A Companion to the Roman Empire - (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World) by David S Potter (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A Companion to the Roman Empire provides readers with a guide both to Roman imperial history and to the field of Roman studies, taking account of the most recent discoveries.

• This Companion brings together thirty original essays guiding readers through Roman imperial history and the field of Roman studies
• Shows that Roman imperial history is a compelling and vibrant subject

• Includes significant new contributions to various areas of Roman imperial history

• Covers the social, intellectual, economic and cultural history of the Roman Empire

• Contains an extensive bibliography

From the Back Cover

New discoveries constantly make us rethink what we know about Roman history. A Companion to the Roman Empire keeps students and professional historians up to date with these developments, but also demonstrates to a wider audience why the Roman Empire remains a compelling and vibrant subject. It provides readers with a guide both to Roman imperial history and to the field of Roman studies.

The individual contributors to this volume all make significant new contributions to the areas about which they are writing. Topics range from intellectual and social issues, to administrative, economic, and cultural history, and each chapter provides readers with a survey of the subject. The volume also includes a discussion of sources and methods for studying Roman imperial history.

Review Quotes

"Another admirable edition to Blackwell's large expanding series of Companions, it is of comparable length, but with just 30 contributors and 30 chapters ... it gives each other more depth and breadth." (Ancient East and West, 2008)

"For those with reservations about the 'companion' phenomenon, [this volume] is an excellent advertisement for the benefits of such an exercise.... This volume is almost uniformly good as a guide to central topics in Roman history from the first to the forth century, with a number of outstanding discussions," (The Classical Review, 2008)

"A very impressive collection indeed, summarising and building on the latest scholarship, especially the view that there is more to history than politics and the powerful." (Journal of Classics Teaching)

"Scholar, student, and interested layperson will all find much to ponder here, and the editor, publisher, and contributors are to be commended for the success of their undertaking. This Companion, at least, constitutes a welcome addition to the field, offers a clear statement of the current state of the discipline, and provides inspiration for future directions" (New England Classical Journal)

"This Companion to the Roman Empire provides a fascinating and scholarly insight into our ancient past. It is an ideal reference tool for students and scholars alike, presenting new methods and modes of study that should provoke thought among the readership. It also brings together many disciplines of study that allow scholars to study an Empire as vast and influential as that created by the Romans." (Reference Reviews)

"The thirty chapters in this latest title in Blackwell's excellent "Companions to the Ancient World" series are written by such experts in their fields as Maud Gleason, Judith Evans Grubbs, Amy Richlin and Ann Hanson ... No comparable handbook exists ... Essential. All levels/libraries." (Choice--A Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2007)

"This elegantly and carefully edited book is a resounding success." (Scholia Reviews)

"David Potter has assembled an impressive array of scholars whose essays in this volume provide overviews and summarize the current state of scholarship on a variety of topics. A Companion to the Roman Empire succeeds in meeting the needs of its diverse audience and also offers a few surprises." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review)

About the Author

David Potter is Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan. He has published extensively on the history of the Roman world and appeared on many television programmes concerned with the history of Rome. His most recent publications include Life, Death and Entertainment in the Roman Empire (co-edited with David J. Mattingly, 1999), Literary Texts and the Roman Historian (1999) and The Roman Empire at Bay, AD 180-39 (2004)