Europa Barbarorum Bibliography

[abou]

Well I'm about half way through Adrian Goldsworthy's The Men Who Won the Roman Empire, and I highly recommend it. I also enjoyed his Punic Wars (I think that's the name), which covers all 3 of the wars.

I very much enjoy reading what Goldsworthy has written and he seems to be highly respected. If there is anything that bothers me about him it is that the man loves his pronouns, which sometimes can be confusing for me as a reader.

[Geoffrey S]

I liked his presentation, but found he didn't really add anything to what I already knew or what was already written by others. In particular, his Punic Wars is probably best read alongside Polybius.

[Shifty_GMH]

A good book about the Tenth Legion is:

Caesar's Legion

I can't remember the author, but it is a very good bock if you're interested in the post-Marius Roman army.

The book Ignoramus is talking about is...

Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome, Stephen Dando-Collins

As the title suggests the book follows what is known about the 10th Legion from it's conception till it's end. It also mentions information on other legions that fought and/or were stationed around the 10th. Good book from what I remember (been almost two years since I read it).

Stephen Dando-Collins has another book about Rome's Legions entitled Nero's Killing Machine: The True Story of Rome's Remarkable 14th Legion. I have not read it yet, but it is my "to be read" list.

The Battle That Stopped Rome: Emperor Augustus, Arminius, and the Slaughter of the Legions in the Teutoburg Forest, Peter S. Wells

Good book about the Battle (Massacre is more like it) of Teutoburg Forest that is backed up with archaeological evidence. The author, Wells, goes into cultural aspects of Germania during that time. He also talks about how that Battle haunted Rome and inspired the Germanic people for years to come.

Peter S. Well has another book that may be of interest to some. It is entitled The Barbarians Speak: How the Conquered Peoples Shaped Roman Europe. I have not read this so I cannot say anything about it. Just saw it and thought someone might like to know about it.

[Shifty_GMH]

A good book about the Tenth Legion is:

Caesar's Legion

I can't remember the author, but it is a very good bock if you're interested in the post-Marius Roman army.

The book Ignoramus is talking about is...

Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome, Stephen Dando-Collins

As the title suggests the book follows what is known about the 10th Legion from it's conception till it's end. It also mentions information on other legions that fought and/or were stationed around the 10th. Good book from what I remember (been almost two years since I read it).

Stephen Dando-Collins has another book about Rome's Legions entitled Nero's Killing Machine: The True Story of Rome's Remarkable 14th Legion. I have not read it yet, but it is my "to be read" list.

The Battle That Stopped Rome: Emperor Augustus, Arminius, and the Slaughter of the Legions in the Teutoburg Forest, Peter S. Wells

Good book about the Battle (Massacre is more like it) of Teutoburg Forest that is backed up with archaeological evidence. The author, Wells, goes into cultural aspects of Germania during that time. He also talks about how that Battle haunted Rome and inspired the Germanic people for years to come.

*Not sure why it double posted. Feel free to delete this duplicate.*

[oudysseos]

Some new books-

The Genius of Alexander the Great N.G. Hammond

Warfare in the Classical World John Warry

Warfare in the Ancient World Brian Todd Carey; Joshua B. Allfree,; John Cairns

posted by Eduorius

Cambridge Ancient History vol 7
A standard work, every college library and most good public libraries will have a set. Volume 7 covers the EB period for All the Diadochi/Greek factions, as well as Epirus and lots on Rome. Perhaps the best one-stop-shop for an overview of the period. The following articles were very good:
The Aetolian League; Social Changes in Greece; Greece after Pyrrhus' Death; The Greek Leagues and Macedonia all by Tarn
The Carthaginians in Spain A. Schulten


The Parthians Malcolm Colledge
Older book that traces the Parni throughout til the Sassanids.

A History of the Greek Workd 323-146 BC M. Cary
Very Hellono-centric, nothing really new but later chapters on economics and governments in post Alexandrine Greece very interesting


The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome Erich Gruen
Only had a chance to skim through this but a very interesting work: not a chronological history but more an analysis of the impact on Greek thought and life of Roman dominance, i.e. how the previously world-conquering hellenes adjusted to being conquered.

Will update the first post, also with SPQR's post.

[oudysseos]

Just wondering if anyone has any access to the Journal of Hellenistic Studies- looks like it could be an excellent source

[QwertyMIDX]

Yeah, I imagine most University students have access to it, I do.

[abou]

Just wondering if anyone has any access to the Journal of Hellenistic Studies- looks like it could be an excellent source

If you are at a university then chances are that you can get access to jstor.org through your library, which has the journal in it's database as well as several others.

[oudysseos]

Thanks guys, my uni does indeed have JSTOR, but there is a fairly harsh policy on printing/photocopying, so it'll be time-consuming to write out extracts by hand. I'll have more time in a few weeks.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Just a note: You can save jstor articles as pdf files, then put them on a flash drive and bring them back home with you or wherever. I've got a ton on my home computer that doesn't have jstor access (when I go to the university library and download and save every article I think I might need, then bring it back with me).

[oudysseos]

Thanks for the tip TA! I'm ashamed to admit that I never thjought of thrat. I will do that next week when I get a chance to pop into campus.

[abou]

Does your university have a proxy option, TA? I know mine does so I can access jstor.org from my apartment as long as I go through my library website first.

[Geoffrey S]

I've logged on to JSTOR using the proxy option from my library's website, but I can't find Journal of Hellenistic Studies; there is a Journal of Hellenic Studies, but that one only runs until 2003. Is that the one you mean?

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Yeah, that is it. Hellenic, not Hellenistic.

[oudysseos]

Being doing some research into Carthage (sorry I'm late Tanit but I'll PM you today) and have found some very good books on the subject.

The North African Stones Speak Paul MacKendrick Archeology and its relation to history

Tripolitania DJ Mattingly Very detailed about this part of North Africa

The Phoenicians and the West; Politics, Colonies and Trade Maria Eugenia Aubert Not Carthage specific but a lot of cultural info

The Illyrians John Wilkes Fantastic book- v. good on the differences between the Illyrians and the Greeks, really puts them in context

Scythians and Greeks; Cultural Interactions in Scythia, Athens and the Early Empire ed. David Braund Mostly translations of Russian academic works that have not been available in English

The Social and Economic History of the Greek World M. Rostovtzeff
( 3 volumes ) Covers the EB period in depth with great chapters on the 'minor monarchies' (Pergamon, Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia and the Black Sea City-statesand the Bosporan Kingdom)

Will update the first post.

[Gazius]

Are most academic journals locked behind school requirements and/or large mnai requirements? I'd love to get my hands on any I can find, but am not really sure where to even begin searching. Just [subject matter] + journal?

[Al-Masri]

Here's a new book on the Parthians that has not been put up here yet:

Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War Kaveh Farrokh- will be out next month, area of focus seems to fit this timeline.

[Count Belisarius]

Alexander
Hannibal
Caesar
Lt. Col. Theodore Ayrault Dodge. Although somewhat dated, having been written before the turn of the last century, these books are still excellent secondary sources. After all, Dodge drew on Polybius, Livy, Caesar and the other original authors, just as Goldworthy, et al. draw on today.

They're styled as biographies, but these books present a great deal of background information. I personally found his hagiography of Hannibal Barca a bit tiresome, not to mention the fact that he ranked Scipio Africanus as the third-best ROMAN general of the Second Punic War, behind Fabius Maximus and Claudius Nero, solely because Scipio made Dodge's hero Hannibal look bad. Even so, the books are quite useful, and readable to boot.

Warfare in Antiquity
Hans Delbruck. Excellent book for getting a feel for the evolution of warfare in the ancient West, with a surprising amount of detail for a survey work.

[Varg1204]

Swebiz faction literature

sources:

- P. Cornelius Tacitus: Germania
- Gaius Iulius Caesar: De Bello Gallico

secondary literature: (all are in German language, titles are translated by myself)
- Herwig Wolfram: Die Germanen [The Germanics]
- Reinhard Wolters: Die Römer in Germanien [The Romans in Germania]
- Egon Schallmayer: Der Limes, Geschichte einer Grenze [The Limes, History of a frontier]
- Herwig Wolfram: Die Goten und ihre Geschichte [The Goths and their history]
- Hans Dellbrück: Geschichte der Kriegskunst, Die Germanen, Vom Kampf der Römer und Germanen bis zum Übergang ins Mittelalter [History of the Art of War, The Germanics, On the Fight between Romans and Germanics untill the Beginning of the Middle Age]

[abou]

Hey, could someone put an asterisk and footnote to some of the older sources - specifically works by Tarn and Bevan. Many of their ideas have been shown to be flat out wrong due to two reasons: the first is that not enough was known at the time they published (early 1900s); the other problem is that sometimes they let their imagination really run wild (Tarn is terrible at this).

[varuna]

It will be nice to have all those materials as online content (e-book or any other electronic content) I sure it will very helpful for peoples like me who doesn't have adequate resource to acquire such books collection

[abou]

Oh, I totally agree. I spend more time searching the index than strictly reading through the books that I get. It would also probably stem the cost of many books. It is a systemic problem - and it is like that for a number of reasons. In fact, there is a second edition of a book that I desparately want a copy of, but it is mired in manuscript form because no one wants to publish it.

*sigh* If only we had an EB Press...

[varuna]

EB Press sound fantastic, what about establish this kind of stuff (EB Press although not literaly) so every player are able to study ancient history and playing game at the same time. It's a perfect combination of "A Great Game & A Great Mod" thus archieving education & entertainment value in one pack.

[oudysseos]

First post updated.


I haven't been keeping this thread up due to real life commitments. Sorry, I'll try and keep it more up to date.

I have been reading a few good books lately:

Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities Hans van Wees
Absolutely critical book to read for analysis of hoplite/phalanx fighting
The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek Barry Cunliffe
A Massaliot Greek's travels to Britain in 320 BC, and lots of stuff about the interaction between the Hellenic and Celtic worlds. Well written.
Roman Ireland Vittorio di Martino
Agricola invaded Ireland! Maybe.
Roman Britain Plantagenet Somerset Fry
The standard work on Roman sites in Britain with plenty of history. Also a good book for IBFD.
The Bloody Crucible of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience of the American Civil War Brent Nosworthy
Off topic but still germane: the psychology and methods of line infantry and great explanations of logistics, terrain and the impact of technology on warfare.


I think it was Abou who commented that some of the sources that have made it on to the bibliography are quite dated (Tarn, Dodge, many others). This is true, but my purpose in this thread was to provide a resource, not literary/historical criticism. Of course these are books that I and other people have liked reading and felt were worthy of inclusion, but it is up to the individual to make their own decisions about what to read. Perhaps another thread, discussing the merits of whatever sources?

[Geoffrey S]

Cunliffe's work on Pytheas is brilliant. It's not an exact reproduction of his voyage, which would be impossible, but a very enlightening step-by-step depiction of the sights he could have seen considering his most likely route. Fascinating, easy to read, and a perfect introduction to people just starting to read about northern Europe in Classical times.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Really enjoying the reference qualities of:

McLean (2002). An Introduction to Greek Epigraphy of the Hellenistic and Roman Periods from Alexander the Great down to the Reign of Constantine (323 B.C. - A.D. 337).

It really is a great book, with articles on everything from calendar systems to magistrate titles to orthography of letter styles to changes in Greek pronunciation to Greek onomastics.

[Sarkiss]

Having reorganized the list I can see where there are some gaps. Can anyone suggest some good reads on Pontus and Armenia?

i found this one on Armenia.
http://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Armeni...2807716&sr=8-1
im still waiting for it to arrive so not sure of a content, but was told that an author has some interesting if not to say controversial views.

spend a fortune lately buying books on ancient warfare.
what i bought and would deffinetly recommend are:
GREECE AND ROME AT WAR by Peter Connoly
THE COMPLETE ROMAN ARMY by Adrian Goldsworthy
CANNAE the same author
these two are nicely decorated have an abundance of pics and illustrations, and schemes attached. nice read comes at a price of £25 each though.
i also bought ROME AND HER ENEMIES by 'Osprey', but found it too brief and shalow.

right now reading above mentioned very old issue of HANNIBAL by colonel Dodge.

[Geoffrey S]

Right now I'm looking for something to read about the Western Greek colonies; prefereably something that covers as many areas as possible, but something focusing on either Syracuse, Massilia (although I may have found something for that one already) or the Greek presence in southern France and eastern Spain would be great too. Has anyone got any tips?

[Teleklos Archelaou]

There is relatively little I have found Geof. I have just got some articles or chapters in books really. Greek Colonists and Native Populations has some stuff, as does Ancient Greeks: West and East.

[oudysseos]

It's my birthday so I treated myself to a couple of books.

Barbarians, Terry Jones

and

Black Athena volume One: The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985, Martin Bernal

The Terry Jones book should be required reading for everyone playing and/or developing Europa Barbarorum. The former Python has created a BBC Television series, and now a book, that could serve as the EB mission statement. Buy it now!

The Bernal book is probably well-known to some of the devs and is highly controversial. I am excited about reading it.

P.S. People's Front of Judea! Romanes Eunt Domus!