Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Roman History


January 2007 begins our term study of Roman History. We have several wonderful books scheduled including: Julius Caesar's Military Commentaries, Livy's History of Rome and Seutonius' biographical account of the Twelve Caesars. We also will read through some Latin poetry and begin a short study on the early Church fathers.

Caesar's Military Histories

Our first book will be Julius Caesar's commentaries, considered to be among the finest source of military history from Antiquity. We will read two books, The Gallic Wars and The Civil Wars.

I have created PDF versions are here in case you want to print them off and bind as a book:

History of Rome by Titus Livius

Our second book will be Livy's History of Rome. Livy wrote several volumes which have been translated into 36 books. These are available for free download through Project Gutenberg. For our reading assignment, we will read Roman History, Books 1-3, by Livy (translated by John Henry Freese, Alfred John Church, and William Jackson Brodribb, 1904). I have also included Books 1-10, considered to be best introduction to Roman History, for those who wish to read a more direct version.

  • Roman History, Books 1-3 by Livy (trans. John Henry Freese, Alfred John Church, and William Jackson Brodribb, 1904)
  • History of Rome, Book I by Titus Livius at Project Gutenberg
  • Paperback edition of Early History of Rome: Books I - V of the History of Rome from Its Foundation, translated by Aubrey De Selincourt (Penguin USA, 1991).
  • Paperback edition of The War with Hannibal (book numbers unknown but probably 21-30), translated by Aubrey de Selincourt (Viking Press, 1965).
  • Paperback edition of Rome and Italy: Books VI - X of the History of Rome from Its Foundation, translated by Betty Radice (Penguin USA, 1982, 376 pg).
  • Paperback edition of Rome and the Mediterranean: Books XXXI - XLV of the History of Rome from Its Foundation, translated by Henry Bettenson (Viking Press, 1976, 699 pg).

A PDF version of this book is available here:

  • Roman History trans. by John Henry Freese, Alfred John Church, and William Jackson Brodribb, 1904
  • Livy, Book 1, Everyman's Library, trans. by Rev. Cannon Roberts, 1905
  • Livy, Book 2, Everyman's Library, trans. by Rev. Cannon Roberts, 1905
  • Livy, Book 3, Everyman's Library, trans. by Rev. Cannon Roberts, 1905
  • Livy, Book 4, Everyman's Library, trans. by Rev. Cannon Roberts, 1905
  • Livy, Book 5, Everyman's Library, trans. by Rev. Cannon Roberts, 1905
  • Livy, Book 6, Everyman's Library, trans. by Rev. Cannon Roberts, 1905
  • Livy, Book 7, Everyman's Library, trans. by Rev. Cannon Roberts, 1905
  • Livy, Book 8, Everyman's Library, trans. by Rev. Cannon Roberts, 1905
  • Livy, Book 9, Everyman's Library, trans. by Rev. Cannon Roberts, 1905
  • Livy, Book 10, Everyman's Library, trans. by Rev. Cannon Roberts, 1905

A HTML version of this book is available here:

The Lives of the Twelve Caesars by C. Suetonius Tranquillus

Our third book on Roman History will be Seutonius's biography of the Twelve Casears. This book is available free through Project Gutenberg.

A PDF version of this book is available here:

Or read just separate lives in PDF (each Life is short):

HTML Portions are here:

Stay tuned for more...