Want to know what books Adrienne Mayor recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Adrienne Mayor's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
From the Renaissance to today, the idea that the Roman Republic lasted more than 450 years--persisting unbroken from the late sixth century to the mid-first century BC--has profoundly shaped how Roman history is understood, how the ultimate failure of Roman republicanism is explained, and how republicanism itself is defined. In Roman Republics, Harriet Flower argues for a completely new interpretation of republican chronology. Radically challenging the traditional picture of a single monolithic republic, she argues that there were multiple republics, each with its own clearly... more From the Renaissance to today, the idea that the Roman Republic lasted more than 450 years--persisting unbroken from the late sixth century to the mid-first century BC--has profoundly shaped how Roman history is understood, how the ultimate failure of Roman republicanism is explained, and how republicanism itself is defined. In Roman Republics, Harriet Flower argues for a completely new interpretation of republican chronology. Radically challenging the traditional picture of a single monolithic republic, she argues that there were multiple republics, each with its own clearly distinguishable strengths and weaknesses. While classicists have long recognized that the Roman Republic changed and evolved over time, Flower is the first to mount a serious argument against the idea of republican continuity that has been fundamental to modern historical study. By showing that the Romans created a series of republics, she reveals that there was much more change--and much less continuity--over the republican period than has previously been assumed. In clear and elegant prose, Roman Republics provides not only a reevaluation of one of the most important periods in western history but also a brief yet nuanced survey of Roman political life from archaic times to the end of the republican era. less 
Adrienne MayorThis book shows how Rome itself could be its own worst enemy. Flower has a really original and striking interpretation of Roman history, and she explains it very clearly in this short book. Her thesis is that the Roman Republic is not a single, monolithic power from the very beginning, and then 450 years later it suddenly crumbles and falls to pieces in the first century BC. She says there were... (Source)
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This wide-ranging and informative survey of 'outsider' groups in the Roman Empire will contribute greatly to our understanding of Roman social history.
Examining men such as as Viriatus, Tacfarinus, Maternus and Bulla Felix, who were called latrones after clashing with the imperial authorities, special attention is given to perhaps the best-known 'bandit' of all, Spartacus, and to those who impersonated the emperor Nero after his death. Topics covered include:
* Whom did the Romans see as bandits (latrones)?
* What did they... more This wide-ranging and informative survey of 'outsider' groups in the Roman Empire will contribute greatly to our understanding of Roman social history.
Examining men such as as Viriatus, Tacfarinus, Maternus and Bulla Felix, who were called latrones after clashing with the imperial authorities, special attention is given to perhaps the best-known 'bandit' of all, Spartacus, and to those who impersonated the emperor Nero after his death. Topics covered include:
* Whom did the Romans see as bandits (latrones)?
* What did they understand as robbery (lactrocinium)?
* How pressing was the threat that the bandits posed?
* How did their contemporaries perceive the danger?
We are shown that the term latrones was not just used to refer to criminals but was metaphorically and disparagingly applied to failed political rebels, rivals and avengers. The word also came to represent the 'noble brigands', idealising the underdog as a means of criticising the winning side. The author therefore presents 'the bandit' as a literary construct rather than a social type. less Adrienne MayorThis is the most scholarly book I’ve chosen. It was published in 1999 and translated from German, and goes all the way from the second century BC to the third century AD. It’s a little bit dry and dense but it’s a treasure trove of information on enemies and nonconformists in Rome, people who defy Roman law and order, and it’s impossible to find all this stuff in any other single book. The book... (Source)
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An authoritative account from an expert author: The Spartacus War is the first popular history of the revolt in English.
The Spartacus War is the extraordinary story of the most famous slave rebellion in the ancient world, the fascinating true story behind a legend that has been the inspiration for novelists, filmmakers, and revolutionaries for 2,000 years. Starting with only seventy-four men, a gladiator named Spartacus incited a rebellion that threatened Rome itself. With his fellow gladiators, Spartacus built an army of 60,000 soldiers and controlled the... more An authoritative account from an expert author: The Spartacus War is the first popular history of the revolt in English.
The Spartacus War is the extraordinary story of the most famous slave rebellion in the ancient world, the fascinating true story behind a legend that has been the inspiration for novelists, filmmakers, and revolutionaries for 2,000 years. Starting with only seventy-four men, a gladiator named Spartacus incited a rebellion that threatened Rome itself. With his fellow gladiators, Spartacus built an army of 60,000 soldiers and controlled the southern Italian countryside. A charismatic leader, he used religion to win support. An ex-soldier in the Roman army, Spartacus excelled in combat. He defeated nine Roman armies and kept Rome at bay for two years before he was defeated. After his final battle, 6,000 of his followers were captured and crucified along Rome's main southern highway.
The Spartacus War is the dramatic and factual account of one of history's great rebellions. Spartacus was beaten by a Roman general, Crassus, who had learned how to defeat an insurgency. But the rebels were partly to blame for their failure. Their army was large and often undisciplined; the many ethnic groups within it frequently quarreled over leadership. No single leader, not even Spartacus, could keep them all in line. And when faced with a choice between escaping to freedom and looting, the rebels chose wealth over liberty, risking an eventual confrontation with Rome's most powerful forces.
The result of years of research, The Spartacus War is based not only on written documents but also on archaeological evidence, historical reconstruction, and the author's extensive travels in the Italian countryside that Spartacus once conquered. less Adrienne MayorThe scholarship is impressive, but he also has this dramatic narrative style – leaving you in suspense at the end of each chapter. (Source)
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4
John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon | 4.09
The Romans never doubted that they were the gods’ own people and, of course, they influenced the habits and, to some extent, the speech of most of the peoples whom they conquered; that was ‘romanisation'. But what of the other side of the coin? How did they regard the different peoples whom they ruled, and what did those people dislike and criticise, as well as admire, in the Romans? This book brings together a wealth of out-of-the-way information both on the national peculiarities of the Romans and on their views of the peculiarities of others. The topics range from food and sex habits to... more The Romans never doubted that they were the gods’ own people and, of course, they influenced the habits and, to some extent, the speech of most of the peoples whom they conquered; that was ‘romanisation'. But what of the other side of the coin? How did they regard the different peoples whom they ruled, and what did those people dislike and criticise, as well as admire, in the Romans? This book brings together a wealth of out-of-the-way information both on the national peculiarities of the Romans and on their views of the peculiarities of others. The topics range from food and sex habits to astrology and the seven-day week, from slavery, snobbery and the problems of exile to attitudes to ritual murder, euthanasia, and suicide. less Adrienne MayorThis is about Rome’s image problems among its enemies, its issues with bad PR. It’s a classic, and very entertaining. Balsdon was a British historian from Oxford, he also wrote novels. This is really a great source book on the way of life of the Romans, on their cultural attitudes towards their enemies and subjects, who were from so many different nationalities. He’s got well-documented chapters... (Source)
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5
In this novel set in Ancient Rome, two Gauls join the doomed Roman army marching into what is now Iraq. more In this novel set in Ancient Rome, two Gauls join the doomed Roman army marching into what is now Iraq. less Adrienne MayorThis is a historical novel written by Alfred Duggan. It came out in 1956, and it’s my favourite. I still have the battered paperback, held together with yellowing Scotch tape, that I read on my first trip to Greece 30 years ago, and really was my entry into the ancient world. It’s an odyssey about a warrior from Gaul, which had been recently conquered by Rome. And every time I reread it – and I... (Source)
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