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  • Viggen

    One of the largest questions in European history has always been: "Why did Rome fall?" But surely right behind that question is another one: "What if Rome hadn't fallen?" Usually the second question is explored only in fiction (there was, for instance, a Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk visited an alternate earth where Rome survived into the 20th century, complete with institutionalized slavery and televised gladiatorial games). Timothy Venning attempts to view this question from the standpoint of academic plausibility, tracing the root of the Western Empire's collapse and how, if some things had gone differently, it might have continued....

     

    ...read the full review of If Rome Hadn't Fallen by Timothy Venning

    Viggen

    The Frome Hoard

    By Viggen, in News,

    I have the privilege of reviewing this short but delightfully informative book, The Frome Hoard. The Frome coin hoard was found by detectorist Dave Crisp in a field near Frome in Somerset, England in April 2010.
     
    Two days before finding the Frome Hoard, Crisp had discovered some scattered fourth century silver coins (silaquae) in the same field. Returning to the field two days later, Crisp received an unusual signal on his metal detector only 100 meters from the site of the earlier scattered hoard and he began digging...
     
    ...read the full review of The Frome Hoard
    Viggen
    One of the main factors which have restricted study of the Late Roman Empire has been the nature of the sources. Fragmented, confused, brief, and often in languages – in this case Syriac - known only to a few specialists, the sources have either lacked reliable translations, or the translations themselves were produced a long time ago and they have now reached a price far beyond that of mere mortals....
     
    ...read the full review of The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor edited by G. Greatrex
    Viggen
    I have oft walked the streets of Rome, admiring the numerous monuments of the Eternal city; most are far grander than anything any other place can boast. Great as they are, it is however still quite natural that our attention has not been evenly spread. Some ancient remains have received far less attention than other. The column of Marcus Aurelius is perhaps, especially in contrast to the column of Trajan, the best example of this...
     
    ...read the full review of The Column of Marcus Aurelius by Martin Beckmann
    Viggen
    Drusus the Elder is a shadowy figure. He is either remembered as the good looking Ian Ogilvy in the 1976 BBC television series of Robert Graves’ I Claudius, horsing around in the baths with his brother, George Baker’s Tiberius; or he is associated with the Drususstein, the haphazard-looking commemorative monument in the German city of Mainz...
     
    ...read the full review of Eager for Glory: The Untold Story of Drusus the Elder, Conqueror of Germania by Lindsay Powell
    Viggen
    The Siege - Agent of Rome - is screenwriter Nick Brown`s first foray into novel writing; the two are surprisingly different disciplines, but Brown has crossed the divide with some aplomb. Cassius Corbulo is a young officer whose well-connected family have landed him a commission in the Emperor`s secret service - one of the corn-men (frumentarii) as they were known. He`s despatched to Palmyra during Queen Zenobia`s revolt and receives orders to take command of the fort of Alauran...
     
    ...read the full review of The Siege: Agent of Rome by Nick Brown
    Viggen
    Just a casual mention of Athens National Archaeological Museum should make anyone with the slightest of interests in classical history look up. The national Museum you say - in Athens? Surely it holds treasures of unmentionable value and beauty! But have you been there? My answer would of course be yes. But it would be said with much less enthusiasm than what you might expect from a classicist....
     
    ...read the full review of the The National Archaeological Museum in Athens
    Viggen
    Warfare is a part of the human condition. It can erupt into bloody conflict because of greed, envy, aggrandisement, sometimes simply because there are too many people in one place. There remains however one cause above all others that has men flocking to the colours to bear arms against the other side. Hatred. Hannibal Barca was brought up by his father to hate Rome. So passionate was this hatred that Hannibal deliberately picked a fight. It seems remarkable that more than two thousand years later, a man so determined to wage war upon a rival empire is regarded in such glowing terms today...
     
    ...read the full review of Hannibal: Enemy of Rome by Ben Kane
    Viggen

    Aurelian and the Third Century

    By Viggen, in News,

    Those who know Roman history might assume that the word 'crisis' has been accidentally left off the title of this book, for it is hard to think of the third century AD without considering how great a mess the Roman empire was in at that time. In fact this issue is the very first which Alaric Watson deals with in a book which achieves the rare feat of being both academic and very readable. He points out that what we call 'the third century crisis' was in fact at least three crises, overlapping but not exactly contemporaneous. He also points out that there was more to the third century than these crises, for a number of cultural and religious issues came to the fore in this period, and understanding these is the key to understanding the culture of fourth-century Rome...
     
    ...read the full review of Aurelian and the Third Century by Alaric Watson
    Viggen

    All Things Under the Sun

    By Viggen, in News,

    Lindsay Powell is an historian and writer on the ancient world who regularly contributes to Ancient Warfare magazine, as well as to our own UNRV. Born in Wales, he graduated from the University of Aston in England, and divides his time between the UK and Austin, Texas. Powell is also a veteran reenactor. Powell has been described as an "historical detective," trying to uncover lesser known events and figures in ancient history. Currently he is about to release a work on Drusus the Elder, and he has plans for works on Germanicus and Marcus Agrippa...
     
    ...read the full review of All Things Under the Sun by Lindsay Powell
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