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Adrian Keith Goldsworthy

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Pax Romana: War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman World Kindle Edition

by Adrian Keith Goldsworthy (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 930 ratings

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The leading ancient world historian and author of Caesar presents “an engrossing account of how the Roman Empire grew and operated” (Kirkus).

Renowned for his biographies of Julius Caesar and Augustus, Adrian Goldsworthy turns his attention to the Roman Empire as a whole during its height in the first and second centuries AD. Though this time is known as the Roman Peace, or Pax Romana, the Romans were fierce imperialists who took by force vast lands stretching from the Euphrates to the Atlantic coast. The Romans ruthlessly won peace not through coexistence but through dominance; millions died and were enslaved during the creation of their empire.

Pax Romana examines how the Romans came to control so much of the world and asks whether traditionally favorable images of the Roman peace are true. Goldsworthy vividly recounts the rebellions of the conquered, examining why they broke out, why most failed, and how they became exceedingly rare. He reveals that hostility was just one reaction to the arrival of Rome and that from the outset, conquered peoples collaborated, formed alliances, and joined invaders, causing resistance movements to fade away.

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Pax Romana is a fascinating work that manages to avoid becoming dry despite its detail. Readers interested in Roman history will find it remarkable.-- "Shelf Awareness"

From the Author

Why this book?

Peace is always a rare and precious thing and this makes the “Roman Peace” all the more remarkable, and I wanted to understand how it came about. I wanted also to understand what the Roman Empire meant to the people who lived in it. What was it like for the other peoples in the ancient world who found themselves living next to the Roman Empire, or were incorporated into it, whether by force or choice? It is simplistic to demonize empires—just as it once was to celebrate them uncritically—and there is a danger of turning conquered peoples into passive and virtuous victims of imperialist aggression. The truth is more complicated, and looking at Roman power from the viewpoint of Romans and outsiders provides many relevant insights to our own world.

But wasn’t "Pax Romana" the peace imposed by the victors, whose conceit was that they were bringing civilization to barbarians?

The Romans fought a lot of wars, and never granted other peoples equal status. Other kingdoms and states were either allies or real or potential enemies. Peace made Rome and its allies safe. Only once they were well on their way to establishing a large and permanent empire did the Romans begin to talk of a duty to bring peace, order, and the rule of law to a wider world. This was not achieved solely or even primarily by force. People wanted to be Roman. Peace became a reality, even if imperfect.

Praise for Caesar:

"This book makes and insightfully explains the leap from Caesar the soldier and general to Caesar the statesman and nation builder. It's better than any book I've ever read on him, and more incisive."—Wall Street Journal

"An authoritative and exciting portrait not only of Caesar but of the complex society in which he lived."—Steven Coates, New York Times Book Review

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01L7SSED8
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press (September 6, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 6, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 25506 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 545 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #271,795 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #43 in History eBooks of Spain & Portugal
- #204 in Ancient Roman History (Kindle Store)
- #359 in History of Individual Wars

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4.4 930 ratings

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Adrian Keith Goldsworthy

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Adrian Goldsworthy has a doctorate from Oxford University. His first book, THE ROMAN ARMY AT WAR was recognised by John Keegan as an exceptionally impressive work, original in treatment and impressive in style. He has gone on to write several other books, including THE FALL OF THE WEST, CAESAR, IN THE NAME OF ROME, CANNAE and ROMAN WARFARE, which have sold more than a quarter of a million copies and been translated into more than a dozen languages. A full-time author, he regularly contributes to TV documentaries on Roman themes.

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Steven Peterson

Pax Romana and its dynamics

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2016

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The book concludes with a few reflections on the "pax Romana," Roman peace as it existed over centuries. The author, Goldsworthy, says that "it took the domination of an empire like Rome to establish peace over such a wide area." He follows up: ". . .this was a remarkable acdhievement and one deserving admiration, whether or not it balances distaste for the savagery of Roman conquest."

Goldsworthy has written other magisterial works. I have read two of those--biographies of Julius Caesar and Augustus. The works are exemplary and give us much detail and reflections on the outcomes of rule by both. This, too, is not just a rendering of what happened and when. There is that, but more as well. Goldsworthy steps back from time to time and reflects on the Pax Romana.

Some of the more interesting findings:

a. The Empire would leave a fair amount of administration of a newly conquered area to local rulers--if they were willing to submit to Rome and perform in accordance with the Empire's dictates and interest. It is interesting to see how many conquered peoples were willing to accept this state of affairs.

b. The Empire cut also decide to "cut and run" if the cost-benefit calculus was not attractive. For instance, withdrawing from some Germanic lands, because of the difficulty of subduing these people.

c. A willingness to be savage of an opponent resisted and the Romans had the strength to overcome them.

d. Many of the subject nations were willing to work within the Roman parameters, because they received benefits, such a better communication and economic health.

e. The surprsingly thin administrative resources of Rome. Governors were sent from Rome to exercise authority in the varios parts of the Empire. But they did not have much Roman bureaucratic infrastructure.

Goldsworthy can also assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Pax Romana. All in all, a really fine work. If you want to understand the nature of Pax Romana, this is a very fine resource.

44 people found this helpful

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zel22

Very repetitive, but good info

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2021

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This is a fascinating bit of history and generally well written, but the author chose to organize the material by topic rather than chronologically. This results in numerous repetitions of the same or similar narrative that does not add to the understanding of the events. I believe that if it were written chronologically, it would have produced a much better story with plenty of additional room to elaborate on the events. On the whole, I enjoyed it.

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2024

Wonderful read.

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2024

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Good book. I wish there were more breaks / synopsis in the sections. Some sections were very long and you forgot the point that was being presented by the time you reached the end.

However, inwant an overalll view of the Roman ways over the centuries and i came away satisfied. I may skim read this again to solidify some of the information in my head better.

One person found this helpful

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kahemingway

A Summary and Defense of Rome

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2017

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The Roman period of history is one of those subjects where there are so many books written on the subject that it can be a bit difficult to figure out where to start. After seeing this book recommended in a military magazine, I decided that I would try this book. Having merely glossed over the subject of Rome in history class, I had always wanted to know more about this predecessor to modern Western civilization.

The book starts off with an introduction by the author explaining that modern historians often focus only on the colonial aspect of Rome and tend to paint Rome as nothing more than a brutal, horrific oppressor of its citizens. This is done with limited evidence and large amount of the book is spent on debunking these assertions with examples and documentation. The story of Rome itself is divided into two sections; one for the Republic and the other for the Empire. Since this is more of a summary, the reader is given the events and people of the time without being bogged down too much with the details. After the timeline is established at the beginning of each section, the author uses subsequent chapters to flesh out the various duties of the Romans, along with fleshing out the ethnic groups and their life under Roman Rule. This provides the reader with a bigger picture of what the Roman Republic and Empire were like for those who lived during that period of time.

I enjoyed reading this book quite a bit and the narrative is easy to follow. Learning about the lives of the Romans and how they remained the dominant power in the area for about five hundred years is fascinating. It also provides some lessons that can be applied to our own time. The only drawback of this book is that a lot of time is spent debunking the modern historical narrative that has developed around Rome. At first, I was appreciative of this effort, and I understand why it has to be addressed. However, it did get a bit tiresome by the end of the book to have to be pulled back into modernity to address one more fallacious argument driven by the narrative. That the author felt the need to do this is a sign of the times we live in, I suppose.

Overall, though it's a very good summary of Roman times that provides the reader with plenty of sources about the subject matter. If you'd like to get started on learning about Rome, then this is a good place to begin.

36 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Dull

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2022

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Too mired in the details with only brief discussion of the Roman leaders, their lifestyles and the lifestyles of every day Romans and their subjects. I glazed over at the detail of armor swords and other implements.

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Cliente de Amazon

Excelente libro y altamente recomendable para todos los amantes de la historia romana

Reviewed in Mexico on May 2, 2017

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Muy bien escrito y muy bien explicado en todos los sentidos históricos de la roma republica y porteriormente el imperio.

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pierrot

Les bienfaits de la paix.

Reviewed in France on November 12, 2018

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Rome conquérante, Rome prédatrice, Rome destructrice... Et pourtant, finalement, Rome instauratrice de la paix universelle. C'est cet aspect de Rome que nous présente A. Goldsworthy dans un essai lumineux. Bravo!

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Dwight Hoyes

Excellent - Well worth the time.

Reviewed in Canada on January 20, 2017

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This is an outstanding book. Not only is it well written but is also very approachable. Mr Goldsworthy takes on the ambitious task of covering Roman history from the early days to the collapse. It seems initially that he will cover most of the ground that many others have covered, some of them very well (see Mary Beard's excellent SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome) which he does but then veers off to cover areas not usually written about such as the economy and policies of Rome and their conquered territories, structure of the Legions and the auxiliaries who fought for them. He argues that while the hand of Rome could be heavy and at times very brutal it was no better or worse than any other extant power and was to the advantage of these territories because they accrued very real advantages for themselves. To prove this point he covers a number of conquered places that became provinces to show that the Roman Peace was real.
Even if you have read a lot about Rome (the Republic and Imperial) you'll find something (if not a number) discussions in this book that are new or only given cursory coverage in other books.

7 people found this helpful

StarSoldier

Pax Romana

Reviewed in Italy on January 8, 2017

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Libro interessante che affronta il tema della Pax Romana e che anzi si chiede se sia realmente esistita. Sfata tantissimi cliché Hollywoodiani che non fanno altro che mostrare l'impero romano come solamente sanguinario e guidato da despoti o folli.
Un libro questo che con equilibrio e obiettività ci ricorda che calarsi nell'epoca che si tenta di comprendere aiuta a non saltare a conclusioni frettolose e macchiate dal politically correct per fare improbabili paragoni dell'impero romano con l'era contemporanea.

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Kindle Customer

excellent

Reviewed in Australia on October 2, 2018

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another great book by mr goldsworthy. judicious examination of the effects of roman rule and the improvement in most people’s lives of the pax romana.

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