Support Us
 
Search
MENUMENU
  • Nonfiction
        • Art
          • Architecture
          • Art History
          • Design & Illustration
          • Fashion & Style
          • Modern and Contemporary Art
          • Photography
        • Business
          • How to Invest
          • Leadership
          • Marketing
        • Economics
          • Behavioural Economics
          • Development Economics
          • Economic History
          • Finance
          • Financial Crisis
          • Globalisation & Inequality
          • World Economies
        • Environment
          • Climate Change
          • Environmental Ethics
        • Food & Cooking
          • The Best Cookbooks
          • Food & History of Food
          • Wine & Drinks
        • Health & Lifestyle
          • Death & Dying
          • Education
          • Family & Relationships
          • Happiness
          • Sex & Sexuality
        • History
          • Ancient History (up to 500)
          • History by Country
          • Historical Figures
          • Military History
          • Medieval History (500-1400)
          • Modern History (1800-1945)
        • Language
          • Grammar & Punctuation
          • Learning Languages
          • Linguistics
        • Law
        • Literary Nonfiction
          • Biography
          • Essays
          • Memoir
          • Artists' Biographies
          • Travel
          • True Crime
        • Music & Drama
          • Classical Music & Opera
          • Film & Cinema
          • Music
          • Theatre
        • Nature
          • Dinosaurs & the Prehistoric World
          • The Earth
          • Plants, Trees & Flowers
        • Philosophy
          • Ancient Philosophy
          • Ethics & Moral Philosophy
          • Great Philosophers
          • Social & Political Philosophy
        • Politics & Society
          • Conflict & War
          • Feminism
          • Foreign Policy & International Relations
          • Human Rights
          • Terrorism
        • Psychology
          • Mental Health
          • Neuroscience
          • Psychoanalysis
          • Psychology Research
          • Self Help
        • Religion
          • Best Atheist Books
          • Buddhism
          • Christian
          • Islamic
          • Jewish
          • Religious History
        • Science
          • Astronomy
          • Biology
          • Geoscience
          • Maths & Statistics
          • Moon Landing
          • Popular Science
          • Physics
        • Sports, Games & Hobbies
          • Football (Soccer)
          • Gardening
          • Hobbies
          • Sport & Sporting Culture
        • Technology
          • Artificial Intelligence
          • Computing
          • Digital Age
          • History of Technology
          • Internet
  • Fiction & Literature
        • Classic English Literature
        • Contemporary Fiction
          • NEW Fiction
        • Literary Criticism
        • Literary Figures
        • Classical Studies
        • Romance
        • Comics & Graphic Novels
        • Fairy Tales & Mythology
        • Crime Novels
        • Mystery
        • Historical Fiction
        • Horror
        • Humour
        • Memoir
        • Poetry
        • Science Fiction
        • Short Stories
        • Thrillers
        • Fantasy
  • World
        • Africa
          • Egypt
          • Ghana
          • Nigeria
          • Rwanda
          • South Africa
          • Zimbabwe
        • Americas
          • Latin America
            • Argentina
            • Brazil
            • Chile
            • Cuba
            • Mexico
          • United States
          • Canada
        • Arctic & Antarctica
        • Asia
          • Afghanistan
          • Burma
          • China
          • India
          • Japan
          • Korea
          • Pakistan
          • Bangladesh
          • Sri Lanka
          • Singapore
          • Vietnam
        • Australia
        • Europe
          • Belgium
          • Britain
          • France
          • Germany
          • Greece
          • Ireland
          • Italy
          • Netherlands
          • Norway
        • Middle East
          • Iran
          • Iraq
          • Israel
          • Syria
          • Turkey
          • Yemen
        • Russia & FSU
          • Azerbaijan
          • Georgia
          • Russia
          • Ukraine
  • Kids
        • Search by Age
          • Ages 3-5
          • Ages 6-8
          • Ages 9-12
          • Young Adult
        • Search by Topic
          • Science Books for Kids
          • Politics and Philosophy
          • Economics Books for Kids (Fiction)
          • History
          • Nature and Environment
          • Happiness & Mental Health
          • Family & Pets
        • Best New Children's Books
        • High School Teachers Recommend Books by Subject
        • Novels & Novelists
        • By Kids for Kids
  • Best Books of 2020
        • Politics
        • Biography
        • Memoirs and Autobiography
        • Cookbooks
        • Business
        • Philosophy
        • Fiction
          • Crime Fiction
          • Science Fiction
          • Historical Fiction
          • Romance
          • Mysteries
          • Thrillers
        • Nonfiction
        • Art
        • Economics
        • History
        • Science
        • Self Help
        • Audiobooks
        • Poetry
        • Kids Books
        • Kids Science
  • New Books
        • All new books
        • History
        • Philosophy
        • Science
        • Mathematics
        • Physics
        • Fiction
        • Biographies
        • Economics
        • Paperbacks
        • New Editions (of old books)
        • Our in-house reviews (nonfiction)
        • Our in-house reviews (fiction)
        • Gifts for Book Lovers
  • Audiobooks
    • Actors Read Great Books
    • Best Audiobooks for Kids
    • Books Narrated by Their Authors
    • Best Audiobook Thrillers
    • Best History Audiobooks
  • Book Awards
    • Booker Prize
    • Baillie Gifford Prize
    • Royal Society
    • Wolfson Prize
    • Walter Scott Prize
    • Arthur C Clarke Prize
    • Audie Awards
    • Nobel Prize
  • Experts

History » New Books

The House of Augustus: A Historical Detective Story by Peter Wiseman
Buy now

The House of Augustus: A Historical Detective Story

by Peter Wiseman

“The title refers to the archaeological argument, that the excavated site on the Palatine hill in Rome presented to tourists as ‘The House of Augustus’ is nothing of the sort; on the contrary, the evidence suggests that it was one of the grand aristocratic houses that the future Augustus bought up and demolished in 38 BC in order to create a spacious public area centred on a magnificent new temple of Apollo.”

Our interview with classicist and emeritus professor Peter Wiseman is a wonderful argument against the conventional view of Augustus as the first Roman emperor. Read it and make up your own mind.

The book, according to the author

My book consists of two interrelated arguments, one historical, the other archaeological.   Both are highly contentious, because people resist having to re-think from scratch what they have always been brought up to believe.

The title refers to the archaeological argument, that the excavated site on the Palatine hill in Rome presented to tourists as ‘The House of Augustus’ is nothing of the sort; on the contrary, the evidence suggests that it was one of the grand aristocratic houses that the future Augustus bought up and demolished in 38 BC in order to create a spacious public area centred on a magnificent new temple of Apollo.   This goes right against the current consensus of archaeological thinking, both in Italy and elsewhere; I try to show how and why the excavators got it wrong.

Chapter 1 sets out the historical argument, that Augustus was never an ‘emperor’, and didn’t live in a palace; on the contrary, the evidence suggests that he was a popular leader who opposed, and defeated in war, the dominant oligarchy that had corrupted the Roman republic and murdered his adoptive father Julius Caesar.   This goes right against what practically everyone has been taught about Roman history, namely that the republic came to an end with the civil wars of 49-30 BC and was followed by the rule of emperors, Augustus being the first; I try to show that that scenario is quite inconsistent with what the contemporary sources say.

As you see from that summary, everything depends on evidence, and the inferences we moderns make from it. That’s why I call the book ‘a historical detective story’, and why my procedure throughout is to present the reader with primary source-material and do my best to show what it ought to mean.   It’s also why I’ve chosen five books that bring the reader face to face with contemporary evidence, both textual and material.

Our most recommended books

  • Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs
    by Camilla Townsend

  • Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces
    by Laura Tunbridge

  • The Jews and the Reformation
    by Kenneth Austin

  • Ovid: A Very Short Introduction
    by Llewelyn Morgan

  • The Fortress: The Great Siege of Przemysl
    by Alexander Watson

  • Poet of Revolution: the Making of John Milton
    by Nicholas McDowell

Support Five Books

Five Books interviews are expensive to produce, please support us by donating a small amount.

About

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

Five Books participates in the Amazon Associate program and earns money from qualifying purchases.

Newsletter Contact us Privacy Policy Terms of Service

© Five Books 2021