Jauchart

I've seen the Gracchi brothers described variously as true revolutionaries and also as demogogues just trying to salvage the interests of the slaveholding elite through minor, necessary reforms. Can anyone suggest a solid study of two that looks at this question?

Ward/Heichelehim/Yao write, on p. 391: "One major reform was the provision of primary-school education all over the Empire, even in the villages of Egypt" under Severus Alexander. Can anyone suggest further reading on this? Thank you.

I recently came across a quote attributed to Cassius Dio to the effect that Romans built great monuments "to strike terror in the hearts of our foes and awe in the hearts of our allies." Can anyone provide a more specific citation?

Which edition of Plutarch's Lives (in English) is considered the most reliable by scholars today? Is the Modern Library Dryden/Clough edition considered acceptible (which I happen to have easy access to)? Thanks

The Wikipedia description of Ammianus Marcellinus (taken from the Encyclopedia Brittanica) includes the following: "In his description of the Empire

Thank you. And as a follow-up, can you suggest anything that compares and contrasts the composition of the Republican army (when peasants were expected to report with their own arms) with that of the late Empire (many/mostly barbarians?). Some that looks specifically at the early/mid-Republican army in its social context would be adequate, as I am somewhat familiar with the later period. Thanks again.

According to Ward Perkins, in 440, in the face of a new seaborne threat from the Vandals, the emperor Valentinian III formally revoked the law that banned Roman civilians from bearing arms. When was this ban first implemented? In the early years of the republic, of course, the armed power of Rome depended upon free peasants being able to report to military duty with their own arms. A good study of Gaius Marius's military reforms would also be very helpful. Thank you.

I am new to the study of Rome; I've read Peter Heather and Bryan Ward Perkins' new books and am now working my way through AHM Jones. All focus primarily on the late Empire. Can anyone suggest a good, concise reading list of the most authoritative studies of the Republic and early Empire? Other key studies on the late Empire? Thanks

Does the term "Laus Deo" date from Roman paganism, or from later, and if so, do you know when?

I would be very grateful is someone could provide scholarly sources to support the following description of the population of Rome, found on the "Population" page of UNRV website: * The slave population of Rome approached 500,000 on its own, probably half of which were owned by the 600 men of the Senate. Additional estimates have suggested that of the total 65 million people, 2 to 10 million may have been slaves. I would also like to study the course of the population in the later empire. I just read Peter Heather's book, who argues that population was growing. Are there counter positions to this? Thanks, Jauchart