Pliny's Praise: The Panegyricus in the Roman World

Pliny's Panegyricus (AD 100) survives as a unique example of senatorial rhetoric from the early Roman Empire. It offers an eyewitness account of the last years of Domitian's principate, the reign of Nerva and Trajan's early years, and it communicates a detailed senatorial view on the behaviour expected of an emperor. It is an important document in the development of the ideals of imperial leadership, but it also contributes greatly to our understanding of imperial political culture more generally.

The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunnits

A host of totally new stories written by some of the most popular writers of historical mysteries brings to life the glorious and nefarious world that for nearly a thousand years—from the founding of the Republic in 510 B.C. to the deposing of the last emperor, Romulus, in 476 A.D.—was ancient Rome. Events from the turbulent reigns of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Caligula, and Nero provide the colorful background to tales ingeniously contrived by contributors like Paul Doherty, Gillian Bradshaw, and Richard Butler. 

The Mythology of the Night Sky - An Amateur Astronomer's Guide to the Ancient Greek and Roman Legends

Every amateur astronomer can easily recognize at least most of the constellations. For example, Orion: the brilliant stars Betelguse and Bellatrix form the shoulders of The Hunter, Saiph and Rigel his feet, and the bright diffuse nebula M42 makes a sword hanging from his belt, made up of three prominent stars. But how many of us know the story of Orion? What myths did the ancient Greeks weave around this mighty hunter that placed him so prominently in the sky?

The Barbarians Speak - How the Conquered Peoples Shaped Roman Europe

The Barbarians Speak re-creates the story of Europe's indigenous people who were nearly stricken from historical memory even as they adopted and transformed aspects of Roman culture. The Celts and Germans inhabiting temperate Europe before the arrival of the Romans left no written record of their lives and were often dismissed as "barbarians" by the Romans who conquered them. Accounts by Julius Caesar and a handful of other Roman and Greek writers would lead us to think that prior to contact with the Romans, European natives had much simpler political systems, smaller settlements, no evolving social identities, and that they practiced human sacrifice. 

Rome and the Distant East: Trade Routes to the ancient lands of Arabia, India and China

In ancient times there were several major trade routes that connected the Roman Empire to exotic lands in the distant East. Ancient sources reveal that after the Augustan conquest of Egypt, valued commodities from India, Arabia and China became increasingly available to Roman society. These sources describe how Roman traders went far beyond the frontiers of their Empire, travelling on overland journeys and maritime voyages to acquire the silk, spices and aromatics of the remote East.