Lives of the Later Caesars

Lives of the Later Caesars PDF

Author: Anthony Birley

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2005-02-24

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0141935995

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One of the most controversial of all works to survive from ancient Rome, the Augustan History is our main source of information about the Roman emperors from 117 to 284 AD. Written in the late fourth century by an anonymous author, it is an enigmatic combination of truth, invention and humour. This volume contains the first half of the History, and includes biographies of every emperor from Hadrian to Heliogabalus - among them the godlike Marcus Antonius and his grotesquely corrupt son Commodus. The History contains many fictitious (but highly entertaining) anecdotes about the depravity of the emperors, as the author blends historical fact and faked documents to present our most complete - albeit unreliable - account of the later Roman Caesars.

The Play of Allusion in the Historia Augusta

The Play of Allusion in the Historia Augusta PDF

Author: David Rohrbacher

Publisher: University of Wisconsin Pres

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 0299306046

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By turns outlandish, humorous, and scatological, the Historia Augusta is an eccentric compilation of biographies of the Roman emperors and usurpers of the second and third centuries. Historians of late antiquity have struggled to explain the fictional date and authorship of the work and its bizarre content (did the Emperor Carinus really swim in pools of floating apples and melons? did the usurper Proculus really deflower a hundred virgins in fifteen days?). David Rohrbacher offers, instead, a literary analysis of the work, focusing on its many playful allusions. Marshaling an array of interdisciplinary research and original analysis, he contends that the Historia Augusta originated in a circle of scholarly readers with an interest in biography, and that its allusions and parodies were meant as puzzles and jokes for a knowing and appreciative audience.

Marcus Aurelius in the Historia Augusta and Beyond

Marcus Aurelius in the Historia Augusta and Beyond PDF

Author: Geoffrey William Adams

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0739176382

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This book examines the biography of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It seeks to further understand the author of the Historia Augusta alongside the reminiscences of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Geoff W. Adams arrives at this understanding through a study of a wide range of literary texts. Marcus Aurelius was a very important ruler of the Roman Empire, who has had an impact symbolically, philosophically, and historically upon how the Roman Empire has been envisioned. Adams achieves this end to bring a clearer understanding to his representation and to modern interpretations of his highly interpreted and romanticized representations in the ancient texts.

Historia Augusta Papers

Historia Augusta Papers PDF

Author: Ronald Syme

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1983

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13:

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This volume brings together fifteen studies written since 1972 on the notorious Historia Augusta. Syme advances the theory, supported by computer evidence, that the papers are the work of only one person, rather than six as they purport, and that they were written considerably later than the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine. He argues that, taken as a whole, the papers are a work of "fictional history" and constitute an elaborate and erudite hoax.

The Historians of Late Antiquity

The Historians of Late Antiquity PDF

Author: David Rohrbacher

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-04-15

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 1134628846

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The fourth and fifth centuries AD were an era of religious conflict, political change and military conflict. The responses of contemporary historians to these turbulent times reflect their diverse backgrounds - Christian and pagan, writing in both Greek and Latin, documenting church and state. This volume is the first to offer an accessible survey of the lives and works of these varied figures. The first half of the book explores the structure, style, purpose and nature of their writings. The second half compares and contrasts the information the historians provide, and the views they express on some central topics. These range from historiography, government and religion to barbarian invasions, and the controversial emperors Julian 'The Apostate' and Theodosius.

Emperors and Biography

Emperors and Biography PDF

Author: Ronald Syme

Publisher: Oxford : Clarendon Press

Published: 1971

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13:

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This book provides biographical information for Roman emperors of the third century.