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    Book Review by Alex Johnston

    Sunday morning. I’m ensconced in my office and writing a review of The Real Lives of Roman Britain, by Guy de la Bédoyère. I’m staring at the Beavis and Butthead stuffed dolls hanging on one wall, and the Fijian Tiki war mask hanging on another. There’s a Roman Gladiator action figure sitting (standing?) on a shelf (still in the original box!) What would these artifacts tell future generations about me, an otherwise unknown representative of the usual man of my time? That I was a puerile adolescent? Adjectively correct, but I will be eligible for Social Security payments later this year. That I was a fierce aboriginal warrior? Please! Just reading the news makes me want to go hide under the covers. That I wrote historical novellas about the late Roman republic? Bingo – score one for the archaeologists...

     

    ...continue to the full review of The Real Lives of Roman Britain by Guy de la Bédoyère

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    Macrinus - The rise to power AD 217 - 218 (b. 164 - 218)
     
    Marcus Opellius Macrinus was a man who, in more settled times might have made a solid, unspectacular emperor. He was honest, thorough, hard-working and a good administrator. However, in more settled times, Macrinus would never have become emperor at all, for by conventional standards he was completely unqualified for the job....
     
    ....to the full article of Macrinus - The rise to power
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    Book Review by Thomas A. Timmes
     
    Pontius Pilate. Who is he and why should I read a book about him? Will this book add to my general knowledge of history and Roman history in particular? I know he’s mentioned several times in the Bible’s New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to be specific, and has a 2,000 year reputation as a bad guy. Is there more to know? The answer is yes, quite a bit, as I discovered.  I learned that the author did not have to create the story or characters out of whole cloth. Quite a lot is known about Pilate from the accounts of Flavius Josephus, Philo, the Jewish philosopher, who is openly hostile to Pilate, Tactitus’ Annals of Imperial Rome, the writings of several early Christian church fathers such as Tertullian, and Jewish archival records...
     
    ...continue to the full review of The Redemption of Pontius Pilate by Lewis Ben Smith
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    The age of the Late Roman Republic is stained with the reputation of conquest. To the casual observer SPQR expands relentlessly at the sharp edge of a sword as the Roman military machine tramples or sweeps aside anyone who opposes their ambition. That concept of military glory is difficult for us to set aside. There is a struggle to be objective about this era because many of us dearly want those images to be true. Yet the truth, largely forgotten or conveniently ignored, is that the much vaunted Roman legions lost battles almost as often as anyone else...
     
    ...continue to the full review of The Defeat Of Rome In The East by Gareth C. Sampson
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    For five days only, from  Friday, May 29 through Tuesday June 2, Alex Johnston is offering a free Amazon download of his new book Caesar's Not Here:  The Inauguration of Pompey's Theater.
     
    To download the book for no charge from Amazon, please click on one of the following links:
     
    US link:  Caesar’s Not Here
     
    UK link:  Caesar’s Not Here
     
    If for some reason the links don’t work for you, just search Amazon.com for Caesar’s Not Here, by Alex Johnston.
     
    From The Author:
     
    Caesar’s Not Here is the fifth book in his Marcus Mettius series.  Well-grounded in the history of the late Roman Republic, the books celebrate the largely fictional exploits of the eponymous bit player mentioned in Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War. He envisions Marcus as a smart, funny, and savvy operator, who hobnobs with the elite of his day.  I hope you like his portrayal of him!
     
    And if you need to catch up on earlier volumes in the series, please visit his author page on Amazon, where all of the books in the series are offered:
     
    http://amazon.com/author/alexjohnston
     
    If you are on Facebook you can like him there
    https://www.facebook...AJohnstonAuthor
     
    Below you will find the link to the interview we did with him a few months ago:
    Interview with Alex Johnston
     
    Enjoy!
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    After many years of neglect, recent times have seen an ever-growing production of books on Late Antiquity. A good proportion of these concern the rise of Christianity to be the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. This is understandable, as the transformation from a ‘Pagan’ to a ‘Christian’ Empire was surprisingly fast and many parts of the process can be hard to understand, not least the rise of the Bishop of Rome to the supremacy of the Western Church. The Role of the Bishop in Late Antiquity (RBLA) covers some aspects of the rise of the Papacy, as well as analysing several of the conflicts that arose within the Church and how these were dealt with by the bishops of the time...
     
    ...continue to read the full review of The Role of the Bishop in Late Antiquity by Andrew Fear
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    In the next few days the long anticipated fifth novel in the Agent of Rome series "The Emperor's Silver by Nick Brown" is finally available! To celebrate this occasion we are giving away one signed copy! The book will be sent to the winner by the author himself.
     
    We already reviewed the first two books for you, so you get an idea what the Agent of Rome series is all about.
     
    The Siege: Agent of Rome 1
     
    The Imperial Banner: Agent of Rome 2
     
    If you would like to win, just answer the following question;
     
    "What is the name of the third novel? (Hint: You can find the answer here)
     
    a.) Far Too Sure
     
    b.) The Wide Coast
     
    c.) The Far Shore
     
    and send the correct answer to sales(at)unrv.com
     
    The winner will be chosen randomly from all replies, deadline is the 31st of May 2015
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    First things first. Great cover – it made me want to go eat a pound of raw meat, grab a sword, and challenge somebody to a fight in the arena. Given my levels of health, physical prowess, and fearlessness, none of the above would be a good idea, especially if my opponent was over six years old. (“Face me in the arena, you cowardly cur, and you won’t live to see the second grade!”) But I can take solace in the fact that the book’s main character, Cassius Quintius Corbulo, isn’t much of a fighter either. He’s smart, though, and that intelligence, combined with the fierce devotion of his Christian slave Simo, and the muscle and fighting skill of his bodyguard, Indavara, makes him a force to be reckoned with...
     
    ...continue to the full review of The Imperial Banner (Agent of Rome) by Nick Brown
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    In the last fifty years the study of ‘Late Antiquity’ has grown in importance and popularity.  A large part of this growth is the production of an ever-increasing number of major scholarly tomes and of new translations of previously hard-to-acquire primary sources.  Although there are several ‘big names’, such as Heather and Elton, who have helped to promote interest in Late Rome, few, if any, have had as much influence as Peter Brown.  His main interest lies in the ‘religious transformation in the late Roman world’, and his previous works include ‘Augustine of Hippo: A Biography’ (1967), ‘The Making of Late Antiquity’ (1978), and ‘Authority and the Sacred: Aspects of the Christianisation of the Roman World’ (1995)....
     
    ...continue to the full review of Through the Eye of a Needle by Peter Brown
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    NEW – Free Download in our member section! The download is for free, all you have to do is log on and DOWNLOAD
     
    The two volumes of Julian's extant writings are must have books for anyone interested in the politics and religion of the Fourth Century. The first volume contains his Panagyricus to Constantius, the Heroic Deeds of Constantius and a Panygyricus to the empress Eusebia. These are interesting political documents that give us the 'official' version of events during the reign of Constantius, Julian's cousin. Eusebia was responsible for preserving Julian's life when he was imprisoned on trumped up charges of treason. The second volumegive us Julian's religious and philosophical writings along with letters and his satire "The Caesars" and the remarkable "Beard-Hater".
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