Hazel Dodge

This is an illustrated military and political chronicle of the world's greatest empire: its leaders and generals, wars and campaigns. It features over 470 photographs, artworks, maps, battle plans and diagrams that bring military campaigns, invasions, conquests, victories and defeats to life. It is a highly accessible popular history of government, warfare, conquest, leadership and power in ancient Rome. The story of ancient Rome is one of the great tales of human history. This richly illustrated book offers a fascinating insight into the rise of Rome, which ruled almost the whole known world from Britain in the west to north Africa and the Middle East. Over 1500 years after Rome's final decline and fall, this examination of the people, places and events of this military and political empire will absorb any reader. Magnificent photographs, specially commissioned illustrations, family trees, maps, battle plans and timecharts build up a panoramic picture of the political strength of the Roman empire and its policy of ruthless military conquest.

Gladiatorial combat, animal displays, naumachiae (staged naval battles) and spectacular executions were all an important part of Roman culture. The provision of a wide range of purpose-built buildings (from theatres to amphitheatres to circuses) as venues across the empire is testimony to the popularity and significance of these displays. This book offers an introduction to the main forms of spectacle in the Roman world (human and animal combat, chariot racing, aquatic displays), their nature, context and social importance. It will explore the vast array of sources, from literary to archaeological material, that informs the subject. It will examine the spectacles with special emphasis on their physical setting, and will also consider the variation in the provision of venues and their context across the Empire. A final section will review the modern reception of Roman spectacles, especially those involving gladiators.