What Is Your Favorite Period...

[Sebastianus]

Hi I'm new to this forum. My favourite period is the 3rd Century, all the excesses of the early period and the struggle for survival in the middle leading to the tetrarchy and the emergence of a eastern style dominate in the late 3rd Century. Unfortunately the sources from this period is very few or somewhat untrustworthy, so there's room for much speculation (which can be both bad and good).

 

My second favourite period is from the death of Julian to the ascension of Justinian in the Eastern Roman Empire (I don't think the Byzantine and Roman Empire's are different entity's merely a development of the Roman Empire). The disintegration of the West and the final struggles of the dying Western Empire are fascinating stuff. As is the scattered and abandoned Roman Legions still adhering to a central imperial authority, that's no longer there, like the last Roman state in the West centered around Soissons in France, and of course the tie-in to the Athurian Legends.

[Fatboy]

Hi Sebastianus,

Yes, I also like the death throws of the Western Empire. It certainly is facinating stuff.

[Guest donthegong]

During the Reign of Emperor Trajan

Edited February 27, 2008 by donthegong

[Gladius Hispaniensis]

Late Punic Wars till the reign of Augustus. I get a strangely nostalgic feeling when reading about the Julius Caesar era, maybe because I read the Commentaries at the age of 12.

[vespasian70]

Ever since reading Robert Grave's translation of the 12 Caesars when I was a kid, I've been fascinated by the 1st century AD. I particularly like the Flavian era...so much history there - year of the four Caesars, Masada, fall of Jerusalem, building of the colosseum, eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, ect.

[Julius Ratus]

I enjoy all of ancient history, but the period from the 1st Punic War to Actium is my favorite.

 

Outside of Rome I enjoy pre-Roman-conquest Greece and Assyrian history, as well as various later and earlier periods.

[Northern Neil]

Definitely the Dominate period. So many unanswered questions - were things really that different from the Principate, or were the differences superficial, such as styles of clothing and shapes of helmets? What buildings - if any - lay inside those empty Saxon Shore forts and what were they really used for? How long did traditional units such as cohorts survive in the army? Did the ones that survive continue in the same way, or was it just the name of the units that survived? Did towns look like Pompeii, or had everyday material culture moved on a pace? How much power did the Senate actually retain, and did polititians still refer to the state as being a 'republic'? I could cover a page with such questions.

[Falconius]

Since I am fascinated with all periods of Rome, anything suites me.

 

I am partial to these periods in this order.

 

1. From Vespasian to Marcus Aurelius, especially Trajan. Trajan is my favorite Emperor.

2. Late Republic, 100 BC to 1 BC

3. Punic Wars, All of them

4. Constantine I, mostly because I'm Christian.

[Ursus]

In the years since I joined UNRV, I have more appreciation for the Dominate and Byzantine eras, about which I knew little indeed before I joined. And I have seen quite a few interesting discussions and arguments on the late Republic.

 

But I still prefer the High Empire days.

[cornelius_sulla]

I am interested in the very late Republic, from the time of Marius and Sulla to the death of Caesar. There are so many famous names in that period that you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting one of them.

 

Since joining this site, I have become more interested in the early republic and it's important figures. It's difficult for me, though, to surmise how much is fact and how much is creative Roman propaganda (Regulus returning to Carthage to his execution, for example.)

[M. Porcius Cato]

I'm partial to the whole republican era--from Brutus to Brutus. Within that period, I find the restoration after Sulla to be the most dynamic and interesting.

[DecimusCaesar]

Definitely the Dominate period. So many unanswered questions - were things really that different from the Principate, or were the differences superficial, such as styles of clothing and shapes of helmets? What buildings - if any - lay inside those empty Saxon Shore forts and what were they really used for? How long did traditional units such as cohorts survive in the army? Did the ones that survive continue in the same way, or was it just the name of the units that survived? Did towns look like Pompeii, or had everyday material culture moved on a pace? How much power did the Senate actually retain, and did polititians still refer to the state as being a 'republic'? I could cover a page with such questions.

 

The Dominate is my favourite period too, and I'm also interested in early Byzantium. I'd also like to learn more about the 'age of anarchy' that preceeded the dominate, but there doesn't seem to be much good books about the era.

 

Other than that, I'm also interested in the late Republic and the first century AD - especially the emperors and the society of that period.

[dianamt54]

My favorite period in Rome is from the time of Marius to Julius Caesar. I like the founding of Rome, there is a lot of info to go through. I also like the Gracchi. I am inclined to study the personality of these people.