Peter Wiseman
Peter Wiseman is a classicist and emeritus professor at the University of Exeter. His 2019 book, The House of Augustus: A Historical Detective Story, tries to overturn conventional wisdom about Caesar Augustus as the first Roman emperor.
Books by Peter Wiseman
The House of Augustus: A Historical Detective Story
by Peter Wiseman
If you always thought that Caesar Augustus was the first Roman emperor, classicist and emeritus professor Peter Wiseman is determined to prove you wrong, using primary sources and archaeological evidence. If you're lucky enough to visit Rome, this is a wonderful book to read and take with you as you wander around the Palatine hill, and make up your own mind.
We also have an interview with Peter on the best books on Augustus (including the primary sources you'll need to read).
Interviews with Peter Wiseman
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1
Catiline’s War, The Jugurthine War, Histories
Sallust (trans. AJ Woodman) -
2
Res Gestae Divi Augusti: Text, Translation, and Commentary
by Alison Cooley (editor) & Augustus -
3
Rome's Cultural Revolution
by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill -
4
The Neighborhoods of Augustan Rome
by J. Bert Lott -
5
Augustan Culture
by Karl Galinsky
The best books on Augustus, recommended by Peter Wiseman
The best books on Augustus, recommended by Peter Wiseman
Is it possible that Augustus was not the first Roman emperor, but the last of Rome’s great populist champions? That’s what classicist Peter Wiseman argues in his book, The House of Augustus: A Historical Detective Story. Drawing on a lifetime of research and writing on this period, the emeritus professor of classics and ancient history gives a brilliant overview of the Augustan age, and recommends what to read to better understand the adopted son of Julius Caesar, who found Rome in brick and left it in marble.
