R. Malcolm Errington

2042 The Dawn of Empire: Rome's Rise to World Power, by R. M. Errington (read 29 Dec 1986) This is a most excellent book. It was published in 1972 and is by a British scholar. It shows how the Roman Empire began. The book begins in 264 B.C., when Rome was pre-eminent in Italy, but had not expanded even to Sicily, and it ends in 146 B.C. when the Third Punic War ended, and Rome was dominant all along the edges of the Mediterranean. This book is carefully done, and really worth reading. It makes the rise of Rome to world domination so much more understandable. 246 B.C. was the beginning of the First Punic War, so it might seem this book is devoted to the Punic Wars, but it covers so much more. (The Third Punic War was not really significant to Rome's rise--far more important was the battle of Pydna, fought on June 22, 168 B.C. I'd never heard of Pydna before--it was an overwhelming Roman victory in Macedonia, which marked the elimination of opposition to Rome in the area of Greece.) All in all, I'm really glad I read this excellent and informative study of a time too much neglected by me.… (meer)