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    This 521 page book by Richard Miles, a specialist in the history of Punic, Roman and late antique North Africa, is claimed to be "the first full-scale history of Carthage in decades" and as such "draws on a wealth of new archaeological research". With a bibliography containing 5 pages of ancient texts, 29 of modern references and end notes stretching to some 77 pages I can well understand this statement without even considering the 26 illustrations and 16 maps the book also contains...

     

    ...read the full review of Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles

     

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    Through Hollywood films, Television documentaries and re-enactments by the Ermine Street Guard, everyone now knows what an Imperial Roman soldier looks like. He wears a red tunic over which he has segmented iron armour, the famously distinctive Imperial-Gallic helmet, hobnailed sandals and a heavy rectangular shield. This image has become deeply associated with ancient Rome in as much the same way as the toga clad senator or the Gladiator...
     
    ...read the full review of Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier by D`Amato & Sumner
     
     
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    The Druids. Priests of a savage race who delighted in human sacrifice? Or wise men in white robes who communed with nature? These are the usual two views of Druidism served to the public; the first based on a Roman stereotype and the latter a Romantic reinvention. Somewhere between these extreme views lies a historical truth. Barry Cunliffe offers a concise overview of Druidism - both the historical and the invented...
     
    ...read the full review of Druids: A Very Short Introduction by Barry Cunliffe
     
     
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    Zonaras was a major functionary in the Byzantine court of the twelfth century. His Epitome Historiarum (Extracts of History), in eighteen books, covered the history of the world from the creation to the twelfth century. It is one of the few sources covering the history of the third and fourth centuries, and it is therefore of extreme importance to anybody wanting to study the events of the "Third Century Crisis" and the history of Diocletian or Constantine the Great and his sons, bridging the gap between the writers of the first and second century and Ammianus Marcellinus in the fourth...
     
    ...read the full review of The History of Zonaras From Alexander Severus to the Death of Theodosius the Great by M. Banchich and E. N. Lane
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    In his new novel, following on from Wounds of Honour and Arrows of Fury, Riches returns to the tale of Marcus Aquila, in his faltering guise as Centurion Corvus amongst the Tungrian cohorts. A man hiding in plain sight from the Emperor`s covetous rage and the actions of Imperial agents sent from Rome to ensure his death as an "enemy of the state". Anyone who has read the previous books will know what to expect and they will not be disappointed; war, conflict, messy deaths and a very small touch of romance in a novel where sub-themes of failure, redemption and revenge also lie just below the surface...
     
    ...read the full review of Fortress of Spears by Anthony Riches
     
     
     
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    Had I not been committed to reviewing these DVDs for UNRV, I might have taken a hammer to them halfway through and gladly forgotten about the whole thing. In seeking to present "the other side of Roman history" and rescue Europe's other peoples from Roman propaganda, Terry Jones demonizes Ancient Rome as a brutal oppressor whose only real legacy lay in cultural genocide. Inverting an unjust bias against those who propagated it does not reverse the original bias; it only adds to the distortion of history. Jones` Barbarians is - to employ terms Mr. Jones would appreciate - poppycock and codswallop...
     
    ...read the full review of Terry Jones` Barbarians (DVD)
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    In the sixth century the tension between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanid Empire of Persia dominated the political landscape in the "Fertile Crescent". To all intents and purposes the Arabs were sandwiched between these two monolithic empires and were often forced to choose between them. Unfortunately, the dominance of Rome and Persia resulted in the Arabs being reduced to secondary participants in the major events of the time, with the result that little is known about them. Especially in "Western" sources - mainly Procopius - the Arabs are reduced to the status of untrustworthy allies, the pro-Roman Ghassanids and the pro-Persian Lakhmids...
     
    ...read the full review of Between Empires: Arabs, Romans and Sasanians in Late Antiquity by Greg Fisher
     
     
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    Russell is the author of the novels Gladiatrix and Roma Victrix. The first visceral adventure, set in 1st century Asia Minor, was suggested by the famous Gladiatrix stele found near Halicarnassus in the 19th century. Roma Victrix takes Lysandra to a new arena where she must face the greatest challenge of her life - a command performance to fight Aesalon Nocturna, the Midnight Falcon, Rome's adored Gladiatrix Prima...
     
    ...go to the Interview with Russell Whitfield
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    Melanie McDonald`s Eromenos, is a fictional journal in the voice of the youthful Antinous of Bithynia, second century beloved of the hellenophile Emperor Hadrian. In this richly worded and well-researched novel the author skillfully imagines Roman history`s most famous same sex relationship. As confidants we accompany Antinous while he unburdens his heart in chapters titled Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, the basic elements of Greek science. The author takes great care to detail the second century settings of her tale. Antinous`s boyhood Bithynia in Asia Minor is a provincial town steeped in Greek identity and newly refashioned both by Roman engineering and by obligations to Roman power...
     
    ...read the full review of Eromenos by Melanie McDonald
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    Within the constraints it sets for itself, Roman Religion offers a pleasing and informative overview of the bygone days of Roman paganism. Well written, easily understandable and lavishly illustrated, Warrior's book is an excellent eye opener to those with no prior exposure to the academic study of pre-Christian Roman religion. Other works are far more erudite, but I am reviewing this for the benefit of the absolute neophyte who simply wants a crash course on the subject...
     
    ...read the full review of Roman Religion (Cambridge Introduction to Roman Civilization) by Valerie M. Warrior
     
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