My Ancient history book purchases

Cool! Will gave to read up on the Siege of Malta... I have a few Malta coins, but I think they are a little later...

I have a few Malta Order of Knights that are related to Knights Templar (descendants, etc.)

No expert here, just have them for the cool History...


Malta Order of Knights of St John 1786 AE 10 Grani - Turino mint


Malta Order of Knights of St John 1780 AE 1 Grani - Turino mint


Malta Order of Knights of St John 1780 AE 5 Grani - Malta mint

 

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Fascinating to share views of historical books about, and sometimes from, the ancients. And even fiction books, written imaginatively but related to actual events, seem to deserve their place. In my mind, Coin collecting and Numismatics go hand in hand with History. And (I hope my spelling is correct !) Voulgaroktonou, your comprehensive Library, it would be nice to know more about. Which town, and which country, please, if you don't mind ? Such information would serve to expand our knowledge, I believe, in relation to our historical and hobby interests.

 

I enjoyed the historical fiction, The Shadow of God, by Anthony A. Goodman, about the siege of Malta in 1522 by Suleiman the Magnificent. Malta was defended by the Knights of St. John. The blurb claims it is a "true story" and I think that is the case as far as the major historical characters are concerned, but there are characters we care about who are fictional, of course.

I don't have any relevant coins to show.

 

Just finishing up a decent book:

Persian Fire
The First World Empire and the Battle for the West
by Tom Holland, c2005

Good history book taking more of an Achaemenid Persian perspective in the invasion of Greece.

I realized that my Daric was minted during this timespan, and could have helped finance it....



PERSIA
Achaemenid Daris I-Xerxes II 485-420 BCE
AV Daric 14mm 8.3g
Lydo-Milesian Sardes
king wearing kidaris kandys quiver spear bow Incuse Carr Type IIIb Group A-B pl XIII 27

 

Research is for losers....I don't have a single book on ancient history and not a single book or catalog of ancient coins, and no DVDs of shows either...



Uhm, I don't know how that got there. But I most definitely don't have any Kindle history books or historical fiction novels...nope, none at all! Definitely not around 30 history books and 40 historical fiction books.... nope!

 

If you really have no history books and no access to any, surely, to boast about historical ignorance deserves no medals !!! With respect, I hope that kind of attitude to history is in the minority here !!! Who, Sallent, do you think is the loser ???

 

I'm going to send you a free book on interpreting and appreciating sarcastic humor...you'll thank me for it.

 

I will second that.

Here is another coin from the Persian Invasion of Greece:


Persia Achaemenid Type III spear over shoulder Darius I to Xerxes II Ca 485-420 BCE AR Siglos Bankers Marks Incuse rev

 

To Sallent & his gang. I've re-read my own words, as well as other ideas. Not a single word, however little effect it may have, is superfluous in my communication. Although Sallent, I'm quite sure, considers himself a winner - certainly not a loser !!!

 

Here are a few books as a Flavian collector I've acquired and found very useful over the years. Admittedly, I'm a fussy traditionalist, none are digital versions save for one.

Primary Sources

Suetonius: The Flavian Emperors - Historical commentary and Translation by Brian Jones and Robert Milns
Tacitus The Histories - Translated by Kenneth Wellesley
Tacitus Agricola and Germany - Translated by A. R. Birley
Tacitus Agricola - Commentary by R. M. Ogilvie and I. A. Richmond
Pliny Natural History - Translated by H. Rackham (Loeb)
Juvenal The Sixteen satires - Translated by Peter Green
Martial Epigrams - Translated by D. R. Shackleton Bailey (Loeb)
Josephus The Jewish War - Translated by H. St. J. Thackeray (Loeb)

The Emperors

The Year of the Four Emperors - Kenneth Wellesley
Vespasian - Barbara Levick
Vespasian and the Partes Flavianae - John Nicols
The Emperor Titus - Brian Jones
The Emperor Domitian - Brian Jones
Domitian: Tragic Tyrant - Pat Southern
From Tiberius to the Antonines - Albino Garzetti

The Jewish War and Flavius Josephus

A History of The Jewish War - Steve Mason
The Jews Against Rome - Susan Sorek
The Jewish Revolt Against Rome - Popovic (Ed.)
Apocalypse: The Great Jewish Revolt Against Rome 66-73 - Neil Faulkner
Jerusalem Under Siege - Jonathan J. Price
The Roman Siege of Jerusalem - Rupert Furneaux
Masada - Yigael Yadin
Rome and Jerusalem - Martin Goodman
Flavius Josephus and Flavian Rome - Edited by Edmondson, Mason, & Rives
Josephus in Galilee and Rome - Shaye J. D. Cohen
Josephus - Tessa Rajak
Flavius Josephus Between Jerusalem and Rome - Per Bilde
Josephus: The man and the Historian - H. St. J. Thackeray
Jerusalem's Traitor - Desmond Seward
Flavius Josephus - Mireille Hadas-Lebel
A Jew Among Romans - Frederic Raphael

Agricola

Agricola and the Conquest of the North - W. S. Hanson
Agricola and Roman Britain - A. R. Burn
A Battle Lost: Romans and Caledonians at Mons Graupius - Gordon Maxwell
The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD 84 - James E. Fraser
Mons Graupius AD 83 - Duncan Campbell
Roman Scotland - David Breeze
The Romans in Scotland - Gordon Maxwell
Rome's First Frontier: The Flavian Occupation of Northern Scotland - D.J. Woolliscroft and B. Hoffmann

Pompeii and Herculaneum

The Natural History of Pompeii - Jashemski and Meyer
Herculaneum - Andrew Wallace-Hadrill
Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum - Andrew Wallace-Hadrill
The Complete Pompeii - Joanne Berry
Pompeii - L. Richardson, Jr.
Pompeii - Zanker
The Fires of Vesuvius - Mary Beard
Vesuvius AD 79 - E. De Carolis and G. Patricelli
Romans on the Bay of Naples - John H. D' Arms
Ghosts of Vesuvius - Charles Pellegrino
Herculaneum: Italy's Buried Treasure - Joseph Jay Deiss
Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum - Paul Roberts
Roman Pompeii: Space and Society - Ray Laurence
The World of Pompeii - Edited by John J. Dobbins and Pedar W. Foss
Pompeii: A Source book - Alison E. Cooley and M. G. L. Cooley

The Colosseum

The Colosseum - Ada Gabucci, Editor
The Colosseum - K. Hopkins and M. Beard
Arena: The Story of the Colosseum - John Pearson
Colosseum - Peter Connolly

The Coinage

The Roman Imperial Coinage II Part 1 - Carradice and Buttrey
Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum II - Mattingly
Coinage and Finances in the Reign of Domitian - Ian Carradice
Roman Silver Coins II - Seaby
Roman Provincial Coinage II - Burnett, Amandry, Carradice
The Metallurgy of Roman silver Coinage: From the Reform of Nero to the Reform of Trajan - Butcher and Ponting

General works

Emperors and architecture: A Study of Flavian Rome - R. H. Darwall-smith
Flavian Rome - A. J. Boyle and W. J. Dominik *
The Oxford Classical Dictionary - Hornblower and Spawforth
The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World - Talbert
A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome - L. Richardson
A Dictionary of Roman Coins - John Melville Jones
Roman Passions - Ray Laurence
Popular Culture in Ancient Rome - Jerry Toner

* PDF

 

And here is my rather short Flavian era historical fiction list.

The Antagonists - Ernest K. Gann (Masada)
The Triumph - Ernest K. Gann (Flavius Silva)
Pompeii - Robert Harris
Nero's Heirs - Allan Massie (Year of the Four Emperors)
Domitia and Domitian - David Corson
The Light Bearer - Donna Gillespie (Domitian's Chattian War)
Josephus - Leon Feuchtwanger
The Jew of Rome - Leon Feuchtwanger
The Tenth Measure - Brenda L. Segal (The Jewish War)
The Centurions - Damion Hunter (Reign of Vespasian)
Barbarian Princess - Damion Hunter (Flavian Britain)

YA Books
The Roman Mysteries Books I - XVII - Caroline Lawrence (Reign of Titus)
The Roman Quests Books I - IIII - Caroline Lawrence (Last years of Domitian)
Locadio's Apprentice - Chelsea Quinn Yarbo (Mount Vesuvius eruption)
Masada - Gloria D. Miklowitz

I have many others, but unfortunately the Flavian era attracts some rather awful Christian apologetic fiction, so I have not included them!

 

@David Atherton -

How does Suetonius: The Flavian Emperors compare to what he wrote of them in his The Twelve Caesars? Does he get much more in-depth?

 

It's the same text found in Suetonius, but concentrated on just the Flavians with in-depth footnotes by the Flavian historian Brian W. Jones.

 

Okay, thank you.

 

David, have you read any of Robert Fabbri's Vespasian series of historical fiction? I did read his first and it did keep my interest. I was planning to read the second and got side-tracked.
I was able to get a copy of Ada Gabucci's The Colosseum last year, and I think it is the premier book on everything you ever wanted to know about the subject.
Thank you so much for the entire , impressive list.

 

They have been recommended to me before, I just haven't gotten around to them yet.

And saying that, I'm currently reading Mary Beard's Pompeii for the third time!

 

I have and am waiting (impatiently) for the last book in the series. I too recommend this series.

 

How far into Vespasian's career does the series go?

 

All the way from a young "country bumkin" through to Emperor. Well written and well worth the read.

 

OK, many thanks!