Help me spend money!

[Q Rutilius]

I have two gift cards for Barnes & Noble left over from Christmas. $40 worth I think. What books do I need that I just can"t live without? Anything about tactics would be especially good, but feel free to suggest any title or topic - I know that I need to broaden my horizons.

[jvrjenivs]

Anything about tactics would be especially good,

Ross Cowan - Roman Battle tactics 109 BC - AD 313 (osprey publishing2007)
I also really liked Ross Cowan - For the glory of Rome; A history of Warriors and Warfare (Greenhill Books 2007)

[Hugh Fuller]

Have you any of Adrian Goldsworthy's excellent works? Or how about Rman Military Equipment: From the Punic Wars to the Fall of the Empire by Michael C. Bishop and J. C. Coulston. This is about $40.00 in paperback form and is, quite simply, the best book available for discussing Roman military equipment.

[M. Demetrius]

I have Goldsworthy's The Complete Roman Army and I learned many things from that one.

[Narukami]

You might find these book interesting -- not on tactics or the army, but about some of the great personalities of Roman history:



The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome
by Michael Parenti

Paperback: 276 pages
Publisher: New Press (August 30, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1565849426
ISBN-13: 978-1565849426
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces

Caesar as populist, November 18, 2006
By Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)

This review is from: The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome (Hardcover)

Michael Parenti's book, The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome, might be read most profitably in conjunction with Goldsworthy's new biography, Caesar: Life of a Colossus. Parenti's work focuses on a specific issue--Caesar as "populist," murdered by wary elitists. Goldsworthy's book is much more detailed, provides much more context. Parenti's book can be viewed within the larger context.

Parent's thesis, outlined on page 3, is straightforward: "Caesar's sin, I shall argue, was not that he was subverting the Roman constitution--which was an unwritten one--but that he was loosening the oligarchy's overbearing grip on it. Worse still, he used state power to effect some limited benefits for small farmers, debtors, and urban proletariat, at the expense of the wealthy few."

Some other reviewers are appalled at this thesis and the manner in which Parenti writes. This is typical of Parenti's work more generally. He has a position and normally writes in such a way as to address that view in no uncertain terms. Some will appreciate this; others won't. But the question should not be whether or not one likes his passionate writing. The question should be: Does he make his case? This is why reading this book in concert with Goldsworthy's makes sense. In the latter volume, much the same theme is advanced, although presented in a much more nuanced, and, in fact, more convincing manner.

This book is most useful in laying out a perspective that is straightforward and not subtle. Sometimes, the lack of subtlety undermines the logic of the analysis. Still, the volume provides a thesis that places Caesar in a political context.


You might have to hunt to find Parenti's book at B&N but you should find Goldsworthy's bio of Caesar with ease, and in now in paperback.

:wink:

Narukami

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

That sound interesting, as it is close to my opinion of the man, perhaps he will persuade me, or otherwise......Thanks!

[Gaius Decius Aquilius]

The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome
by Michael Parenti

Paperback: 276 pages
Publisher: New Press (August 30, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1565849426
ISBN-13: 978-1565849426


You might have to hunt to find Parenti's book at B&N but you should find Goldsworthy's bio of Caesar with ease, and in now in paperback.



Narukami

My wife is a Barnes and Nobles manager. I called her on this book, it is available in both hardback and paperback. The larger stores, such as in New York, should have it on the shelf, but the book is "in the warehouse" so you can get it in a matter of days, if you want it.

For what it worth...

R. Izard

[Q Rutilius]

Thanks guys. They are all great suggestions. And now the hard part - I have to decide which one to get.