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Herodian: History of the Empire, Volume I, Books 1-4 (Loeb Classical Library No. 454)x$19.19
 (1 reviews)
Best Price: $24.00 $19.19
The History of Herodian (born ca. 178–179 CE) covers a period of the Roman empire from the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (180 CE) to the accession of Gordian III (238), half a century of turbulence, in which we can see the onset of the revolution which, in the words of Gibbon, "will ever be remembered, and is still felt by the nations of the earth." In these years, a succession of frontier crises and a disastrous lack of economic planning established a pattern of military coups and increasing cultural pluralism. Of this revolutionary epoch we know all too little. The selection of chance has destroyed all but a handful of the literary sources that deal with the immediate post- Antonine scene. Herodian's work is one of the few that have survived, and it has come down to us completely intact. Of the author we know virtually nothing, except that he served in some official capacity in the empire of which he wrote. His History was apparently produced for the benefit of people in the Greek-speaking half of the Roman empire. It betrays the faults of an age when truth was distorted by rhetoric and stereotypes were a substitute for sound reason. But it is an essential document for any who would try to understand the nature of the Roman empire in an era of rapidly changing social and political institutions. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Herodian is in two volumes.
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Customer Reviews
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Totally sweet primary source for later Roman history!!
By A2C8L0B7FCF4JC on 2008-05-14
This book was sweet primary source action for all y'all who want to learn about the history of the Roman Empire in the late 2nd(the 100s) and early 3rd centuries(the 200s) CE(aka AD) from someone who was there. I don't know enough Greek to tell you if the translation is good, but for those of you who know ancient Greek, check the translation yourself, these Loeb classical library books always have the original work on the left page, and the English translation on the right page(that's what makes the Loeb classical library sweet, sweet ancient history action). Not only does this book contain the original ancient Greek, and an English translation of said Greek, but it also contains an intro that talks about what we know about Herodian's life and methods, giving the work the important aspect of historical context. As for readability, I found this work very readable, though admittedly the intro is more scholarly in nature and so will be more appreciated with those with a history or classics background. Herodian's work itself is fairly easy to read with a number of exciting happenings going on therein, though perhaps those who know a little about this period of history already will appreciate it more. Yes, I would say this book is sweet ancient primary source action. Oh and BTW it should be noted that Herodian's original work contained 8 books, which the Loeb classical library puts into two books, Herodian Books I-IV and Herodian Books V-VIII.
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