Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History

A short and comprehensive political and military history of ancient Rome, from the origins of the city in the Italian Iron Age, until the deposition of the last emperor in 476 AD. Outlining the Rome’s absorption of the Italian peninsula, Christopher Mackay explains how this conquest provided the Romans with the man power that allowed them to conquer the Mediterranean in a mere half-century. Mackay details how the military responsibilities of empire undermined the political institutions of the Republic and how the Imperial adoption of Christianity as the state religion, as well as the military and economic pressures of the third and fourth centuries, eventually led to the downfall of the western empire through invasion. Illustrated with the relevant art works from Rome’s long history, this volume will serve as a timely and up to date overview of one of the most extraordinary civilizations of human history.

• Accessible to a broad audience • Solid narrative covering the Roman Empire from its origins through late antiquity • Cohesive analytical framework

Part I. Obscure Beginnings, to 264 B.C.: 1. Foundations and kingdoms, to ca. 507 B.C.; 2. Domestic history of the Early Republic, ca. 507 B.C. - ca. 287 B.C.; 3. Conquest of Latium and Italy, ca. 507 B.C. - 264 B.C.; Part II. Conquest of the Mediterranean, 264 B.C. - 146 B.C.: 4. Struggle with Carthage, 264 B.C. - 146 B.C.; 5. Wars in the East, 215 B.C. - 146 B.C.; 6. Conquest of Spain 218 B.C. - 134 B.C.; 7. Effects of the conquests on Rome; Part III. Collapse of the Republic, 133 B.C. - 27 B.C.; 8. Assault on the oligarchy, 133 B.C. - 81 B.C.; 9. Restored oligarchy, 81 B.C. - 59 B.C.; 10. Caeser and the end of republican government, 59 B.C. - 44 B.C.; 11. Conflict of the warlords, 44 B.C. - 27 B.C.; 12. Politics in the Late Republic; Part IV. The Principate, 27 B.C. - A.D. 235: 13. Augustus and establishment of the Principate, 31 B.C. - A.D. 14; 14. Julio-Claudian Dynasty, A.D. 14 - A.D. 68; 15. Civil war and the Flavian Dynasty, A.D. 68 - A.D. 96; 16. Pinnacle of the Principate, A.D. 96 - A.D. 192; 17. Civil war and the Severan Dynasty, A.D. 193 - A.D. 235; 18. Institutions of the Principate; Part V. The Late Empire, A.D. 235 - A.D. 476; 19. Militatry and dynastic crisis, A.D. 235 - A.D. 284; 20. Rise of Christianity; 21. Diocletian and the restoration of imperial authority, A.D. 284 - A.D. 305; 22. Civil war and the triumph of Constantine and Christianity, A.D. 305 - A.D. 337; 23. Heyday of the Christian Empire, A.D. 337 - A.D. 395; 24. Demise of the Empire in the West, A.D. 395 - A.D. 476; Epilogue: Survival and transformation of the Empire in the East after A.D. 476.

\'The work is particularly compelling for the discussion of the Republic and Late Empire … The clear and detailed accounts of all major Roman military campaigns … should assure this volume an enduring place in undergraduate libraries.\'

– Bryn Mawr Classical Review