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The Emperors of Rome the Story of Imperial Rome From Julius Caesar to the Last Emperor Paperback – January 1, 1900

by David Stone Potter (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 27 ratings
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In 27 BC, after the tumultuous period of civil war triggered by the assassination of Julius Caesar 17
years earlier, Octavian was proclaimed emperor by the Roman Senate and given the title ‘Augustus’.
He ruled over an empire that embraced the territories of 25 modern nation-states and had more than 50 million subjects. Its provinces stretched from Hadrian’s Wall in the North to Egypt in the South, and from Portugal in the West to Syria in the East.

The Emperors of Rome charts the triumphs, vicissitudes, and ultimate decline of the Roman empire over the 500 years that followed the accession of Augustus. It was an era during which Rome reached heights of economic prosperity and cultural achievement, but also plumbed the depths of anarchy, cruelty, and chaos. As well as bringing key events vividly to life—from the battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9 to the destruction of Pompeii in AD 79, and from the vision of Constantine in the early 4th century to the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410—the distinguished historian David Potter examines critical themes at the heart of the Roman polity: the nature of imperial government, the relationship between virtus (duty to the state) and domus (domestic life), and the spread of Roman culture through the cities of the empire.

Potter’s enthralling and multifaceted narrative is punctuated by memorable profiles of the greatest and most notorious of the Caesars—the autocratic Augustus, the feeble Claudius, the brutal Domitian, the philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius, the deranged Commodus, and the reforming Diocletian, to name but a handful. Richly illustrated in full color, and amplified by a generous complement of in-depth articles, timelines, and quotations, The Emperors of Rome is the ideal introduction to imperial Roman history.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    255 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Metro Books
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1900
  5. ISBN-10
    1435129628
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1435129627
  7. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0084WNDI2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Metro Books; First Edition (January 1, 1900)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 255 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1435129628
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1435129627
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.18 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 27 ratings

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
27 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Well-Written and Thoughtful
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2013
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This book was a pleasure to read. It is well-written and gives a thoughtful overview of centuries of history. As a graduate student in classics, I found it a valuable way to review topics I had read about in other books.
5 people found this helpful
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Called to serve
5.0 out of 5 stars GOOD BOOK
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2016
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A GOOD BOOK ON HISTORY AND BIBLE.
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Peter S. Mizla
4.0 out of 5 stars good book
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2021
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lots of excellent maps and illustrations mae this a great coffee table book.
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D. Filteau
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2016
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great
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Stephen Ricks
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2015
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Impressive!
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Joel Hammer
4.0 out of 5 stars Fine,simple summary of the Roman rulers.
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2016
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The book was in good condition. It is a handy reference, but, you really need to know more that what is in this book.
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John Harrison
4.0 out of 5 stars Imperial Rome, well explained
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2008
It is a shame that so few academic histories are as well written as this book. Although it is difficult to encompass all of Imperial Rome in one volume, particularly in one with the many excellent illustrations contained in this book, nonetheless David Potter succeeds as well as any author ever has. Only at the already confusing end of the empire does the book falter. However, with the beginning and middle of the empire, and delightfully with the fascinating, but relatively unknown, Aetius at the end of the empire, Potter pulls it off magnificently. It is simply, a great read about remarkable people.

While the book looks like a coffee table decoration, it reads like a novel. You get to know the characters that made, maintained and lost the greatest empire ever. You understand their motivations and their challenges: personal, institutional, and religious. After reading the book, you will surprise yourself when you encounter a situation in your own life and find you remember these circumstances, the solutions tried and found wanting by Rome, and most important what worked. It is in these explanations that Potter excels.

It was not that Rome did not know how to continue as a great empire - her leaders chose not to, and the people of Rome let them. Potter explores this in detail, with marked lessons for our own time, leaders and people.
13 people found this helpful
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Grey Wolffe
3.0 out of 5 stars Did Anybody Read this Book Before it was Published?
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2009
Though I agree with my colleague above as to his point about the readability of this book; the editing (or lack thereof) makes parts of the book downright confusing. Not only are names misspelled in places, but places and dates are wrong because of typos. At one point in the text Potter mentions that so-and-so did such-and-such in 274AD; but in the side picture comment the date is listed as 74AD. That's just bad editing.

At other times in the little side vignettes there are bas reliefs and paintings and when they mention someone to the left of so-and-so; they mean so-and-so's left not to the left from your vantage point. It's especially difficult when so many of the characters seem to have the same name or change their names that it's like watching a football game with all the players wearing only five numbers among them. The worst part is making sense of what happens after Constantine dies and is replace by his sons Constantius, Constantine and Constans. Sometimes one or the other has their son mentioned who has the same name or their grandfather's (Constantine). Can't tell the players even with a scorecard.

It becomes especially difficult at the end in the late 300 and 400's AD, when the empire has been effectively split into three empires and the children have names of their grandparents or uncles or famous cousins and they get busy marrying each others sisters. It's worse than a soap opera. (Even Susan Lucci (Erika Kane) who has been married fourteen times has nothing on these people.) In the end the Eastern Empire fell because it no longer supplied soldiers to the army but depended on mercenaries who finally said, we now own the Empire.

Zeb Kantrowitz
12 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Georges
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent livre
Reviewed in France on August 27, 2019
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Le livre est venu à temps, très bien emballé et en presque excellent état. Très bien illustré, le livre peut servir comme un guide facile sur l'histoire des empereurs romains.
Un seul problème, il y a un odeur assez désagréable probablement à cause d'un stockage inadapté dans un endroit humide.
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Professor Alan J. Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars A concise history on Rome's emperors
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2013
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I like this book as it is concise and very well illustrated. I actually saw it first in a bookshop in Rome and vowed to buy a copy on my return ti the UK. It's a good price and very good value if you are looking for snapshot histories of the emperors. I found a few errors but nothing serious.
3 people found this helpful
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Cssor
5.0 out of 5 stars Good information on a massive subject.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2018
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I found this quite good as it gives a brief but reasonable amount of information, from the first to the last emperor of Rome, which for me was adequate.
One person found this helpful
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mr julian r moss
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 12, 2014
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gr8
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David J Offord
3.0 out of 5 stars Good For A Headache
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2019
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The modern layout and sometimes incoherent writing means that tis book is good only for a younger readership not yet seriously looking for a study of the exercise of absolute power and the corruption thereof and of how the empire nevertheless survived the grabs for that power and the weakening civil wars for so long..
2 people found this helpful
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