The Romans: From Village to Empire

"The Romans is currently the best textbook on Roman history available in English."--Walter Scheidel, Stanford University How did a single village community in the Italian peninsula eventually become one of the most powerful imperial powers the world has ever known? In The Romans: From Village to Empire, Second Edition, Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel J. Gargola, Richard J.A. Talbert, and new coauthor Noel Lenski explore this question as they guide students through a comprehensive sweep of Roman history, ranging from the prehistoric settlements to the fall of the empire in 476. Addressing issues that still confront modern states worldwide--including warfare, empire building, consensus forging, and political fragmentation--the authors also provide glimpses into everyday Roman life and perspective, demonstrating how Rome's growth as a state is inseparable from its social and cultural development. Vividly written and accessible, The Romans, Second Edition, traces Rome's remarkable evolution from village, to monarchy, to republic, to one-man rule by an emperor--whose power at its peak stretched from Scotland to Iraq and the Nile Valley--to the empire's fall in 476. Firmly grounded in ancient literary and material sources, the text describes and analyzes major political and military landmarks, from the Punic Wars, to Caesar's conquest of Gaul and his crossing of the Rubicon, to the victory of Octavian over Mark Antony, and through Constantine's adoption of Christianity. Featuring two new chapters (13 and 14), the second edition extends the book's coverage through the rise of Christianity, the growth of the Barbarian threat, the final years of the empire, its fall in 476, and, finally, to its revival in the East as Byzantium. This edition also combines chapters 1 and 2 into one--"Archaic Italy and the Origins of Rome"--and integrates more material on women, religion, and cultural history throughout. Ideal for courses in Roman history and Roman civilization, The Romans, Second Edition, is enhanced by two new 8-page, 4-color inserts and almost 100 extensively captioned illustrations. It also includes more than 30 ancient maps, revised and improved under the supervision of coauthor Richard J. A. Talbert, and textual extracts that provide fascinating cultural observations made by ancient Romans themselves. A new Image Bank CD contains PowerPoint-based slides of all the photos and maps in the text.

Table of Contents:
*=NEW TO THIS EDITION; 1. ARCHAIC ITALY AND THE ORIGINS OF ROME; Italy and the Mediterranean World; The Evidence; Italy Before the City; The Rise of Cities; Greeks and Etruscans; The Emergence of Rome; The Romans and Their Early History; Table 1.1 Dates of Rome's Kings According to Varro; Source 1.1 Plutarch, Romulus; Politics and Society under the Kings; Rome and the Latins; 2. REPUBLICAN ROME AND THE CONQUEST OF ITALY; The Early Republic; The City and Its Institutions in the Fourth Century; Source 2.1 Servius Tullius' Creation of the Census (Livy); Table 2.1 Roman Assemblies; Source 2.2 The Roman Games (Dionysius of Halicarnassus); Rome and Central Italy; Expansion of Roman Control Over Italy; War and the Roman State; 3. THE BEGINNINGS OF A MEDITERRANEAN EMPIRE; Sources; The Nobility and the City of Rome; Source 3.1 Triumph of Scipio Africanus (Appian); Wars with Carthage; First Punic War (264-241); Second Punic War (218-201); * Source 3.2 Rome's Reaction to Defeat at Cannae; A Mediterranean Empire; * Source 3.3 Popillius Laenas Forestalls Antiochus' Invasion of Egypt (Polybius); North Africa; 4. ITALY AND EMPIRE; Senators, Officials, and Citizen Assemblies; Italy and the Consequences of Empire; Changing Relations Between Rome, Its Municipia, and Allies; Source 4.1 Scipio Africanus' Army Loots Carthago Nova (Polybius and Livy); Roman Politics from the Mid-Second Century; * Source 4.2 Tiberius Gracchus Urges Romans to Support his Land-Assignment Scheme (Plutarch); 5. ITALY THREATENED, ENFRANCHISED, DIVIDED; Changes in Roman Society; War with Jugurtha (112-105); Italy Threatened from the North (113-101); * Source 5.1 A Spanish People Surrenders to Rome; Changes in the Roman Army; Marius' Career in Roman Politics; Source 5.2 Marius' Bid for the Consulship (Sallust); Sixth Consulship of Marius and Second Tribunate of Saturninus (100); Administration of the Provinces; Tribunate of Livius Drusus (91); Social War (91-87); Tribunate of Sulpicius Rufus (88); Sulla's First March on Rome (88); Cinna's Rule (87-84); Sulla's Second March on Rome (83-83); 6. THE DOMINATION OF SULLA AND ITS LEGACY; Sulla's Proscriptions (82-81); Sulla the Dictator and His Program (82-81); Equites, Courts; Verdicts on Sulla's Program; Source 6.1 Cicero's Defense of Sextus Roscius; Lepidus' Uprising and Its Aftermath (78-77); Challenge from Sertorius in Spain (80-73); Source 6.2 Pompey's Letter from Spain (Sallust); Spartacus's Slave Revolt (73-71); Consulship of Crassus and Pompey (70); Pompey Frees the Mediterranean of Pirates (67); Threat from King Mithrades VI of Pontus; Sulla's Campaign Against Mithridates (87-85); Lucullus' Struggle with Mithridates (74-67); Pompey's Defeat of Mithridates (66-63); Roles of Cassus and Cicero in Rome (66-63); Caitline's Rising (63-62); 7. END OF THE REPUBLIC: CAESAR'S DICTATORSHIP; Sources; Pompey's Return from the East (62); Pompey and Political Stalemate in Rome; Partnership of Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar; Caesar's First Consulship (59); Clodius' Tribunate (58); Cicero's Recall and the Renewal of the Triumvirate (57-56); Caesar's Campaigns in Gaul (58-51); Death of Clodius and Pompey's Sole Consulship (52); Prospect of Civil War (51-49); Causes and Consequences of Caesar Crossing the Rubicon (January 49); Cicero's Governorship of Cilicia (51-50); Civil War Campaigns (49-45); Caesar's Activity as Dictator (49-44); Caesar's Impact Upon the City of Rome; Political Prospects for Rome, and for Caesar; 8. AUGUSTUS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ROMAN WORLD; Reactions to the Assassination of Caesar (44-43); Emergence of a Second Triumvirate (43); Battle of Philippi (42); Source 8.1 Laudatio Turiae; Perusine War (41-40); Elimination of Sextus Pompey and Lepidus (39-36); Antony in the East (42 onwards); Clash Between Antony and Octavian (36-30); Octavian as Sole Ruler (30 Onwards); "The Republic Restored"; Second Settlement (23); The Roman Family in the Augustan Period; Succession; Table 8.1 The Julio-Claudian Family; Senate and Equites; Army; The Empire and Its Expansion; Source 8.2 Oath of Loyalty; Latin Literature in the Late Republic and Augustan Age; City of Rome; Attitudes Outside Rome; Res Gestae of Augustus; Augustus: Final Assessment; 9. THE EARLY PRINCIPATE (A.D. 14-69): THE JULIO-CLAUDIANS, THE CIVIL WAR OF 68-69, AND LIFE IN THE EARLY EMPIRE; Sources; The Julio-Claudian Emperors: Civil Government and Military Concerns; Tiberius (14-37); Source 9.1 Senatorial Decree Concerning the Elder Gnaeus Piso; Gaius (Caligula) (37-41); Claudius (41-54); Source 9.2 Claudius' Speech on the Admission of Gauls to the Senate; Nero (54-68); Civil War in 68-69: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian; Economic and Social Change: Army; Economy; Intellectual Life; "Beneficial Ideology"; Cities and Provinces; Women; Diversity: Local Languages and Culture; Religious Practices and Principles; Imperial Cult; 10. INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE PRINCIPATE: MILITARY EXPANSION AND ITS LIMITS, THE EMPIRE AND THE PROVINCES (69-138); Sources; Institutionalization of the Principate; Vespasian (69-79); Titus (79-81); Domitian (81-96); A New, Better Era?; Nerva (96-98); Trajan (98-117); Hadiran (117-138); Table 10.1 The Antonine Family; Source 10.1 Hadrian Inspects Troops at Lambaesis, Numidia; Roman Cities and the Empire's Peoples; Theaters and Processions; Circuses and Chariot Racing; The Amphitheather, and Gladitorial Games; Other Urban Amenities; Education; State Religion and Imperial Cult; 11. ITALY AND THE PROVINCES: CIVIL AND MILITARY AFFAIRS (138-235); Sources; Antoninus Pius (138-161); Marcus Aurelius (161-180) and Lucius Verus (161-169); Source 11.1 A Greek Provincial Praises Roman Citizenship; Source 11.2 Morbidity and Mortality in the Roman Empire; Commodus (176-192, Ruling as Sole Augustus After 180); Civil War and the Rise of Septimus Severus (193-211); Table 11.1 The Severan Family; Source 11.3 Deification Ceremonies for Pertinax in Septimus Severus' Rome; Caracalla (198-217, Ruling as Sole Augustus After 211); Macrinus (217-218); Elagabalus (218-222); Severus Alexander (222-235); Roman Law; Roman Citizenship; Source 11.4 Grant of Roman Citizenship (Tabula Banasitana); Rome and Christianity; Source 11.5 Pliny, Trajan, and Christians; 12. THE THIRD-CENTURY CRISIS AND THE TETRARCHIC RESTABILIZATION; Sources; Mid-Third Century; Aurelian (270-275); Diocletian, the Tetrarchy, and the Dominate (284-305); Dissolution of the Tetrarchy (305-313), and the Rise of Constantine (306-324); Source 12.1 Galerius' Edict of Toleration (April 311); Administrative Reorganization Under the Dominate; Source 12.2 The Tetrarchs Introduce Their Edict on Maximum Prices; * 13. THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY AND THE GROWTH OF THE BARBARIAN THREAT (324-395); Sources; Constantine: A Christian Emperor; The Sons of Constantine (337-361): The Power of Dynasty; Table 13.1 The Constantinian Family; Julian (361-363): A Test of the Christian Empire; Source 13.1 Julian Attempts to Bring Paganism into Line with Christianity; Jovian, Valentinian I, and Valens (363-378); Gratian, Valentinian II, and Theodosius I (379-395); New Elites for the Empire; Paganism and Christianity; Source 13.2 The End of Pagan Sacrifice; * 14. THE FINAL YEARS OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE AND ROME'S REVIVAL IN THE EAST; Sources; The Theodosian Dynasty to the First Sack of Rome (395-410); Table 14.1 The Theodosian Family; The Fall of the Western Empire (410-476); Source 14.1 The Gothic King Athaulf's Shifting Attitude toward Rome; The Growth of a Byzantine Empire in the East (408-491); A Christian Culture; Source 14.2 Holy Land Pilgrimage and the Cult of Relics; Women's Power in Late Antiquity; The "Decline and Fall" of the Roman Empire