Appian of Alexandria lived in the early-to-mid second century AD, a time when the pax Romana flourished. His Roman History traced, through a series of ethnographic histories, the growth of Roman power throughout Italy and the Mediterranean World. But Appian also told the story of the civil wars which beset Rome from the time of Tiberius Gracchus to the death of Sextus Pompeius Magnus. The standing of his work in modern times is paradoxical. Consigned to the third rank by nineteenth-century historiographers, and poorly served by translators, Appian's Roman History profoundly shapes our knowledge of Republican Rome, its empire and its internal politics. We need to know him better. This book studies both what Appian had to say and how he said it; and engages in a dialogue about the value of Appian's text as a source of history, the relationship between that history and his own times, and the impact on his narrative of the author's own opinions - most notably that Rome enjoyed divinely-ordained good fortune. Some authors demonstrate that Appian's text (and even his mistakes) can yield significant new information; others re-open the question of Appian's use of source material in the light of recent studies showing him to be far more than a transmitter of other people's work.

This book studies both what Appian had to say and how he said it; and engages in a dialogue about the value of Appian's text as a source of history, the relationship between that history and his own times, and the impact on his narrative of the author's own opinions.

About the Author
Kathryn Welch is an honorary Associate Professor in Ancient History at the University of Sydney. For the Classical Press of Wales she has co-edited two previous works with Anton Powell, Julius Caesar as Artful Reporter (1998) and Sextus Pompeius (2002), as well as Roman Crossings with T. W. Hillard. She has also published numerous articles on late Republican and Triumviral history.

Reviews
No serious reader of Appian, and in fact no serious student of the Roman republic, will be in a position to overlook this volume. * Classics for All *



Book Information
ISBN 9781910589007
Author Kathryn Welch
Format Hardback
Page Count 330
Imprint Classical Press of Wales
Publisher Classical Press of Wales
Weight(grams) 858g