The Empire Of Death

Determined to discover his father's identity, Merlin, along with his band of loyal companions, travels across war-ravaged Europe, a trip that cements his reputation as a great healer.

Shannon Bontrager examines the culture of death, burial, and commemoration of fallen American soldiers in the Civil War, the Spanish-Cuban-American War, the Philippine-American War, and World War I. He links the cultural and political history of American war dead to explore the transatlantic and transpacific contexts of America’s imperial ambitions.

This extraordinary work on Roman history by J.B. Bury covers the period of more than 200 years from the time of Julius Caesar until the end of Marcus Aurelius' reign. Through the 30 chapters of this book, readers will gain a complete insight into the political history of the golden age of the Roman Empire. Contents: From the Battle of Actium to the Foundation of the Principate The Principate The Joint Government of the Princeps and Senate The Family of Augustus and His Plans to Found a Dynasty Administration of Augustus in Rome and Italy — Organisation of the Army Provincial Administration Under Augustus — the Western Provinces Provincial Administration Under Augustus — the Eastern Provinces and Egypt Rome and Parthia — Expeditions to Arabia and Ethiopia The Winning and Losing of Germany — Death of Augustus Rome Under Augustus — His Buildings Literature of the Augustan Age The Principate of Tiberius (14-37 A.D.) The Principate of Gaius (Caligula) (37-41 A.D.) The Principate of Claudius (41-54 A.D.) The Conquest of Britain The Principate of Nero (54-68 A.D.) The Wars for Armenia, Under Claudius and Nero The Principate of Galba, and the Year of the Four Emperors (68-69 A.D.) Rebellions in Germany and Judea The Flavian Emperors — Vespasian, Titus and Domitian (69-96 A.D.) Britain and Germany Under the Flavians — Dacian War Nerva and Trajan — the Conquest of Dacia Literature From the Death of Tiberius to Trajan The Principate of Hadrian (117-138 A.D.) The Principate of Antoninus Pius (138-161 A.D.) The Principate of Marcus Aurelius (161-180 A.D.) Literature Under Hadrian and the Antonines The Roman World Under the Empire — Politics, Philosophy, Religion and Art Roman Life and Manners

An unabridged and unaltered republication of the first edition.

Life, Death, and Entertainment gives those who have a general interest in Roman antiquity a starting point informed by the latest developments in scholarship for understanding the extraordinary range of Roman society. Family structure, gender identity, food supply, religion, and entertainment are all crucial to an understanding of the Roman world. As views of Roman history have broadened in recent decades to encompass a wider range of topics, the need has grown for a single volume that can offer a starting point for these diverse subjects, for readers of all backgrounds. This collection fills such a need by uniting a series of general introductions on each of these topics for the non-specialist. Each essay brings readers into contact with broadly ranging evidence, as well as with a wide variety of approaches that are needed to study basic questions about the Roman world. Essays explore the Roman family, gender definition, demography, Roman food supply, Roman religion, and the wide variety of public entertainments throughout the empire. The volume brings together an unparalleled range of methodologies and topics. It will enable the modern reader to understand the Roman world in all its complexity. The general reader will welcome this approachable and timely text. Contributors to the volume include Greg Aldrete, Hazel Dodge, Bruce W. Frier, Maud Gleason, Ann Hanson, David Mattingly, and David Potter. D. S. Potter is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Greek and Latin, University of Michigan. D. J. Mattingly is Professor of Roman Archaeology, University of Leicester.

An unabridged and unaltered republication of the first edition.

"Davies sets out to ask, How did the Romans bury Caesar? And with what monuments did they sing his praises? . . . The architectural elaboration of these structures, their siting in the capital, the lines of vision and approaches that exposed them to view, the paths their complex outworks formed for visitors to walk, are all picked out with skill and presented with care in Death and the Emperor." ?Times Literary Supplement "This concise and lucidly written book is a very valuable new contribution to the studies of Roman imperial cult, political propaganda, and topography, and has the added benefit of discussing complex scholarly disputes in a manner that the non-specialist will probably follow with ease. . . . There is material in this volume that will be immensely useful to researchers in many areas: archaeology, history of architecture, iconography, history of religion, and Roman political propaganda, to name just a few. I strongly recommend it to scholars interested in any or all of the above topics." ?Bryn Mawr Classical Review "Even though its focus is on only seven specimens of architecture, the book touches upon a broad array of aspects of Roman imperial culture. Elegantly written and generously illustrated . . . this book should be of great interest to the general public as well as to the scholarly community." ?American Journal of Archaeology

Commodus is synonymous with debauchery and megalomania, best remembered for fighting as a gladiator. Ridiculed and maligned by historians since his own time, modern popular culture knows him as the patricidal villain in Ridley Scott's Gladiator. Much of his infamy is clearly based on fact, but is this the full story?John McHugh reviews the ancient evidence to present the first full-length biography of Commodus in English. His twelve-year reign is set in its historical context, showing that the 'kingdom of gold' he supposedly inherited was actually an empire devastated by plague and war. Openly autocratic, Commodus compromised the privileges and vested interests of the senatorial clique, who therefore plotted to murder him. Surviving repeated conspiracies only convinced Commodus that he was under divine protection, increasingly identifying himself as Hercules reincarnate. This and his antics in the arena allowed his senatorial enemies to present Commodus as a mad tyrant to justify his murder, which they finally succeeded in arranging by having him strangled by a wrestler.

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial reviews the current state of mortuary archaeology and its practice, highlighting its often contentious place in the modern socio-politics of archaeology. It contains forty-four chapters which focus on the history of the discipline and its current scientific techniques and methods. Written by leading, international scholars in the field, it derives its examples and case studies from a wide range of time periods, such as the middle palaeolithic to the twentieth century, and geographical areas which include Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia. Combining up-to-date knowledge of relevant archaeological research with critical assessments of the theme and an evaluation of future research trajectories, it draws attention to the social, symbolic, and theoretical aspects of interpreting mortuary archaeology. The volume is well-illustrated with maps, plans, photographs, and illustrations and is ideally suited for students and researchers.

The Circle of Knowledge is an informative book that was designed in 1917, to be both inspiring and entertaining. The book represents the modern, progressive spirit which fits that time, in its forms of expression and its editorship. The purpose of this work is to answer the why, who, what, when, where, how of the wide majority of curious minds, both young and adult, and encourage them to raise further questions. Special measures were taken in creating this work to isolate essentials from non-essentials; to differentiate human interest subjects of universal significance from those of little concern; to deliver living truths instead of dead vocabulary; and finally, to bring the whole within the knowledge of the intermediate reader, without regard to age, in an acceptable and exciting form. The use of visual outlines and tables; maps, drawings, and diagrams; the illustrated works of great painters, sculptors, and architects all are used to give the reader the valuable and cultural knowledge of past and present.

Drawing from a broad range of documentation this book vividly characterizes eleven royal women who are brought visually to life through photographs of over 300 ancient coins and through the author's own illustrations. Spanning the period from the death of Julius Caesar in 44BC to the third century AD, and with an epilogue surveying empresses of later eras, the author's compelling biographies reveal their remarkable contributions towards the legacy of Imperial Rome. Examining the wives, daughters, sisters and mothers of emperors, the study includes: a pregnant Roman princess who saves a Roman army through an act of personal heroism three third-century empresses who rule the most powerful state on Earth, presiding over unprecedented social and political reform an empress, though revered by her husband, is immortalized in history for infidelity and corruption by students of her greatest enemy. Jasper Burns paints portraits of these exceptional women that are colourful, sympathetic, and above all profoundly human. This book will be highly valuable to numismatists, students and scholars of Roman history or women’s studies.