon E Lewis is the author of numerous books in the Autobiography series including England: The Autobiography, The Autobiography of the British Soldier, London: The Autobiography and World War II: The Autobiography. His books have sold more than a million copies around the world. He is married with two children.
ROME
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Edited by JON E. LEWIS
Constable & Robinson Ltd
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London WC1B 4HP
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the UK as The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness
Ancient Rome by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2003
This updated and revised edition published by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2010
Collection and editorial material copyright J. Lewis-Stempel, 2003, 2010
The right of J. Lewis-Stempel to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in
Publication data is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-84901-083-2
eISBN: 978-1-78033-754-8
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First published in the United States in 2009 by Running Press Book Publishers
All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher.
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Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing
US Library of Congress Control Number: 2009920968
US ISBN 978-0-7624-3736-8
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CONTENTS
Plutarch
Anon
Anon
Anon
Polybius
Quintus Ennius
Titus Maccius Plautus
Cato the Elder
Cato the Elder
Terence
Cato the Elder
Anon
Polybius
Polybius
Anon
Plutarch
Cicero
Marcus Cicero
Sallust
Quintus Cicero
Sallust
Lucius Catilina
Sallust
Macrobius
Sallust
Cicero
Appian
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Marcus Cicero
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Marcus Cicero
Caelius
Cicero
Marcus Cicero
Julius Caesar
Marcus Cicero
Suetonius
Cicero
Nicolaus of Damascus
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Virgil
Horace
Mark Antony
Horace
Augustus
Gaius Isidorus
Anon
Strabo
Augustus
Velleius Paterculus
Augustus
Apicius
Strabo
St John, New Testament
Suetonius
Philo
Claudius
Juvenal
Seneca
Pliny the Elder
Anon
Tacitus
Tacitus
Agrippina the Younger
Tacitus
Tacitus
Petronius
Seneca
Tacitus
Tacitus
Tacitus
Suetonius
Suetonius
Tacitus
Josephus
Josephus
Josephus
Josephus
Pliny the Elder
Soranus
P. Licinius Papirianus
Pliny the Elder
Anon
Anon
Various
Pliny the Younger
Suetonius
Tacitus
Juvenal
Strabo
Martial
Martial
Quintilian
Pliny
Anon
Tacitus
Anon
Masclus
Claudia Severa
Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger
Various
Frontinus
Pliny the Younger
Juvenal
Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger
Juvenal
Juvenal
Marcus Aurelius
Aelius Aristides
Theon
Anon
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius
Avidius Cassius
Herodian
Hero of Alexandria
Herodian
Serenus
Apion
Herodian
Claudius II
Vopiscus
Anon
Eusebius
Aurelius Psenymis
Sozomen
Constantine
Ammianus Marcellinus
Julian
Julian
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus
Amminanus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus
St Augustine
Synesius
Synesius
Synesius
Jordanes
St Jerome
Priscus
Jordanes
Sidonius Apollinaris
Leo and Majorian
Sidonius Apollinaris
Sidonius
Part Four Epilogue:
The Roman Empire in the East, AD 477565
Procopius
Procopius
Procopius
Procopius
INTRODUCTION
Rome was one of the three pillars of Western civilization. Of the other two, Rome subsumed one (Greece) and succoured the last (Christianity).
It is little surprise, then, that Rome still looms so large in the landscape of Western culture: Roman Catholic; modern legal systems (based on Justininians Corpus Juris Civilis); the month of July (after Julius Caesar); the tradition of carrying brides across the threshold (a Roman rite); the Latin-derived languages of Italy, France, Portugal and Spain. Even English, the language of the Anglo-Saxons, is 33 per cent based on Latin.
Meanwhile, the physical landscape of the West bears countless imprints of Rome: the ruler-straight road that is the Fosse Way, the aquaduct at Nimes, the Colosseum in Rome, the amphitheatre at Caerleon, the baths at Bath. And when real Roman buildings have fallen to dust, generations of architects have revived the Classical style. There are middle-class housing projects the Western world over which have fake Roman columns around the portal.
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