Books With Flair

Paul was the most influential figure in the early Christian church. In this epistle, written to the founders of the church in Rome, he sets out some of his ideas on the importance of faith in overcoming mankind's innate sinfulness and in obtaining redemption. With an introduction by Ruth Rendell

A concise but wide-ranging introduction to the civilization of ancient Rome. Covers 1200 years of history; religion and social life; literature, art, architecture and technology; extracts from key contemporary authors, and includes maps.

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Compact in size and modest in price, Rizzoli's new history series offers authoritative introductions to life in some of the world's most important ancient cultures. Introduces readers to the richness and diversity of daily physical and spiritual existence at the height of each of these cultures. Filled with anecdotes about real people and incidents that bear remarkable similarity to our own experiences.

One hundred biographies reveal the mightiest civilization of the ancient world through the lives of its citizens. At its peak Rome's empire stretched across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, yet it started as a primitive encampment above a riverside marsh. This book spans the great chronological and geographical sweep of the Roman age and brings the reader face to face with those who helped create the empire, from consuls and commanders to ordinary soldiers, voters, and taxpayers. An extraordinary range of viewpoints is explored in these biographies. A centurion and a plasterer's wife share pages with the orator Cicero and the scholar Pliny the Elder, while a vestal virgin shares a chapter with Antinous, the boy-lover of Hadrian. Augustine, the church patriarch, and Constantine, Rome's first "Christian" emperor, rub shoulders with Julian the Apostate and Vettius Agorius Praetextatus, leader of the pagans. Roman women were the most liberated in the ancient world. They could wield massive power and influence, yet are often overlooked. Meet Servilia, Caesar's lover; Sulpicia, the teenage poet; Amazonia, the sword-swinging gladiator; and Cloelia, the girl who escaped captivity by swimming the Tiber. Lavishly illustrated with magnificent works of art, including portraits, sculptures, and Renaissance paintings of Roman scenes, this book reveals the real-life stories behind the rise and fall of Rome. Philip Matyszak teaches Roman History for the Institute of Continuing Education at Cambridge. He has written extensively on the ancient world. Joanne Berry teaches ancient history at Swansea University and is the author of The Complete Pompeii.

In this book, third in a series which includes Jacques Le Goff's Medieval Characters and Eugenio Garin's Renaissance Portraits, leading scholars search for the character of the ancient Romans through portraits of Rome's most typical personages. Essays on the politician, the soldier, the priest, the farmer, the slave, the merchant, and others together create a fresco of Roman society as it spanned 1300 years. Synthesizing a wealth of current research, The Romans surveys the most complex society ever to exist prior to the Industrial Age. Searching out the identity of the ancient Roman, the contributors describe an urbane figure at odds with his rustic peers, known for his warlike nature and his love of virtue, his magnanimity to foreigners and his predilection for cutting off his enemies' heads. Most important, perhaps, of the themes explored throughout this volume are those of freedom and slavery, of citizenship and humanitas. What results from the depictions Roman society through time and across its many constituent cultures is the variety of Roman identity in all its richness and depth. These masterful essays will engage the general reader as well as the specialist in history and culture.

"The Romans unfolds Rome's remarkable evolution from village to monarchy and then republic and finally to one-man rule by an emperor whose power at its peak stretched from Scotland to Iraq and the Nile Valley. Firmly grounded in ancient literary and material sources, the book captures and analyzes the outstanding 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, to Constantine's adoption of Christianity. Here too are some of the most fascinating individuals ever to walk across the world stage, including Hannibal, Mithridates, Pompey, Cicero, Cleopatra, Augustus, Livia, Nero, Marcus Aurelius, and Shapur. The authors bring to life many aspects of Rome's cultural and social history, from the role of women, to literature, entertainments, town-planning, portraiture, and religion. The book incorporates more than 30 maps."--Jacket.

Outlines the history of Rome from its founding by Romulus and Remus to the Barbarian invasions, and describes Roman government, warfare, culture, religion, and daily life.