Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age
by Tom Holland
Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age by British historian Tom Holland is now out in both in the US and the UK. It’s the third book in a trilogy that started with Rubicon, about Julius Caesar and the last years of the Roman Republic, and then went on to Dynasty, covering the rule of the Julio-Claudian family, the emperors we know so well: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. Pax starts with the funeral of Nero’s pregnant wife, covers the years when the Roman Empire was at its largest under Trajan, and ends with Hadrian (whose beautiful villa in Tivoli you can still visit).
Recommendations from our site
“Following Rubicon and Dynasty, we now have Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age. This is the heyday of the Roman Empire from 68 (the year Augustus’s last male descendent, Nero, committed suicide) up to the death of Hadrian in 138. It covers ‘the year of the four emperors’ (Galba, Otho, Vitellius), the Flavian dynasty (Vespasian, Titus, Domitian) and the Antonine emperors (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian). At 360 pages, this is not a book to read if you want to quickly find out what happened. It’s for anyone who really enjoys going up the Rhine with Vitellius and learning about the armies stationed in Upper Germany or reading about local politics in Pompeii in the run-up to the eruption of Vesuvius. Tom Holland knows a phenomenal amount about ancient Rome, and he shares his knowledge generously in the book.” Read more...
Notable Nonfiction of Fall 2023
Sophie Roell, Journalist
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