Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A Roman historian chronicles Rome on the brink of collapse
Ammianus Marcellinus was the last great Roman historian, and his writings rank alongside those of Livy and Tacitus. The Later Roman Empire chronicles a period of twenty-five years during Marcellinus' own lifetime, covering the reigns of Constantius, Julian, Jovian, Valentinian I, and Valens, and providing eyewitness accounts of significant military events including the Battle of Strasbourg and the Goth's Revolt. Portraying a time of rapid and dramatic change, Marcellinus describes an Empire exhausted by excessive taxation, corruption, the financial ruin of the middle classes and the progressive decline in the morale of the army. In this magisterial depiction of the closing decades of the Roman Empire, we can see the seeds of events that were to lead to the fall of the city, just twenty years after Marcellinus' death.
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Synopsis
Ammianus Marcellinus was the last great Roman historian, and his writings rank alongside those of Livy and Tacitus. The Later Roman Empire chronicles a period of twenty-five years during Marcellinus' own lifetime, covering the reigns of Constantius, Julian, Jovian, Valentinian I, and Valens, and providing eyewitness accounts of significant military events including the Battle of Strasbourg and the Goth's Revolt. Portraying a time of rapid and dramatic change, Marcellinus describes an Empire exhausted by excessive taxation, corruption, the financial ruin of the middle classes and the progressive decline in the morale of the army. In this magisterial depiction of the closing decades of the Roman Empire, we can see the seeds of events that were to lead to the fall of the city, just twenty years after Marcellinus' death.
About the Author
Walter Hamilton (1908–1988) was master and honorary fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. His translations for Penguin Classics include Plato’s Phaedrus and Letters VII and VIII.
Table of Contents
The Later Roman Empire Preface
Introduction
Further Reading
Family Tree of Constantine the Great
Introductory Note
The Later Roman Empire
Book 14
Book 15
Book 16
Book 17
Book 18
Book 19
Book 20
Book 21
Book 22
Book 23
Book 24
Book 25
Book 26
Book 27
Book 28
Book 29
Book 30
Book 31
Notes on the Text
Note on Officials and their Titles
Notes on Persons Dates of Emperors
Geographical key
Maps
General Map
Monuments of Rome
Map A: Gaul, Germany, and the Rhine
Map B: The Danube, Italy and Thrace
Map C: The East and Persia
Map D: Asia Minor