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+--- Thread: The Indispensable booklist (/showthread.php?tid=4868)
Re: The Indispensable booklist - DARTHICUS - 03-11-2009
I have The Complete Roman Army by Goldsworthey and The Making of the Roman Army by Lawrence Kieppe, both are great books that helped bring me from casual admireer of Roman history to a complete nut about it.
I 'd like to add 2 more books.
Caeser: Life of a Colossus by Goldsworthey
and Scipio Africanis ; Greater than Napolion, the author's name escapes me.
Re: The Indispensable booklist - Gorgon - 03-19-2009
My two cents:
On general Roman History:
- A History of the Roman World: 753 to 146 BC (4th edition), H. H. Scullard
- From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 BC to AD 68 (4th edition), H. H. Scullard
- The Beginning of Rome, Tim Cornell
On the Punic Wars:
- The Punic Wars, Brian Caven
- The Punic Wars, Adrian Goldsworthy
- The First Punic War, J. Lazenby
- Hannibal's War: A Military History of the Second Punic War, J. Lazenby
On Equipment:
- Roman Military Equipment: From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome (2nd edition), M.C. Bishop, J.C. Coulston
Others:
- The Creation of the Roman Frontier, Stephen L. Dyson
- The Spartacus War, Barry Strauss
- Caesar, Christian Meier
- Sertorius, Adolf Schulten
- Quintus Sertorius and the Legacy of Sulla, Philip O. Spann
- Quintus Sertorius: Citizen, Soldier, Exile, Philip O Spann
- Exploratio: Military and Political Intelligence in the Roman World from the Second Punic War to the Battle of Adrianople, N. J. E. Austin, N. B. Rankov
- Pompey: the Roman Alexander, Greenhalgh
- Pompey: the Republican Prince, Greenhalgh
- Scipio Africanus : Soldier and Politician, Scullard
- Scipio Aemilianus, A.E. Astin
- Ancient Siege Warfare, Paul Bentley Kern
- The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World, Scullard
Other "must-haves" have already been posted here so I refrained from posting them again.
Re: The Indispensable booklist - S SEVERUS - 03-19-2009
Sulla, The Last Republican (Arthur Keaveney)
Nero, The end of a Dynasty (Miriam T Griffin)
Caligula, The corruption of power (Anthony A. Barret)
Vespasian (Barbara Levick)
Trajan, Optimus Princeps (Julian Bennet)
Hadrian, The Restless Emperor (Anthony R. Birley)
Marcus Aurelius (Anthony R Birley)
Septimius Severus, The African Emperor (Anthony R Birley)
Aurelian, and the third century (Alaric Watson)
Diocletian, and the roman recovery (Stephen Williams)
Theodosian, the empire at bay (Stephen Williams and Gerard Friell)
The Limits Of Empire, The roman Army in the east (Benjamin Isaac)
The Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain (Peter Salway)
Fifth-Century Gaul: a crisis of identity (Drinkwater and Elton)
Re: The Indispensable booklist - Paralus - 05-07-2009
Possibly the most underrated book to be written in recent years:
Tom Boiy: Between High and Low: a Chronology of the Early Hellenistic Period
The best argued chronological reconstruction I've read and crucial to anyone with an interest in the formative period of the Diadoch kingdoms.
Re: The Indispensable booklist - Theo - 05-07-2009
Lendon:"Soldiers and Ghosts" should be in here somewhere ... but I've probably said that somewhere else on this thread ... oops!
Theo
Re: The Indispensable booklist - Paulus Germanicus - 05-09-2009
If anyone is interested in the logistics of the roman army, he should have a look at Roth, J. P., The Logistics of the Roman Army at War (264 BC-AD 235) . Unfortunately, it is VERY expensive, but i guess you can find it in a good academical library.
A good choice for (german) beginners is Burckhard, Leonhard: Militärgeschichte der Antike. München: C.H. Beck, 2008., which gives an overview of ancient greek and roman warfare.
Re: The Indispensable booklist - D B Campbell - 05-09-2009
Quote:... have a look at Roth, J. P., The Logistics of the Roman Army at War (264 BC-AD 235) . Unfortunately, it is VERY expensive, but i guess you can find it in a good academical library.I wasn't entirely impressed when I read it back in 2000, but there isn't much available on logistics.
[size=85:2klq1y8t]Edit: silly spelling error[/size]
Re: The Indispensable booklist - Gorgon - 05-09-2009
And there's also "Hunger and the sword: warfare and food supply in Roman Republican wars (264-30 B. C.)", by Paul Erdkamp.
Re: The Indispensable booklist - Alexandr K - 05-10-2009
Hi,
Quote:If anyone is interested in the logistics of the roman army, he should have a look at Roth, J. P., The Logistics of the Roman Army at War (264 BC-AD 235) . Unfortunately, it is VERY expensive, but i guess you can find it in a good academical library.Well if anybody cannot access the above mentioned publication, then he can still read J. Roth's dissertation "The Logistics of the Roman Army in the Jewish War" for free here.
Greetings
Alexandr
Re: The Indispensable booklist - Justin of the New Yorkii - 06-03-2009
I see a lot of people have named Hannibal's War by J.F. Lazenby already... I second the motion.
A good one for your coffee table is Battles of the Ancient World by Kelly DeVries, Phyllis Jestice, Martin Dougherty, Rob S. Rice and Ian Dickie. Not the most intense reading, and more for a general audience than an enthusiast, but it has a lot of detailed photographs and diagrams.
http://www.amazon.com/Battles-Ancient-W ... 0760786682
The same authors did a Medieval World edition too.
Re: The Indispensable booklist - D B Campbell - 06-03-2009
Quote:Possibly the most underrated book to be written in recent years:Don't know about "underrated" -- I think it's pretty well acknowledged: e.g. Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
Tom Boiy: Between High and Low: a Chronology of the Early Hellenistic Period.
Re: The Indispensable booklist - Paralus - 06-03-2009
More along the lines that it isn't referenced much. Although recent publication, to be sure, the material in it has been about for a while.
I found it cogently argued and, as Boiy admits, not quite the "silver bullet". Several aspects make inordinate common sense and I suspect that Pat Wheatley (can't wait for his Demetrius bio) would, in large part, be in agreement.
The book should firmly put to rest - if it were needed - the idea that the campaign of Iran (Eumenes/Antigonus) took place over 316-15.
Re: The Indispensable booklist - D B Campbell - 06-04-2009
Quote:... and I suspect that Pat Wheatley (can't wait for his Demetrius bio) would, in large part, be in agreement.Oh, he is -- believe me!
Re: The Indispensable booklist - Justin of the New Yorkii - 09-01-2009
I absolutely MUST recommend Carthage: A History by Serge Lancel. I just started reading it recently, and even though the reviews were very positive, it's even better than I expected! A well-written, thorough account of Carthage all the way back to its founding, with lots of images of archaeological discoveries and plenty of maps. But don't get me wrong, it's not a "picture book" by any stretch, it's a very detailed history that just happens to also have lots of helpful images.
It's nice to read about Carthage for Carthage's sake, instead of reading about it as if it were a supporting actor in a play about Rome, and for this Lancel's book can't be beat.
Re: The Indispensable booklist - Ghostmojo - 09-22-2009
I would add I have found the following useful and interesting:
The Wars of the Ancient Greeks (Victor Davis Hanson) ... despite his annoying habits about references to Viet Nam etc. ([size=85:395gu7y6]Cassell & Co., 1999[/size])
Battles of the Greek & Roman Worlds (John Drogo Montagu) ... featuring accounts of 667 battles from 724[size=85:395gu7y6]BC[/size] to 31[size=85:395gu7y6]BC[/size] ([size=85:395gu7y6]Greenhill Books, 2000[/size])
Warfare in Ancient Greece (Tim Everson) ... from Homeric heroes to Alexander the Great ([size=85:395gu7y6]Sutton Publishing, 2004[/size])
Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Warfare (Iain G. Spence) ... covering war, revolution and unrest ([size=85:395gu7y6]The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 2002[/size])