Books you absolutely think unscholarly?

[longshotgene]

I would like to generate a list of books we all think unscholarly. My intentions would be to hand this list out to students as "books band from being used" in their research. In a previous thread I hit on Nigel Hawthorne, the writer and his various on the sex lives of famous individuals. Next!

[Primus Pilus]

Based on a private discussion... I'd like to nominate the "Legions" books by Stephen Dando-Collins.

 

While they now seem to be classified in the historical fiction genre, there has been much confusion over the authenticity and intent of his books. Frankly I have no clue what he intended, but in my personal opinion they are too laced with conjecture (and outright error) to be considered scholarly non-fiction.

 

Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome

Nero's Killing Machine : The True Story of Rome's Remarkable 14th Legion

Cleopatra's Kidnappers : How Caesar's Sixth Legion Gave Egypt to Rome and Rome to Caesar

Mark Antony's Heroes: How the Third Gallica Legion Saved an Apostle and Created an Emperor

[frankq]

If his works are now being classified as historical fiction, then good. However, alarm bells do need to be sounded because he's still being cited as a reliable source on Wikipedia.

 

My only experience with Dando-Collins was recently, while doing touch up research on a project which included Ventidius' counter campaign to kick the Parthians out of Asia Minor and the Levant. The only real extensive source on his campaign is Dio Cassius. there are references from Florus, Josephus, and Paterculus, but DC is the one who covered it in any detail. Imagine my surprise as I google, am sent to google.books for a sample of a "Marc Antony's Heroes" and find not only Ventidius' campaign in extensive detail, but all kinds of dialogue. And as I press further, legionaries with names I've never seen before. Had I missed something? Had Dio Cassius missed something? Taken back, I checked the contents of the book. Much to my never ending horror, I find that Dando's topic is the III Gallica, and there's a chapter about it being posted in Judea in 58 BC. Now the alarms really went off. Equestrian governed Judea was governed by auxiliaries. Most of you know the totem pole rules. Legates of the armies didn't take orders from knights. Judea's auxiliaries were for the most part descended from Herod's well-drilled army. Besides, with 4 legions up in Syria, a legion in Judea wasnt deemed necessary at this time. Any problems and it was relative quick marching down the coast or the Jordan Valley to knock heads. Nevertheless, intrigued, I wanted to check his foreword to see what he was up to since his book is a narrative and not shackled by footnotes. As it was a Google preview, this wasn't possible. So while waiting for my brother-in-law to E-Mail the book in PDF (he's a professor and I'm in Europe with limited library access) I probed deeper into what was available. It was too rich! Dando has the III Gallica under the command of Gessius Florus, one of the biggest bunglers in Roman administrative history. Florus was the procurator who so mismanaged things that the Jews finally blew up and stormed Herod's palace and the Antonia. It was the spark that ignited the Great Revolt. And there's more, which I'll get to in a moment...

 

In the meantime my brother-in-law quickly PDF'd and sent me the book. Here's what Dando writes to cover his tracks putting a Roman legion in an Equestrian province:

 

 

"There is no specific documentary

evidence to say it was the 3rd Gallica Legion that saved the life of

the apostle Paul or conducted him to Rome. That the 3rd Gallica was one

of the legions of the Syria station in the first century there is no dispute.

And, while some historians for many years put the view that only auxiliaries

were stationed in Judea prior to A.D. 66, Josephus makes numerous

references to legionaries, centurions, and their tribune commander based

in Judea during this period, in both his]ewish War and his Jewish Antiquities.

The Holy Bible, in Acts of the Apostles, also differentiates between

foot soldiers (legionaries) and speermen (auxiliaries) stationed at both

Jerusalem and Caesarea. Acts, in describing the apostle Paul's journey under guard from Caesarea to Rome, tells us that a centurion was in charge of the military escort.

Centurions generally only commanded legionaries, and only legionaries,

citizen soldiers, were permitted to escort prisoners who were Roman citizens,

as Paul was. Various other references led me to conclude that the

legion stationed in Judea in the A.D. 60s, while still part of the overall

Syria garrison, and that was involved in saving Paul's life on three separate

occasions, was the 3rd Gallica."

 

The only thing he gets right is that the III Gallica was stationed in Syria. As to Josephus' references to legionaries and centurions, all these terms were cavalierly, randomly, and haphazardly employed by non-Roman chroniclers. Moreover, by the time the Gospels were being set to pen, Judea (Palestina) had been bumped up to the rank of a consular province with two legions stationed there. This is not the time period Dando's targeting. As for Roman citizens who were prisoners being escorted only by Roman legionaries, if this was law (I never heard this), it was law that was applied conveniently to Italy. Paul was facing a planned hit by angry Sadducees and the Antonia's commander needed to get him to Caesarea and the governor (at that time Felix) as swift as possible. There was no time for deliberation.

 

The commander of the Antonia is even more interesting. This was Lysias, and most of you have probably read the famous scene were Lysias gripes to Paul about having to buy his citizenship. He was, in short, like most of the auxiliaries posted in Judea, a Levantine Greek. Other divisions were made up of Samaritans. This issue in fact leads to where Dando premise gets really wild.

 

The problem in Judea was that the auxiliaries, because of the tradition with Herod's army, were recruited locally, not far afield which was the Romans usual policy in trouble spots. The Levantine Greeks and the Samaritans had no love of the Jews and vice versa. Trouble had been erupting in previous procurators

Edited September 3, 2009 by frankq

[JGolomb]

Ack! I wish I'd read this before I ordered "Caesar's Legions" from Dando-Collins earlier this week. Sigh.

 

It has a mix of reviews on the US version of Amazon, and definitely gets hammered by a few reviewers for being a little more than offbase in its history.

 

I'm curious - does the more academic community on UNRV feel similarly about Dando-Collins' works?

 

If his works are now being classified as historical fiction, then good. However, alarm bells do need to be sounded because he's still being cited as a reliable source on Wikipedia.

 

My only experience with Dando-Collins was recently, while doing touch up research on a project which included Ventidius' counter campaign to kick the Parthians out of Asia Minor and the Levant. The only real extensive source on his campaign is Dio Cassius. there are references from Florus, Josephus, and Paterculus, but DC is the one who covered it in any detail. Imagine my surprise as I google, am sent to google.books for a sample of a "Marc Antony's Heroes" and find not only Ventidius' campaign in extensive detail, but all kinds of dialogue. And as I press further, legionaries with names I've never seen before. Had I missed something? Had Dio Cassius missed something? Taken back, I checked the contents of the book. Much to my never ending horror, I find that Dando's topic is the III Gallica, and there's a chapter about it being posted in Judea in 58 BC. Now the alarms really went off. Equestrian governed Judea was governed by auxiliaries. Most of you know the totem pole rules. Legates of the armies didn't take orders from knights. Judea's auxiliaries were for the most part descended from Herod's well-drilled army. Besides, with 4 legions up in Syria, a legion in Judea wasnt deemed necessary at this time. Any problems and it was relative quick marching down the coast or the Jordan Valley to knock heads. Nevertheless, intrigued, I wanted to check his foreword to see what he was up to since his book is a narrative and not shackled by footnotes. As it was a Google preview, this wasn't possible. So while waiting for my brother-in-law to E-Mail the book in PDF (he's a professor and I'm in Europe with limited library access) I probed deeper into what was available. It was too rich! Dando has the III Gallica under the command of Gessius Florus, one of the biggest bunglers in Roman administrative history. Florus was the procurator who so mismanaged things that the Jews finally blew up and stormed Herod's palace and the Antonia. It was the spark that ignited the Great Revolt. And there's more, which I'll get to in a moment...

 

In the meantime my brother-in-law quickly PDF'd and sent me the book. Here's what Dando writes to cover his tracks putting a Roman legion in an Equestrian province:

 

 

"There is no specific documentary

evidence to say it was the 3rd Gallica Legion that saved the life of

the apostle Paul or conducted him to Rome. That the 3rd Gallica was one

of the legions of the Syria station in the first century there is no dispute.

And, while some historians for many years put the view that only auxiliaries

were stationed in Judea prior to A.D. 66, Josephus makes numerous

references to legionaries, centurions, and their tribune commander based

in Judea during this period, in both his]ewish War and his Jewish Antiquities.

The Holy Bible, in Acts of the Apostles, also differentiates between

foot soldiers (legionaries) and speermen (auxiliaries) stationed at both

Jerusalem and Caesarea. Acts, in describing the apostle Paul's journey under guard from Caesarea to Rome, tells us that a centurion was in charge of the military escort.

Centurions generally only commanded legionaries, and only legionaries,

citizen soldiers, were permitted to escort prisoners who were Roman citizens,

as Paul was. Various other references led me to conclude that the

legion stationed in Judea in the A.D. 60s, while still part of the overall

Syria garrison, and that was involved in saving Paul's life on three separate

occasions, was the 3rd Gallica."

 

The only thing he gets right is that the III Gallica was stationed in Syria. As to Josephus' references to legionaries and centurions, all these terms were cavalierly, randomly, and haphazardly employed by non-Roman chroniclers. Moreover, by the time the Gospels were being set to pen, Judea (Palestina) had been bumped up to the rank of a consular province with two legions stationed there. This is not the time period Dando's targeting. As for Roman citizens who were prisoners being escorted only by Roman legionaries, if this was law (I never heard this), it was law that was applied conveniently to Italy. Paul was facing a planned hit by angry Sadducees and the Antonia's commander needed to get him to Caesarea and the governor (at that time Felix) as swift as possible. There was no time for deliberation.

 

The commander of the Antonia is even more interesting. This was Lysias, and most of you have probably read the famous scene were Lysias gripes to Paul about having to buy his citizenship. He was, in short, like most of the auxiliaries posted in Judea, a Levantine Greek. Other divisions were made up of Samaritans. This issue in fact leads to where Dando premise gets really wild.

 

The problem in Judea was that the auxiliaries, because of the tradition with Herod's army, were recruited locally, not far afield which was the Romans usual policy in trouble spots. The Levantine Greeks and the Samaritans had no love of the Jews and vice versa. Trouble had been erupting in previous procurators