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Pat Southern

Auteur van Augustus

27+ Werken 663 Leden 8 Besprekingen Favoriet van 1 leden

Over de Auteur

Pat Southern is a community learning librarian currently working for Trafford Library Service in Cheshire, England
Fotografie: via parachute.ca

Werken van Pat Southern

Augustus (1998) 103 exemplaren
The Roman Cavalry (1992) — Auteur — 72 exemplaren
The Late Roman Army (1996) 56 exemplaren
Cleopatra (2007) 28 exemplaren
Caesar (2001) 26 exemplaren
Mark Antony: A Life (2001) 21 exemplaren
Domitian: Tragic Tyrant (1997) 18 exemplaren
Pompey the Great (2002) 17 exemplaren

Gerelateerde werken

A Companion to Roman Britain (2003) — Medewerker — 30 exemplaren

Tagged

Algemene kennis

Officiële naam
Southern, Patricia
Geboortedatum
1948
Geslacht
female
Land (voor op de kaart)
United Kingdom
Geboorteplaats
Atrincham
Beroepen
Althistorikerin

Leden

Besprekingen

This work covers one of the more obscure periods of Roman history. After briefly setting the stage, the work discusses the chaotic second and early third century. The Second Century Crisis demonstrates the diverse set of challenges the Empire was facing while at the same time offering signs of its adaptability and resilience. Southern does not ignore the political chaos and the weakness of the Empire during this period of high turnover, but is also careful to note that many of the actions and the reforms attributed to Aurelian or Diocletian had precedents in earlier actions of less admired rulers. Rehabilitating the reputation of Gallienus or Probus shows that much of their lack of recognition arises from the inconclusiveness of their reign, generally from an early death. While the second century marked a period of acute crisis, as the effect of plague and economic instability combined with constant pressures along the Northern and Eastern borders, the resiliency of Roman institutions if witnessed by their pattern being imitated in the breakaway and many of the barbarian tribes. One unique feature of the work is the inclusion of a brief examination of the history of the Eastern and Northern foes of the Empire.… (meer)
½
 
Gemarkeerd
opeongo5 | Dec 16, 2023 |
This is an academic study and covered quite a lot of ground. Items common to all Roman soldiers, like recruitment, basic training, pay, retirements and other aspects are covered. Also covered in great detail are items pertaining to cavalry, such as deployment, weapons, organizations and again many other aspects. Additionally there is quite a lot about the types of horses, how they were fed, housed, trained, exercised and even how they were disposed of after death. There are quite a lot of conclusions which are based on sketchy sources or on comparative data gathered from more modern cavalry practices and the authors are very upfront with identifying what is provable, what is conjecture and what is purely speculatively. Highly recommended.… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
jztemple | 2 andere besprekingen | Dec 19, 2019 |
Brilliantly researched - but rather dry, September 26, 2014

This review is from: Empress Zenobia: Palmyra's Rebel Queen (Kindle Edition)
Difficult to review as it depends on your requirements: for the serious student of Ancient Rome, this is a *5 work, meticulously researched and with a large bibliography. However, I would take issue with the cover blurb that calls it a 'lively account' and an 'engaging read'. As a casual reader, I found it quite a struggle to keep my concentration focussed.
Very little is known about Zenobia, and the author has to work with Roman writings (some contradictory, some of dubious veracity) and archaeological finds. Thus much is necessarily supposition, and we can never 'know' Zenobia, or definitively what her motivations were, for taking over large parts of Roman territory in 270 AD.
Nonetheless I've learned a great deal - but was glad to come to the end!
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
starbox | Sep 26, 2014 |
This is a sober overview of the Roman army insofar as it can be reconstructed. Southern is skeptical that the story of the army can be known in all respects but she outlines what can be realized. The difficulty is to understand from the limited knowledge we do have and to apply the known across the board to the disparate examples of the army under both the Republic and to the Empire and to all situations and conditions across the span of Roman history. It is an Herculean task. The volume spans a thousand years and Southern attempts to cover the Roman army's history, culture, and organization. She provides what can be discovered about military music, holidays, strategy, the construction of Roman fortresses and forts, the most common battle formations, and the many tools of war, from spears, bows and arrows, swords, and slingshots, to the large catapulta (which fired giant arrows and bolts) and the ballista (which hurled huge stones).

Oddly enough, the work is poorly illustrated, depicted and unexplained is why she chooses mostly Renaissance pictures and sources the Library of Congress. It would have been natural, given her expertise in archeology, to depict recent research and illustrations from the fascinating and rich historical and archaeological record to portray the soldier's experience in the army.

Roth's Roman Warfare is the better of the two similar volumes between the two.

Hyginus Gromaticus, De munitionibus castrorum, http://www.intratext.com/X/LAT0347.htm; Flavius Vegetius Renatus, Epitoma rei militaris; and the Emperor Maurice, Strategikon, http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/13410.html, remain the only three basic texts of strategy and tactics arising from ancient Roman military practice (pp. 28-31).
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
gmicksmith | Nov 29, 2009 |

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Statistieken

Werken
27
Ook door
1
Leden
663
Populariteit
#38,038
Waardering
½ 3.7
Besprekingen
8
ISBNs
94
Talen
3
Favoriet
1

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