Looking for good starter Ref Books

[Anonymous]

I studied some brief Roman history in my world history college course and got extremely interested in Roman history. I have Suetonius's life of the twelve caesars and have heard mixed reviews of it. Anyone have thoughts on this? Is it worth the read? I would like to read a good book to give me a good over all idea of the emperor's/Caesar's of Rome. Any other thought's for a good book??<br>
Thanks guys.<br>
Carl Kramer <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Of course it's worth the read! :-) Suetonius is brilliant! You have to take him with a grain of salt, however: he is EXTREMELY harsh on the Emperors. A lot of what he writes is rumor and he is obsessed with scandal. He gives the reader the impression that Rome was in chaos, ruled by madmen. While the latter statement may be true in some cases, Rome was quite stable until the death of Nero and the begining of the Year of Four Emperors. The picture Suetonius paints is jaded, true, but it is still well worth the read. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

is this a good starter book though? or should I start with somthing else that may be more based on fact? Could you recomend any more good starter books?<br>
-Carl Kramer <p></p><i></i>

[richsc]

There are plenty of good places to start; just have to figure out where. Sander has put together a list that I've written up that relates to topics discussed here.<br>
<br>
www.geocities.com/richsc5...ander.html<br>
<br>
When they get back from Rome, I'm sure he'll have another great list. Try the RA.COM site too for a reading list. <p>Aulus<br>
Legio XX
</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

thank you everyone for all your help!<br>
Sincerely,<br>
Carl Kramer<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[Catiline]

Suetonius was a biographer, I have no respect for him<br>
<br>
More seriously, biography and history were two vrey different arts in the ancient world, though both were corrupted (from our point of view) by what can be politely described as a lack of objectivity on the part of the authors. <p><i>Unless the Persians fly away like birds, hide in the earth like mice, or leap into a lake like frogs, they will never see their homes again, but will die under our arrows</i></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

For an accessible history of late Republican and early Imperial Rome, I certainly recommend "From the Gracchi to Nero" by HH Scullard. 30 or 40 years old now, but still a classic that manages to make sense of the convoluted poitics and events of that period.<br>
<br>
Among ancient authors, rather than Suetonius I would suggest the Annals and Histories by Tacitus - surely our most important source for c1AD.<br>
<br>
As with Suetonius, one has to be aware of his pro-senatorial bias, but he is a great writer. His accounts of Nero's murder of his mother, or of the revolt of Boadicea, read like Hollywood screenplays. Gladiator, pshaw!<br>
<br>
Glas <p></p><i></i>