Roman Emperors and Empire

Astronuc

A good start - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Emperor

September 18, 96: Nerva was appointed by the Senate to become Roman Emperor, the first of the Five Good Emperors.

Marcus Cocceius Nerva (November 8, 30 AD–January 27, 98), Roman emperor (AD 96–98), was a member of the Italian nobility rather than one of the elite of Rome; in this he was like Vespasian, the founder of the Flavian dynasty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerva

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Good_Emperors

arildno

And here's a link to Suetonius' work:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancie...ius-index.html

Evo

I love Fordham's Ancient History Sourcebook. I've spent many hours there.

Astronuc, Wikipedia is fine if you just want to look up names and dates and a very condensed summary of events, but the entire Roman Empire reduced to 15 minutes of text?

arildno

Fordham is great.

Astronuc

This is true, but it's a good place to start.

I think it would take many moons to track down all the websites and determine the quality.

I did not know of the Fordam site. I wonder, there must be more like that at other universities?

Another university site on Roman History (Roman Internet Resources) - http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ROMINRES.HTM

There is this one - De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors

list of Roman Emperors incomplete

Roman Emperors (27 BC-491 AD) - http://www.britannia.com/history/resource/emperor.html


Then there is an interesting site, which I have yet to peruse, but the history of Romania and Rome is quite interesting:
ROME AND ROMANIA (27 BC-1453 AD) - http://www.friesian.com/romania.htm
Emperors of the Roman and the so-called Byzantine Empires; Princes, Kings, and Tsars of Numidia, Judaea, Bulgaria, Serbia, Wallachia, & Moldavia; and the Sultâns of Rûm

I don't know how much each site collects information from others, and clearly it is hard to tell if anything has been peer-reviewed. I would imagine university sites are generally peer-reviewed.

Evo

Yes, it's a great way to get your feet wet and when you find something of particular interest, you can then research it farther.

I like both - the short compilations and reading the translated works of the actual historians.

Here are two resources for Roman history that are very user friendly and both are good for people that enjoy reading about history, but don't have much time, like me.

For a beginner, this site has some good information and is indexed well. I do not have enough knowledge to judge how accurate it is, but so far the info I've found holds up. Besides, where else can you get a card cut-out Roman legionary helmet to wear?

http://www.roman-empire.net/index.html

This site has been helpful http://www.historyworld.net/default.asp

ryokan

Yes. I agree
I suggest the great Gibbon's "Decline and Fall...":
http://www.ccel.org/g/gibbon/decline/home.html

Evo

Wonderful link! Thanks ryokan!

Evo

I forgot to add this link, if you want to read the actual histories. (looks like the site is still having some problems)

http://classics.mit.edu/Browse/index.html

marcus

I agree, arildno

also I tend to think that the most important information about the first dozen Emperors is contained in Suetonius, who is especially valuable because of his lack of bias and careful accuracy about details, do you not think so?

arildno

Eeh, I would rather have said that Suetonius provides the most entertaining information about the first emperors.
Entertainment is, however, without doubt very important..

Astronuc

(Wikipedia) October 6, 105 BC: The Cimbri and the Teutons inflicted a major defeat on the Roman Republic in the Battle of Arausio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arausio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimbri - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutons -

Astronuc

Seems interesting.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/home.html

ranger

So many great links. I love studying how ancient civilizations lived. I'm particularly taking a liking to the Greeks. But nevertheless, I enjoy reading all... Thanks for all these awesome links everyone!

I had no idea that this sub forum existed, until "Roman...Empire" caught my eyes..lol.

Astronuc

One more reference - http://www.roman-empire.net/index.html

Astronuc

The Roman Empire - http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/empire/
from
History of Western Civilization
E.L. Skip Knox
Boise State University

Astronuc

I'm reading Peter Heather's more recent (c. 2006) review of the decline of the Roman Empire, and it's an excellent overview. Heather is a contemporary historian of European/Roman antiquity. While it provides some background of first three centuries, the majority book covers the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries CE.

Two author/hitorians on which Heather relies are Ammianus Marcellinus and Olympiodorus (of Thebes). Here are some online sources about these two authors.

Ammianus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammianus_Marcellinus

http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/in...us_Marcellinus

http://odur.let.rug.nl/~drijvers/ammianus/index.htm (The Ammianus Marcellinus Online Project)

http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ammianus.html

Ancient History Sourcebook:
Ammianus Marcellinus (330-395 CE):
The Battle of Hadrianopolis, 378 CE
http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/ANCIE...drianople.html


Olympiodorus

http://www.enotes.com/classical-medi...iodorus-thebes
Olympiodorus of Thebes c. 375-c. 430

http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/artsou/olympio.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympiodorus_of_Thebes

The Historians of Late Antiquity


It's really hard to find good resources on the internet - still!



The battle of Adrianople (Hadrianople - now Edirne, Turkey) in 378, is considered by many to be a turning point for the Roman Empire. The Goths (Tervingi and Greuthungi) and some Alan and Hun allies migrated into the Balkans and never left. The Eastern Emperor, Valens, was killed and the Roman army lost a considerable force. Over the next 30 years, the Tervingi (who apparently became Visigoths) made their way to the Italian peninsula. The Greuthungi (who may have become the Ostrogoths) followed later.

Meanwhile, various tribes Vandals, Alans, Suevi and Alamanni migrated across the Rhine. The Burgundians migrated to Worms (on the Rhine) by 412. All this was apparently a response to the Hunnic invasion from Central Asia.