Ancient Rome: An Introductory History

590 Pages·1998·2.58 MB·English

by  Paul Allen Zoch

title: Ancient Rome : An Introductory History
author: Zoch, Paul A.
publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
isbn10 | asin: 0806130938
print isbn13: 9780806130934
ebook isbn13: 9780806170350
language: English
subject Rome--History.
publication date: 1998
lcc: DG210.Z63 1998eb
ddc: 937
subject: Rome--History.
Page iii
Ancient Rome
An Introductory History
Paul A. Zoch
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS
NORMAN
Page iv
Published with the assistance of the National Endowment for the
Humanities, a federal agency which supports the study of such fields
as history, philosophy, literature, and language.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zoch, Paul A. (Paul Allen), 1962-
Ancient Rome: an introductory history / Paul A. Zoch.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8061-3053-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. RomeHistory. I. Title.
DG210.Z63 1998
937dc21 98-12881
CIP
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources, Inc.
Copyright ©1998 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman,
Publishing Division of the University. All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Page v
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
List of Maps ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
1. A Linguistic Introduction 3
2. Rome's Origins according to the Ancients 6
3. Romulus and Remus Found Rome 9
4. Kings after Romulus 15
5. Tarquin's Coup d'État and the End of the Monarchy 27
6. The Res Publica: "Senatus Populusque Romanus" 32
7. Traitors and Heroes of the Early Republic 40
8. Class Conflict in Rome 50
9. Coriolanus, Cincinnatus, and Camillus 58
10. The Gauls Sack Rome 67
11. The Wars with the Samnites 76
12. King Pyrrhus' Pyrrhic Victories 86
13. The First Punic War 94
14. The Second Punic War 100
15. Rome Encounters the East 117

Page vi
16. The Gracchi: The Beginning of the End of the Res 141
Publica
17. The War against Jugurtha and the Rise of Marius 149
18. The Italian Wars and the Career of Sulla 155
19. The Rise of Pompey 165
20. The First Triumvirate 175
21. Civil War 191
22. Renewed Civil War and the Rise of Octavian 211
23. The Roman Empire: The Principate 227
24. The Julio-Claudian Emperors 240
25. The Flavian Emperors 259
26. The Culmination of the Pax Romana 265
Afterword: The Disintegration of the Empire 281
Bibliography 285
Index 289
Page vii
Illustrations
Family tree of Indo-European languages 2
She-wolf from the Capitol 10
Cloelia leading the children across the Tiber 45
Remains of the Temple of Castor and Pollux 48
Veturia scolding Coriolanus 60-61
The Dying Gaul, from Pergamon 70
Julius Caesar 205
Coin issued after the assassination of Caesar 212
Augustus 229
Pantheon 234
Interior of the Pantheon 235
Pont du Gard, near Nîmes, France 236
Colosseum 261
Trajan's Column 268
Portrait of a woman, second century A.D. 273
Household objects, fifth century A.D. 274
Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina 275
Arch of Septimius Severus 282

Page ix
Maps
Roman Italy 90
The Hellenistic kingdoms, 185 B.C. 118
Roman Empire at the death of Augustus, A.D. 14 232
Page xi
Preface
In my first year of teaching high-school Latin, I gave my second-year
students a bonus question on a translation test: "For three points,
identify when the Roman Empire was at its height." I decided to
accept any answer from 100 to 200. The answers were
B.C. A.D.
distressing: one senior, a good but not great student, answered 3000
B.C.
Only three students out of the class of twenty-two received the three
points. The students giggled at their own ignorance of basic history. I
realized that if even second-year Latin students do not know such
basic information, few other high-school students doand I must
confess that when I was in high school, I was not much better off.
Such was the genesis of this book.
Ancient Rome: An Introductory History cannot hope to compete in the
quality and depth of its scholarship with the excellent histories written
by world-renowned scholars such as Cary, Scullard, Mommsen, and
Grant, by all those involved in the massive Cambridge Ancient
History, and by others. However, by the inclusion of stories, legends,
and myths from original sources, it does offer high-school students
and general readers greater accessibility to the factual history of
ancient Rome, for it seeks to entertain at the same time as to inform.
This book presents a traditional, chronological history of ancient
Rome, illustrating the major and minor themes, events, and
personalities through generous selections of Latin literature and other
original sources in English translation. Readers will learn about
Roman history from Aeneas through Marcus Aurelius, meeting along
the way such characters and personalities as Tarquinius Superbus,
Lucretia,