This blog is an adjunct to The Roman History Reading Group which meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month except August in our chat room from 9:30 to 11:00 p.m. US EDT (UTC/GMT -04). This means that in Asia and Australia/Pacific, it's daytime. Here is a world time clock as a general assistance for non-USAns.
Chat room location (with instructions) at Skype IM.
New members are always welcome!
February 6 & 20, March 6
Marius’ Mules I: The Invasison of Gaul by S.J.A. Turney
https://www.amazon.com/Marius-Mules-I-Invasion-Gaul-ebook/dp/B004EYT3N8
March 20, April 3 & 17
The Romans Who Shaped Britain by Sam Moorhead & David Stuttart
https://www.amazon.com/Romans-Who-Shaped-Britain-ebook/dp/B01IWCIHVG
March 7 & 21
Catullus's Bedspread: The Life of Rome's Most Erotic Poet
by Daisy Dunn
eBook
The "Bedspread" poem (Carmen 64)
Odi et Amo (Carmen 85)
by N.S. Gill
I hate and I love. Why do I do it, perchance you might ask?
I don't know, but I feel it happening to me and I'm burning up.
"Analysis of the structure
"Forget, for a moment, about translating it. The structure of the poem is almost as important as the words themselves. Noting how and where certain words are used lets you see what the poet was emphasizing. In a language where poetry doesn't rhyme and where word order is more flexible than English, these are some of the elements that separate mundane writing from the inspirational."
New members are welcome!
Online Book Chats
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
also as eBook
9:30 - 11:00 PM U.S. Eastern
10/4: through Chapter Five (A Wider World)
10/18: through Chapter Nine (The Transformations is Augustus)
11/1: through the end
Review by Emily Wilson
New members are always welcome!
Chat room location (with instructions) at Skype IM (text, no video).
September 6 & 13
(note 1-week interval because of Rosh Hashanah)
Dictator by Robert Harris (Cicero III)
also as eBook
This is the final novel in the trilogy of the life of Cicero as narrated by his secretary Tiro. From exile to death.
The earlier books:
New members are always welcome!
Chat room location (with instructions) at Skype IM.
More background to our current read, The Edge of the Empire: A Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall by Bronwen Riley. (May 3 & 17):
Charlotte Higgins interviewed, in The New Yorker, Roger Tomlin, Chief Researcher, Roman Inscriptions of Britain III, Fellow, Wolfson College. How to Decode an Ancient Roman’s Handwriting. This is very helpful as Riley cites him many times in the above book.
That led me to Higgins' own book on Roman Britain, which, upon inquiry in our Facebook group, was highly praised. With a little monetary windfall that I have reserved for buying books, I downloaded Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain.
The two books take a very different approach. Riley sets up an imaginary travelogue in the year 130 CE for the then newly appointed governor. Higgins takes a look at the entire Roman Britain – albeit with selected sites – and explores the sites, the related history and archaeology, and frequently delves into literary connections, ancient and modern. Did you know that Wilfred Owen, a "Shropshire Lad," was an enthusiastic boyhood archaeologist and might have well chosen this as a profession, had he survives the Great War?
I am halfway into Higgins' entertaining book and highly recommend it as a companion to our reading selection!
—
Newcomers to the chats are always welcome! The Roman History Reading Group meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month except August at Skype IM (no video) from 9:30 to 11:00 p.m. U.S. EDT (UTC/GMT -04). This means that in Asia and Australia/Pacific it's daytime. Here is a world time clock to help you.
Chat room directions. Irene will assist you.
Our current read, The Edge of the Empire: A Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall
by Bronwen Riley, starts its travelogue in Rome and spends some time at Ostia and Portus. Thus you might want to make a virtual tour through Ostia Antica.
*****
On another note, Caroline Lawrence, whom many of you know, interviewed the author in 2015: The History Girls
*****
Newcomers are always welcome! The Roman History Reading Group meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month except August at Skype IM (no video) from 9:30 to 11:00 p.m. U.S. EDT (UTC/GMT -04). This means that in Asia and Australia/Pacific it's daytime. Here is a world time clock to help you.
Chat room directions. Irene will assist you.
The Edge of the Empire: A Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall
by Bronwen Riley
also as eBook
UK title: Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall, AD 130
also as eBook
An imaginary travelogue.
May 3: through Chapter VI, Westwards to Silchester
May 17: through the end
Newcomers are always welcome! The Roman History Reading Group meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month except August at Skype IM (no video) from 9:30 to 11:00 p.m. U.S. EDT (UTC/GMT -04). This means that in Asia and Australia/Pacific it's daytime. Here is a world time clock to help you.
Chat room directions. Irene will assist you.
edited
Upon further checking, it turns out that we read Robert Harris' second book in the Cicero series under another title already. Thus we will continue with the third and final novel, "Dictator."
January 4 & 18, February 1 | The Grass Crown by Colleen McCullough also as eBook |
February 15, March 1 & 15 | Rubicon by Tom Holland also as eBook |
April 5 & 19 | Antony by Allan Massie |
May 3 & 17 | The Edge of the Empire: A Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall by Bronwen Riley UK title: Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall, AD 130 also as eBook |
June 7 & 21 | A Year of Ravens: a novel of Boudica's Rebellion by The H-Team (Ruth Downie, Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Vicky Alvear Shecter), S.J.A. Turney, Russell Whitfield, E. Knight) also as eBook possible authors chat (U.S. based authors) |
July 5 & 19 | Daughters of Rome (Empress of Rome) by Kate Quinn also as eBook Author chat |
August Recess | |
September 6 & 13 (because of Rosh Hashanah) | Dictator by Robert Harris (Cicero III) also as eBook |
October 4 & 18, November 1 | SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard also as eBook |
November 15 | The War with Jugurtha by Sallust at LacusCurtius |
December 6 | The Ides of April: A Flavia Albia Mystery Book 1by Lindsey Davis also as eBook |
December 13 (Chanukah starts December 13) | Nox Dormienda by Kelly Stanley also as eBook possible author chat |
April 5 & 19
Antony by Allan Massie
As dictated to and and annotated by Antony's secretary Critias.
April 5: through Chapter XIV
April 19: through the end
October 5 & 19, November 2
The Spartacus Road: A Personal Journey Through Ancient Italy
by Peter Stothard
October 5: through Chapter III
October 19: through Chapter VI
November 2: through the end
Ancient authors discussed in the book:
Symmachus
Symmacchus and Ambrose
(image: Probable depiction of Q. Aurelius Symmachus
from an ivory diptych depicting his apotheosis.)
Statius
Statius: online texts
Florus
Florus: online texts
The Appian Way: Ghost Road, Queen of Roads
by Robert A. Kaster
The Death of Caesar: The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination by Barry Strauss
also as eBook
March 16: Through Chapter 6 (Wanted Assassins)
April 6: Through the end (Chapter 13: Augustus)
April 20: Author chat.
Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate on March 15, 44 BC—the Ides of March according to the Roman calendar. He was, says author Barry Strauss, the last casualty of one civil war and the first casualty of the next civil war, which would end the Roman Republic and inaugurate the Roman Empire. “The Death of Caesar provides a fresh look at a well-trodden event, with superb storytelling sure to inspire awe” (The Philadelphia Inquirer).
Why was Caesar killed? For political reasons, mainly. The conspirators wanted to return Rome to the days when the Senate ruled, but Caesar hoped to pass along his new powers to his family, especially Octavian. The principal plotters were Brutus, Cassius (both former allies of Pompey), and Decimus. The last was a leading general and close friend of Caesar’s who felt betrayed by the great man: He was the mole in Caesar’s camp. But after the assassination everything went wrong. The killers left the body in the Senate and Caesar’s allies held a public funeral. Mark Antony made a brilliant speech—not “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” as Shakespeare had it, but something inflammatory that caused a riot. The conspirators fled Rome. Brutus and Cassius raised an army in Greece but Antony and Octavian defeated them.
New members are welcome!
Chat room location (with instructions) at Skype IM.
A Day of Fire
by E Knight, Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, Sophie Perinot,, Vicky Alvear Shecter, Kate Quinn
also as eBook
Authors chat March 2
Pompeii was a lively resort flourishing in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius at the height of the Roman Empire. When Vesuvius erupted in an explosion of flame and ash, the entire town would be destroyed. Some of its citizens died in the chaos, some escaped the mountain's wrath . . . and these are their stories: A boy loses his innocence in Pompeii's flourishing streets. An heiress dreads her wedding day, not knowing it will be swallowed by fire. An ex-legionary stakes his entire future on a gladiator bout destined never to be finished. A crippled senator welcomes death, until a tomboy on horseback comes to his rescue. A young mother faces an impossible choice for her unborn child as the ash falls. A priestess and a whore seek redemption and resurrection as the town is buried.
Six authors bring to life overlapping stories of patricians and slaves, warriors and politicians, villains and heroes who cross each others' path during Pompeii's fiery end. But who will escape, and who will be buried for eternity?
New members are welcome!
Chat room location (with instructions) at Skype IM.
Our first chat in the New Year is an oldie but goodie: First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough.
January 6 & 20, February 3
This novel, the first in the "Masters of Rome" series, has sparked the interest in Roman history for many readers. For myself, this is one of several go-arounds since I started these online chats in 1995.
From the book description:
With extraordinary narrative power, New York Times bestselling author Colleen McCullough sweeps the reader into a whirlpool of pageantry and passion, bringing to vivid life the most glorious epoch in human history.
January 6: through page 275 (Chapter "The Third Year")When the world cowered before the legions of Rome, two extraordinary men dreamed of personal glory: the military genius and wealthy rural "upstart" Marius, and Sulla, penniless and debauched but of aristocratic birth. Men of exceptional vision, courage, cunning, and ruthless ambition, separately they faced the insurmountable opposition of powerful, vindictive foes. Yet allied they could answer the treachery of rivals, lovers, enemy generals, and senatorial vipers with intricate and merciless machinations of their own—to achieve in the end a bloody and splendid foretold destiny . . . and win the most coveted honor the Republic could bestow.
Chat room location (with instructions) at Skype IM.
Our final chat for the year, on December 16, is the next in our occasional installments of the Gordianus mysteries:
Last Seen in Massilia by Steven Saylor, also as eBook.
Overview:
In the city of Massilia (modern-day Marseille), on the coast of Southern Gaul, Gordianus the Finder's beloved son Meto has disappeared--branded as a traitor to Caesar and apparently dead. Consumed with grief, Gordianus arrives in the city in the midst of a raging civil war, hoping to discover what happened to his son. But when he witnesses the fall of a young woman from a precipice called Sacrifice Rock, he becomes entangled in discovering the truth--did she fall or was she pushed? And where, in all of this, could it be connected to his missing son? Drawn into the city's treacherous depths, where nothing and no one are what they seem, Gordianus must summon all of his skills to discover his son's fate--and to safeguard his own life.
Note:
Steven Saylor does not do author chats, but he has told me he'd be happy to answer any questions by e-mail. You can find his address on the above author website.
New members are welcome!
Chat room location (with instructions) at Skype IM.
The Secret History: A Novel of Empress Theodora
by Stephanie Thornton
also as eBook
Author chat: Thursday, October 22
9:30 to 11:00 p.m. US ET (UTC/GMT -04)
Please note change of date, the author chat with Stephanie Thornton will be on Thursday, October 22.
New members are welcome! Chat room instructions
Background: Procopius: The Secret History
September 2, 16 & 30
Taken at the Flood: The Roman Conquest of Greece
by Robin Waterfield
also as eBook
Breakdown:
The book is not without controversy, see BMCR Review.
Peter Green recently reviewed it with three other books in the NYRB, but unfortunately available only to subscribers: When the Roman Empire Didn’t Stop
New members are welcome!
Chat room location (with instructions) at Skype IM.
2015 Reading Schedule
On June 3 & 17 we discuss Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero
by James Romm.
June 3: as far as we can get
June 17: author chat with James Romm
Background readings:
The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca
by Emily Wilson
Review of both books:
Such a Stoic:
How Seneca became Ancient Rome’s philosopher-fixer
Dialogues and Essays by Seneca
Newcomers:
Chat room location (with instructions) at Skype IM.
from the Introduction:
“The reader is asked to bear in mind, [that] the story is told, not from the modern point of view, but as from the broken heart and with the lips of an Egyptian patriot of royal blood; no mere beast-worshipper, but a priest instructed in the inmost mysteries, who believed firmly in the personal existence of the gods of Khem, in the possibility of communion with them, and in the certainty of immortal life with its rewards and punishments; to whom also the bewildering and often gross symbolism of the Osirian Faith was nothing but a veil woven to obscure secrets of the Sanctuary. Whatever proportion of truth there may have been in their spiritual claims and imaginings, if indeed there was any, such men as the Prince Harmachis have been told of in the annals of every great religion, and, as is shown by the testimony of monumental and sacred inscriptions, they were not unknown among the worshippers of the Egyptian Gods, and more especially of Isis.”
...
“To such students as seek a story only, and are not interested in the faith, ceremonies, or customs of the Mother of Religion and Civilisation, ancient Egypt, it is, however, respectfully suggested that they should exercise the art of skipping, and open this tale at its Second Book.” (emphasis mine)
Excerpts From: H. Rider Haggard. “Cleopatra.” iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.
Note: no longer under copyright
The book is available both on Gutenberg and (also free) on Kindle.