What Is Your Favorite Era Of Roman History?

[Augustine]

Im would say the aftermath of Rome. Im very intrested in Roman Society itself, but i find how almost every European country of today is derived from some type of Roman culture intresting, hence the 2nd and 3rd Roman Empires.

Edited January 26, 2007 by Augustine

[TaylorS]

I find the period from the Punic Wars to the Social War (Marius vs. Sulla) and the period from Diocletian to the early Byzantine period (East)/Dark Ages (West) both very interesting.

 

The first is interesting because of how a little Italian city-state expanded into a hyperpower so rapidly.

 

The second is interesting because it shows the transformation of the Graeco-Roman Civilization into the Orthodox Christian Civilization in the East, and the fall of the Western Empire and the birth of Western Civilization out of the Western Empire's ruins in the West.

[seneca]

hi, guys

 

even i'm new i must say that i'm deeply interested in roman's history, maybe cause my origin ( i'm from Romania, and i'm proud of it !!)

so, speaking of witches i do like imperator's era, specially THE 12 CAESARS, starting with great CEZAR.

[Nerva]

New to the forum here, but so far I think it's a great site.

 

I think my favorite era would be the late Western Empire. Not so much because of its form of government, I actually find it kind of sad to watch the old shell of the Republic ripped away by succeeding Emperors, but studying this era, you keep asking yourself why the Western Empire fell and new ideas keep popping up from so many different sources. It's not as well known as the Republic and the early Imperial Period. I watch the Empire crumble again and again in my mind and I wonder what decisions could have been made to save it. I look at the selfishness of so many of the prominent characters of the era and wonder how things might have turned out differently if they put the state ahead of their own desires, just for a moment. It's a concept of "What could have been" in my mind when I look at the period. So I picked the Dominate.

Edited March 14, 2007 by Nerva

[Cassius]

My interest in Rome is something of a general, broad one, so no particular era of interest distinguishes itself particularly. Being honest, my area of interest has waxed and waned to a certain extent, but at the moment, I'm particularly interested in the religious upheavals and political tensions of the 4th Century AD and slightly after, as described by Nerva above.

[Ursus]

Interesting. The Principate just edged out the early and middle Republic. And the Late Empire is not far behind

 

The only thing that is negligible so far is the early monarchy.

[Nephele]

Interesting. The Principate just edged out the early and middle Republic. And the Late Empire is not far behind

 

I'll add one more vote for the Principate. Specifically, the era of "The Five Good Emperors".

 

One of my all-time favorite books is W.S. Davis' A Day in Old Rome, which describes down to the most minute details what one might see and experience if one lived in Rome in the year 134 C.E., during the reign of Hadrian. Since my high school days, I've read and re-read my tattered old copy of this wonderful little book to the point where Hadrian's Rome is now the Rome I call "home".

 

Not that I'm adverse to reading about other eras of Roman history, which all have their merits. But I find myself agreeing with Professor Davis where he provides his reason for selecting this particular era for his hypothetical visit to Rome: "Rome was then architecturally nearly completed, the Empire seemed in its most prosperous state, although many of the old usages and traditions of the Republic still survived, and the evil days of decadence were as yet hardly visible in the background."

 

-- Nephele

[Ursus]

Seems like a wonderful book, just waiting for an articulate person to review. (*hint*)

[Nephele]

Seems like a wonderful book, just waiting for an articulate person to review. (*hint*)

 

It is a wonderful book. Hint taken. (Nephele gets off her lazy derri

[guy]

Ursus said:

Just curious ....

 

For me, the "Third Century Crisis" is the most interesting period of Roman history. This was a period when the Empire was on the brink of total collapse.

 

The empire faced devastating external invasions, incessant internal conflict, plague, and a collapsing economic system. If it weren't for the efforts of several great (but forgotten!) Roman Emperors (Gallienus, Claudius Gothicus, Aurelian, Probus, etc.), the Empire would have collapsed or split into at least three distinct smaller empires (the central core empire based in Italy, the Gallo-Roman empire of the west, and the Palmyran empire of the east).

 

I love to read Michael Grant's book, "The Climax of Rome," or Pat Southern's "The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine," both dealing with this period of increased turmoil and instability.

 

It was in this period that these Roman Emperors were able to reverse the defeats from the barbarian invasions, reunify and reconsolidate the empire, and create a more stable society.

 

Somehow the Western Roman Empire survived for another two centuries (and the Eastern Byzantine Empire for another thousand years beyond that!).

 

This is a poorly documented, mostly overlooked, but crucial time for Roman history.

 

 

Edited April 30, 2022 by guy

[Vibius Tiberius Costa]

I assume the early-middle part is specific to the punic wars and the macedonian and an almighty list of fascinating wars and battles.

All of which was the expansion of Rome.

147bc carthage macedon greece and illyria all became principalities around now.

Great Poll!

 

vtc

[Carthago delenda est]

I voted for The Principate, with particular emphasis on the period beginning with the reign of Nero through Commodus. I'm generally interested in all historical periods of Rome, of course, as long as they took place before 476 A.D.

But the specific focus of most of my study and research centers on the period from A.D. 54-192.

 

On edit: removed grammatical redundancy. -C.D.E.

Edited June 22, 2007 by Carthago delenda est

[Urbs Aedificator]

All periods of Rome were interesting, but to me the Late Republic was so pivotal as to what was to follow. Also to live in a time when one could in person listen to the oratory of Cicero well, that's just the icing on the cake, so to speak.

Alex