Lives Of The Romans Cl

by Matyszak,Philip

• ISBN13: 9780500251447
• ISBN10: 0500251444
• Edition: 00
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-17
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Summary

One hundred biographies reveal the mightiest civilization of the ancient world through the lives of its citizens. At its peak Rome's empire stretched across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, yet it started as a primitive encampment above a riverside marsh. This book spans the great chronological and geographical sweep of the Roman age and brings the reader face to face with those who helped create the empire, from consuls and commanders to ordinary soldiers, voters, and taxpayers. An extraordinary range of viewpoints is explored in these biographies. A centurion and a plasterer's wife share pages with the orator Cicero and the scholar Pliny the Elder, while a vestal virgin shares a chapter with Antinous, the boy-lover of Hadrian. Augustine, the church patriarch, and Constantine, Rome's first "Christian" emperor, rub shoulders with Julian the Apostate and Vettius Agorius Praetextatus, leader of the pagans. Roman women were the most liberated in the ancient world. They could wield massive power and influence, yet are often overlooked. Meet Servilia, Caesar's lover; Sulpicia, the teenage poet; Amazonia, the sword-swinging gladiator; and Cloelia, the girl who escaped captivity by swimming the Tiber. Lavishly illustrated with magnificent works of art, including portraits, sculptures, and Renaissance paintings of Roman scenes, this book reveals the real-life stories behind the rise and fall of Rome. 230 illustrations, 120 in color.

Table of Contents

Portrait of a People	p. 8
Royal Subjects to Republican Citizens 753-300 BC	p. 12
Faustulus: The shepherd who adopted Romulus and Remus	p. 16
Titus Tatius: Outraged Sabine father	p. 18
Tanaquil: King-maker	p. 21
Servius Tullius: From captive to king	p. 22
Brutus: Liberator of Rome	p. 25
Lucretia: Perfect Roman matron	p. 29
Cloelia: The girl who defied Lars Porsenna	p. 32
Vindicius: The slave who betrayed a conspiracy	p. 34
Cincinnatus: From ploughman to dictator	p. 36
Verginius: Centurion and revolutionary	p. 38
Marcus Manlius: Defender of the Capitol	p. 40
Titus Manlius: A soldier killed on his father's orders	p. 42
Decius Mus: Self-sacrifice to the gods	p. 44
From Italians to Romans 300-88 BC	p. 46
Regulus: Crucified general	p. 50
Fabius Pictor: Rome's first historian	p. 52
Plautus: Roman playwright	p. 56
Cato the Elder: A pillar of virtue	p. 59
Fabius Maximus: The general who delayed Hannibal	p. 61
Claudius Marcellus: Besieger of Syracuse	p. 63
Quinctius Crispinus: Duel to the death with an old friend	p. 67
Laelius: Friend of Scipio Africanus	p. 69
Spurius Licustinus: An ordinary soldier who worked his way up the ranks	p. 72
Cornelia: Mother of the Gracchi	p. 73
Rutilius Rufus: The perils of virtue	p. 77
Sulla: The Roman who conquered Rome	p. 79
Staberius Eros: Schoolteacher	p. 82
Pasiteles: Roman sculptor	p. 84
Life in Troubled Times 300-88 BC	p. 86
Hortensius: King of the courts	p. 90
Cicero: Rome's greatest orator	p. 92
Verres: Rapacious governor of Sicily	p. 96
Catiline: Decadent revolutionary	p. 99
Sallust: Disappoinled demagogue	p. 102
Tiro: Besieger of Syracuse Cicero' s slave and amanuensis	p. 104
Clodia: Aristocrat and wild child	p. 106
Atticus: Friend to the powerful	p. 109
Servilia: Caesar's lover, Brutus' mother	p. 112
Julius Caesar: Glory and infamy	p. 114
Horace: Poet and freedman's son	p. 120
Augustus: Master of the empire	p. 122
Agrippa: Augustus second-in-command	p. 130
Julius Zoilos: Octavian's loyal freedman	p. 134
Nonius Balbus: Benefactor of Herculaneum	p. 135
Livy: Historian of Rome	p. 137
Eumachia: First lady of Pompeii	p. 140
Hilarion of Oxyrhynchus: Killing a girl child	p. 142
Virgil: Rome's greatest poet	p. 144
Romans and Caesars AD 14-75	p. 146
Sulpicia: Teenage poet	p. 150
Antonia Augusta: Imperial matriarch	p. 152
Sejanus: Tiberius' sinister henchman	p. 154
Pontius Pilate: Governor of Judaea	p. 157
Caligula: Bad or mad?	p. 160
Pallas: An ex-slave takes charge	p. 162
Agrippina: Claudius' wife, Nero's mother	p. 165
Locusta: Imperial poisoner by appointment	p. 168
Cornelius Pulcher: A patron of the Isthmian Games	p. 170
Numerius Quinctius: Actor	p. 172
Antonia Caenis: Vespasian's mistress	p. 174
Petilius Cerialis: Trouble with testosterone	p. 177
Frontinus: Rome's master of aqueducts	p. 178
Josephus: Crossing the cultural divide	p. 181
Amazonia: Female gladiator	p. 183
Epictetus: The philosopher slave	p. 185
Martial: The art of epigrams	p. 187
Citizens of the Empire AD 75-200	p. 190
Pliny the Elder: Scholar and man of action	p. 194
Larcius Macedo: Master killed by his slaves	p. 197
Minicius Acilianus: The prospective husband	p. 200
Domitian: The paranoid emperor	p. 200
Agricola: Governor of Britain	p. 204
Tiberius Claudius Maximus: Roman cavalryman	p. 207
Blandina Martiola: A plasterer's wife in Gaul	p. 211
Claudia Severa: Lady in the British garrison at Vindolanda	p. 211
Apollodorus: Trajan's architect	p. 214
Antinous: Boy lover of Hadrian	p. 218
Metila Acte: Priestess of the Great Mother	p. 221
Marcus Aurelius: The imperial philosopher	p. 223
Aulus Geluus: Grammarian and writer	p. 225
Herodian: Civil servant and historian in Asia Minor	p. 227
Didius Julianus: The man who bought an empire	p. 230
Decline and Fall AD 200-476	p. 232
Clodia Laeta: Vestal Virgin buried alive	p. 236
Elagabalus: Priest of the sun god and emperor of Rome	p. 238
Postumus: Leader of a breakaway empire	p. 242
Odaenathus: Husband of Queen Zenobia	p. 243
Symmachius: Victorious gladiator	p. 246
Aurelia Ammima: Divorced a Roman soldier	p. 248
Julius Terentius: A soldier killed by the Persians	p. 250
St Alban: Christian martyr	p. 252
Diocletian: The emperor who abdicated	p. 254
Constantine: Christian emperor	p. 258
Ammianus Marcellinus: The soldier historian	p. 262
Julian the Apostate: The last pagan emperor	p. 265
Valentinian: Bulwark against the Barbarians	p. 268
Stilicho: Rome's last great general	p. 271
Hypatia: Scholar and martyr to religious fanaticism	p. 273
Vetitius Agorius Praetextatus: Leader of the pagans in the Senate	p. 275
Isaac of Armenia: Keeping the faith	p. 276
Augustine: Father of the church	p. 280
Leo the Great: The pope who stopped Attila	p. 283
Priscus: Ambassador to Attila the Hun	p. 286
Consentius: Amateur chariot racer	p. 289
Romulus Augustulus: The last emperor	p. 292
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