Read The Classical World Online
Authors: Robin Lane Fox
Translated texts and discussions are now available in M. Beard, J. North and S. R. F. Price,
Religions of Rome
, volumes 1–2 (1998), giving an accessible history and excellent bibliographies; R. M. Ogilvie,
The Romans and Their Gods
(1969) is still valuable and John Scheid,
An Introduction to Roman Religion
(2003, English translation) is excellent; Clifford Ando (ed.),
Roman Religion
(2003) is a good selection of important articles; W. Warde Fowler,
The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic
(1899) is still important; T. P. Wiseman, in Bettina Bergmann and Christine Kondoleon,
The Art of Ancient Spectacle
(1999), 195–204, discusses the Floralia; T. P. Wiseman,
The Myths of Rome
(2004) is a great synthesis. Edward Bispham and Christopher Smith (eds.),
Religion in Archaic and Republican Rome and Italy
(2000) includes papers on Italy outside Rome, which I have compressed, or had to omit. J. A. North,
Roman Religion
(2000) is a ‘New Survey’ which takes the subject forward through the centuries, with good bibliographies too.
J. Heurgon,
The Rise of Rome to 284
BC
(1973, English translation) is an excellent survey; Pierre Lévèque,
Pyrrhos
(1957) is the classic starting point; Jane Hornblower,
Hieronymus of Cardia
(1981) is excellent on one major historian, and A. Momigliano,
Essays in Ancient and Modern Historiography
(1977) is a classic on Timaeus; David Asheri, in
Scripta Classica Israelica
(1991), 52–89, on Timaeus’ synchronisms; J. F. Lazenby,
The First Punic War
(1996) is a military history and Y. Le Bohec,
Histoire militaire des guerres puniques
(2003) is another; Werner Huss,
Karthago
(1995) is fundamental for Carthage.
S. Lancel,
Hannibal, 247–182
BC
(1998, English translation) is the best up-to-date general study; Tim Cornell, Boris Rankov and Philip Sabin (eds.),
The Second Punic War: A Reappraisal
(1996) is a very good selection of essays. The sources pose problems, recently reviewed by Briggs L. Twyman, in
Athenaeum
(1987), 67, and R. T. Ridley, ‘Livy and the Hannibalic War’, in C. Bruun (ed.),
The Roman Middle Republic: Politics, Religion and Historiography
(2000, Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae, 23), 13–40; on coins, E. S. G. Robinson, in
Numismatic Chronicle
(1964), 37–64. On warfare, Philip Sabin, ‘The Roman Face of Battle’, in
Journal of Roman Studies
(2000), 1–17 and once again, H. H. Scullard,
The Elephant in the Greco-Roman World
(1974), 146–77. Gregory Daly,
Cannae: The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War
(2002) is vivid. On the war’s impact in Italy, Andrew Erskine, in
Hermes
(1993), 58–62; W. V. Harris,
Rome in Etruria and Umbria
(1971), 131–43, and the very different views of two magnificent works, A. J. Toynbee,
Hannibal’s Legacy
, volumes I–II (1965) and P. A. Brunt,
Italian Manpower, 225
BC
–
AD
14
(1987, 2nd edn.), 269–88. Here, myviews are closer to those of T. J. Cornell, ‘Hannibal’s Legacy: The Effects of the Hannibalic War on Italy’, in Tim Cornell, Boris Rankov and Philip Sabin (eds.),
The Second Punic War: A Reappraisal
(1996), 97–117.
Peter Derow, in Andrew Erskine (ed.),
A Companion to the Hellenistic World
(2003), 51–70, is an excellent overview, based on years of reconsideration; W. V. Harris,
War and Imperialism in Republican Rome
(1979), 68–130 and 200–44; J. S. Richardson,
Hispaniae: Spain and the Developments of
Roman Imperialism, 218–82
BC
(1986) and
The Romans in Spain
(1996). On particular episodes, P. S. Derow, ‘Polybius, Rome and the East’, in
Journal of Roman Studies
(1979), 1–15; A. Meadows, ‘Greek and Roman Diplomacy on the Eve of the Second Macedonian War’, in
Historia
(1993), 40–60; J. J. Walsh, ‘Flamininus and the Propaganda of Liberation’, in
Historia
(1996), 344–63; F. W. Walbank, ‘The Causes of the Third Macedonian War: Recent Views’, in
Ancient Macedonia II
… (Thessaloniki, Institute for Balkan Studies, 1977), 81–94; N. Purcell, ‘On the Sacking of Carthage and Corinth’, in D. Innes, H. Hine and C. Pelling (eds.),
Ethics and Rhetoric: Classical Essays for Donald Russell on His Seventy-fifth Birthday
(1995), 133–48. On dealings with kings, John T. Ma,
Antiochus III and the Cities of Western Asia Minor
(1999) and E. Badian, in J. Harmatta (ed.),
Proceedings of the VIIth Congress of the International Federation of the Societies of Classical Studies
(1984), 397. On Roman motivation, John Rich, ‘Fear, Greed and Glory’, in J. Rich and G. Shipley (eds.),
War and Society in the Roman World
(1993), 38–68, A Ziolkowski, ‘Urbs Direpta, or How the Romans Sacked Cities’, ibid. (1993), 69–91. On third-century Greece, Graham Shipley,
The Greek World after Alexander, 323–30
BC
(1999), 108–152; F. W. Walbank, ‘An Experiment In Greek Union’, in
Proceedings of the Classical Association
(1970), 13–27 and his ‘The Causes of Greek Decline’, in
Journal of Hellenic Studies
(1944), 10–20; G. E. M. de Sainte Croix,
The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World
(1981), 344–50 and 518–37, with John Briscoe, in
Past and Present
(1967), 1–20 and J. J. Walsh, in
Classical Quarterly
(2000), 300–3. On the ‘destruction of democracy’, P. J. Rhodes and D. M. Lewis,
The Decrees of the Greek States
(1997), 542–50.
Erich S. Gruen,
Culture and National Identity in Republican Rome
(1992) is an excellent survey of Greek–Roman interrelations; Jean-Louis Ferrary,
Philhellenisme et imperialisme
(1988) is extremely important for the relations of power; Matthew Leigh,
Comedy and the Rise of Rome
(2004), on the dramas; E. Baltrusch,
Regimen Morum
(1989) is full of detail; A. G. Clemente, in A. Giardina and A. Schiavone (eds.),
Società romana e produzione schiavistica
, volume I (1981), 1–12, is the best short survey of sumptuarylaw; E. Gabba,
Del buon uso della richezza
(1988) is longer. On Cato, A. E. Astin,
Cato the Censor
(1978) is a narrative, with all the evidence; Jonathan C. Edmondson, in Bettina Bergmann and Christine Kondoleon,
The Art of Ancient Spectacle
(1999), 77–96, is excellent on the shows in the East and at Rome in the 160s
BC
. Erich S. Gruen,
Heritage and Hellenism
(2002),
on culture-clashes in Judaea. On Polybius, P. S. Derow, in T. James Luce,
Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome
, volume I (1982), 525–40, is a very penetrating introduction. F. W. Walbank,
Polybius
(1972) is essential, with the subsequent survey to 2000 and some fascinating essays in his
Polybius, Rome and the Hellenistic World
(2002). His three-volume
Commentary on Polybius
(1957–79) is the outstanding such work by a living scholar on Greek history.
Much is compressed, or omitted, in this chapter, but the period is excellently served in the revised
Cambridge Ancient History
, volume IX (1994), especially chapters 2–6, pages 498–563, on public and private law (a particularly compressed element in my ‘story’) and chapter 15 (administration of the Empire). The sources are collected invaluably by A. H. J. Greenidge and A. M. Clay,
Sources of Roman History, 133–70
BC
(1986, 2nd edn.). On individual careers, A. E. Astin,
Scipio Aemilianus
(1967); David Stockton,
The Gracchi
(1979); T. Carney,
A Biography of C. Marius
(1970, 2nd edn.); E. Badian,
Lucius Sulla: The Deadly Reformer
, Todd Memorial Lecture (1970); Arthur Keaveney,
Sulla: The Last Republican
(1982) and J. P. V. D. Balsdon, ‘Sulla Felix’, in
Journal of Roman Studies
(1951), 1–10. On particular aspects, A. N. Sherwin-White, ‘The Political Ideas of C. Gracchus’, in
Journal of Roman Studies
(1982), 18–31 and P. A. Brunt,
The Fall of the Roman Republic
(1988), chapters 2–4 are exceptionally important; also, J. S. Richardson, in
Journal of Roman Studies
(1987), 1–12, on extortion; A. W. Lintott,
Judicial Reform and Land Reform in the Roman Republic
(1992), 10–33, and 44–50; E. Gabba,
Republican Rome, the Army and the Allies
(1976), chapters 1 and 2. Robert Morstein Kallet-Marx,
Hegemony to Empire
(1995) is excellent on Rome’s ‘empire’ to 62
BC
. M. H. Crawford (ed.),
Roman Statutes I
(1996), numbers 1, 2, 12 and 14, gives excellent commentaries on four major documents.
Pat Southern,
Pompey the Great
(2002) is a lively popular introduction; Robin Seager,
Pompey the Great
(2003, revised edn.) is a scholarly study of political factions and detail. F. G. B. Millar,
The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic
(1998), chapters 2–4, takes a clear and vigorous line, though the main ‘democratic’ emphasis is not followed in my chapter, on which see M. Jehne (ed.), ‘Demokratie in Rom?’, in
Historia Einzelschrift
, 96 (1995),
for full critiques. For questions linked to aristocratic competition, see the exchanges of view by Nathan Rosenstein, Callie Williamson, John North and W. V. Harris, in
Classical Philology
(1990), 255–98. For Rome, the East and Mithridates, A. N. Sherwin-White,
Roman Foreign Policy in the East
(1984), 149–270. On Pompey and public shows, Richard C. Beacham,
Spectacle Entertainments of Early Imperial Rome
(1999), 49–74.
J. P. V. D. Balsdon, ‘Cicero the Man’, in T. A. Dorey (ed.),
Cicero
(1965), 171–214, remains an outstanding study; Elizabeth Rawson,
Cicero: A Portrait
(1983, 2nd edn.) is a many-sided study, while David Stockton,
Cicero: A Political Biography
(1971) is good on its chosen ground. L. R. Taylor,
Party Politics in the Age of Caesar
(1968) is excellent, especially chapter III (‘Delivering the Vote’) and chapter V (The Criminal Courts and the Rise of a New Man’). D. R. Shackleton Bailey (ed.),
Cicero’s Letters to Atticus
, volume I (1965), 3–58, is a superb study of Atticus and Cicero; Miriam T. Griffin, ‘Philosophical Badinage in Cicero’s Letters To His Friends’, in J. G. F. Powell (ed.),
Cicero the Philsopher: Twelve Papers
(1995), 325–46, catches a wider world. The editions of D. R. Shackleton Bailey, including the recent Loeb Library texts and translations of Cicero’s Letters, are acknowledged masterpieces. S. Treggiari,
Roman Social History
(2002), 49–73, is an exemplary study of how they can be used for nonpolitical topics; Susan Treggiari,
Roman Marriage
(1991), 127–38, 414–27 and chapter 13 (‘Divorce’) guides us through marriage and Cicero; Susan Treggiari,
Roman Freedmen during the Late Republic
(1969), 252–64, on Cicero’s freedmen, including Tiro; S. Weinstock, in
Journal of Roman Studies
(1961), 209–10, underlies my view of Cicero and ‘religion’.
J. P. V. D. Balsdon,
Julius Caesar and Rome
(1967) is an excellent brief introduction; Matthias Gelzer,
Caesar
(1968) is the basic fully documented account; Christian Meier,
Caesar
(1995, English translation) is more abstract, but is notably reviewed by E. Badian in
Gnomon
(1990), 22–39, whose own brief survey in the
Oxford Classical Dictionary
(1996, 3rd edn.), 780–2, is important. Kathryn Welch, Anton Powell and Jonathan Barlow (eds.),
Julius Caesar as Artful Reporter
(1998) has much of value on Caesar’s style and ‘spin’. On Cato, L. R. Taylor,
Party Politics in the Age of Caesar
(1968), 119–39. On land allotment, P. A. Brunt,
The Fall of the Roman Republic
(1988), 240–88, is a classic; on debt and financing, M. W. Frederiksen, ‘Caesar, Cicero and the Problem of Debt’, in
Journal of Roman Studies
(1966), 128–41, is another. J. Sabben Clare,
Caesar and Roman Politics, 60–50
BC
(1971), 1–49, translates much of the main evidence veryhelpfully. P. A. Brunt,
Italian Manpower
(1987, 2nd edn.), 312–19, discusses Caesar’s agrarian laws. On public speaking, Andrew J. E. Bell, ‘Cicero and the Spectacle of Power’, in
Journal of Roman Studies
(1997), 1–22, and the very important study by R. Morstein-Marx,
Mass Oratory and Political Power in the Late Roman Republic
(2004).
T. P. Wiseman, ‘Caesar, Pompey and Rome, 59–50
BC
,’ in
Cambridge Ancient History
, volume IX (1994), 368–423, gives an intelligible narrative; P. A. Brunt,
The Fall of the Roman Republic
(1988), chapter 1 is masterly and chapter 6 (‘
Libertas
in the Republic’) is fundamental at this point; David Stockton, ‘Cicero and the Ager Campanus’, in
Transactions of the American Philological Society
(1962), 471–89, is an outstanding study of 57–56
BC
and much more besides; A. W. Lintott, ‘P. Clodius Pulcher – Felix Catilina’, in
Greece and Rome
(1967), 157–69, and ‘Cicero and Milo’, in
Journal of Roman Studies
(1974), 62–78, help to explain two leading ‘populists’, together with A. W. Lintott,
Violence in Republican Rome
(1999, 2nd edn.), especially pages 67–88. On living conditions, P. A. Brunt, ‘The Roman Mob’, in M. I. Finley (ed.),
Studies in Ancient Society
(1974), 74–102, is fundamental, with A. Scobie, in
Klio
(1986), 399–443. Emily A. Hemelrijk,
Matrona Docta
(1999) is good on educated women, in the late Republic and in the Empire. J. F. Drinkwater,
Roman Gaul
(1983), 5–20, briefly summarizes Caesar’s Gallic years; Elizabeth Rawson,
Roman Culture and Society
(1991), 416–26, is very interesting on Crassus senior and junior; G. R. Stanton, in
Historia
(2003), 67–94, studies ‘why did Caesar cross the Rubicon?’