Tag Archives: Rome

Under the Eagle

Posted on November 10, 2014 by smellincoffee

Under the Eagle© 2000 Simon Scarrow256 pages If given the choice between being attacked by foul-smelling, weirdly-painted Germans, and being attacked by foul-smelling, weirdly-painted Celts, which would you choose? For Centurion Macro, it’s rather obvious: the Germans! At least monitoring … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Master of Rome

Posted on November 8, 2014 by smellincoffee

Master of Rome384 pages© 2011 John Stack     Winning a naval war against the Carthaginians is such a pain in the ol’ gluteus maximus. Invade Africa, threaten their very capital, and what do they do? They break an entire Roman legion … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

A Short History of Byzantium

Posted on November 8, 2014 by smellincoffee

A Short History of Byzantium, John Julius Norwich© 1997 John Julius Norwich431 pages             Rome fell in a.d. 474? Tell that to the Byzantines, who for centuries persisted in being an afterimage of the classical world, … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Who Killed Homer?

Posted on May 29, 2014 by smellincoffee

Who Killed Homer? The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom© 1998 Victor Davis Hanson290 pages For hundreds of years, the study of the classics was at the heart of a liberal education, thought essential to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Captain of Rome

Posted on May 24, 2014 by smellincoffee

Captain of Rome© 2010 John Stack400 pages The Mediterranean is awash in blood as the first Punic War steeps in intensity.  Having risen to the challenge and successfully confronted Carthage on the high seas,  the Republic of Rome  is swaggering … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

dirt

Posted on March 7, 2014 by smellincoffee

dirt: the erosion of civilizations© 2007 Peter R. Montgomery295 pages             Civilizations rise or crumble on the soundness of their dirt, says David Montgomery. The life of a people is tied to the life of its soil, in its ability … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ship of Rome

Posted on January 24, 2014 by smellincoffee

Ship of Rome© 2009 John Stack368 pages             Three hundred years before it became an empire, the Roman Republic started its ascension toward power when it took on the Carthaginian state  for control of first the island of Sicily, and … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Other Side of Western Civilization

Posted on December 15, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Other Side of Western Civilization: Readings in Everyday Life,© 1979 ed. Stanley Chodorow363 pages The Other Side of Western Civilization collects readings in social history ranging from antiquity to the Renaissance. Its subtitle Readings in Everyday Life is largely … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Flushed

Posted on October 27, 2012 by smellincoffee

Flushed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization© 2006 W. Hodding Carter241 pages So, plumbing.  You use it.  Chances are you wouldn’t be alive without it, because civilizations without plumbing tend to be miserable places rife with disease. Despite its importance, not much fuss … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dialogues and Essays

Posted on September 1, 2012 by smellincoffee

Seneca: Dialogues and Essays© 2007 Oxford World’s Classics translated by John Davie263 pages Care to read the thoughts of a man chosen to tutor an emperor? Seneca the Younger lived in the opening century of the Roman Empire, and was such … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments