Europa Barbarorum Bibliography

[johnhughthom]

It's part of the Important Information for Forum Users sticky.

[anubis88]

finally, a book on Pontos on Mithridates VI Eupator: "Mithridates the Great, Rome's indomitable enemy"!


a long-overdue biography of one of the dominant figures of the first century BC
written by an athour of bestselling "Ancient Rome on five denarii a day" and "Enemies of Rome", Philip Matyszak.

havent read it yet, just got it yeaterday as a birthday present from my wife. but so looking forward to reading it!

So did you read the book by now? Or anyone alse for that matter? I'm really interested of buying it, but i saw some mixed reviews online so i don't know....

Oh, and thanks john. Didn't notice it

[Sarkiss]

buy it. whilst i wish he would go into more details on some occasions it does provide a good info and sums everything you need to know about Mithridates Eupator quite nicely.

not sure this was mentioned before, there is a magazine called Ancient Warfare.
it featured a few interesting articles (in the issue i received) on Successor wars, "Alexander's funeral games". it really grows on me! a very fascinating time frame. im now looking forward to expanding my knowledge of Diodohi and their struggle for absolute supremacy (and to playing an upcoming Gaza campaign, of course!!!) shame there is not much literature dedicated to it and the books that there are cost a fortune.

[Silence Hunter]

I remember that there was an actually good online book about the Diadochi. I didn't want to read it on the screen so I printed it and it was over 400 pages long. A shame I had not enough luggage space to carry that huge block of papers and left it at home... I will try to do a net search and find it again.

[heldelance]

God, this game has been the single biggest drain of my time! All the time that could've been spent doing something constructive spent on this game!!!! Daaaamn you!!!

But seriously, awesome mod, made RTW worth the money I spent and hell, it got me back into ancient history. I've been trying to look up stuff on the Thracians and the Sweboz without much luck so thanks a lot for posting the links.

[Dutchhoplite]

I remember that there was an actually good online book about the Diadochi. I didn't want to read it on the screen so I printed it and it was over 400 pages long. A shame I had not enough luggage space to carry that huge block of papers and left it at home... I will try to do a net search and find it again.

I would be very interested in that one

[I Am Herenow]

just a quick question... Why isn't this thread stickied anymore? I almost forgot about it, and now i always have to do a forum search to find it

You can make it a personal sticky, if you like (under Thread Tools).

I Am Herenow

[Scud]

I'm sure I enjoy military history as much as the next person in this community, but (shock horror), it isn't my main area of interest.

I'm very much interested in political history and also political philosophy, and I've noticed my collection of books/.pdfs are rooted very much from the Renaissance onwards (Machiavelli, Rousseau, J.S Mill, Marx etc.). I'd be interested if anyone has material based on the subject rooted more in Antiquity - for though I've learnt a lot about the social and military history of the time thanks to this mod and the community, I haven't seemed to have picked much up on the politics side of things.

Anyone have any good books to recommend, be they contemporary works or classical pieces?

[I Am Herenow]

Something like this?

I Am Herenow

[Scud]

Something like this?

I Am Herenow

Yeah, that was the sort of thing I was looking for. It seems very imformative and of decent depth, thanks.

While on classical pieces, I did try reading Plato's Republic (in english) a while back but the Socratic dialogue style of prose just didn't really appeal to me and made reading it a chore. Well that was my personal opinion of it and I think it might be worth a revist if I can slog it through.

[Luduan]

To provide some variety (since most of the titles listed so far tend to be military/political history):

The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World, Charles Freeman. A breezy, cursory overview of Greek history that I picked up recently.

Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew, Bart D. Ehrman. Provides a brief layman's overview to the religious battles amongst Christian communities (Gnostic, Ebionite, proto-Orthodox, etc.) in the late Roman empire. His other works come highly recommended as well.

To Think Like God: Pythagoras and Parmenides, The Origins of Philosophy, Arnold Hermann. An account of pre-Socratic Greek philosophical history.

Homosexuality and Civilization, Louis Crompton. Has a scope far wider than ancient history, from Asia to England to Islamic Spain, but does an solid job of covering the Greek and Roman ethos. His views on sexual history seem more along the lines of Boswell than Foucault, whose work I admire greatly, but still very insightful.

Mohammed and Charlemagne, Henri Pirenne. A classic history on the fall (or rather, continuance) of the Roman Empire that runs contrary to Gibbon, mentioned earlier. No contemporary scholar would accept his thesis, of course, but it remains a seminal work.

[Luduan]

I apologize for double posting, but I was unable to include URLs as that was my first post.

A lecture series on ancient Greece available from Yale University: https://www.youtube.com/view_play_li...3BCE5134243987. The course page with MP3 and MOV downloads is available at http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introdu...greek-history/. I have only just begun watching it, but thus far the professor seems well-informed about the period. Aside from his annoying habit of clearly his throat after nearly every sentence and a Nietzsche caricature that he presents in several lectures, I recommend it.

The controversial New Testament scholar Robert M. Price also has a large recommended reading list with numerous titles on Roman and Near Eastern history, along with other less topical, but still excellent, books: http://webulite.com/node/1818.

[Sarkiss]

Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom Edited by Jakob Munk Højte, Aarhus University Press 2009

available in PDF
http://www.pontos.dk/publications/books/BSS%209

[penguinking]

A lecture series on ancient Greece available from Yale University: https://www.youtube.com/view_play_li...3BCE5134243987. The course page with MP3 and MOV downloads is available at http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introdu...greek-history/. I have only just begun watching it, but thus far the professor seems well-informed about the period. Aside from his annoying habit of clearly his throat after nearly every sentence and a Nietzsche caricature that he presents in several lectures, I recommend it.

That professor, Donald Kagan, is one of the leading experts on the Peloponnesian War. His book, The Peloponnesian War, also available in four volumes, is a very detailed and well written account of the conflict. Highly recommended. The lectures are also very good, I've seen them.

[option]

Giving this a bump because it's a great resource, and I've read several books listed here and plan to read many more. Also, I'm looking for a good biography of Augustus, and figured this would be a fine place to ask about it. I'm currently looking at the one by Anthony Everitt, but I would love some suggestions.

EDIT: Also, if someone could show me a link to a pdf (or other online version) of From Sardis to Samarkhand, I would be very grateful.

[Sarkiss]

"Tigranes the Great" by Herant K. Armen

the first biography of Tigranes II the Great to be ever published in English. ("Tigranes II and Rome" by Professor H. Manandyan has been published the same year, in 1940, in Armenian in Yerevan and was only recently translated into English)

this work, unlike all others i come across so far, is addressed to general public (the above mentioned work of Professor Manandyan being more of an academic study). its author for the first time tells the story from Armenian point of view. by scrutinizing and cross checking primary sources he draws a more balanced and accurate picture than those drawn by biased Roman authors who are often inconsistent and even contradict themselves (Plutarch is a great example).

i highly recommend this book to all interested in the history of Antiquity.

[vartan]

Plutarch was a major disappointment for me when studying Armenian history. What a joke he must've been. Sheesh.

Thanks for the book Sarkiss jan.

[Alien of Germania]

Cmon mods this thread worth a Sticky please.

[Rubicon]

I do not know if this has been posted here already, but if it hasn't I think it belongs here.

Yale University puts some of its courses online, free to download for everyone. Among it is an entire 24 class course called Introduction to Ancient Greek History.

This is the describtion:

This is an introductory course in Greek history tracing the development of Greek civilization as manifested in political, intellectual, and creative achievements from the Bronze Age to the end of the classical period. Students read original sources in translation as well as the works of modern scholars

And these are the classes:

1. Introduction
2. The Dark Ages
3. The Dark Ages (cont.)
4. The Rise of the Polis
5. The Rise of the Polis (cont.)
6. The Greek "Renaissance" - Colonization and Tyranny
7. The Greek "Renaissance" - Colonization and Tyranny (cont.)
8. Sparta
9. Sparta (cont.)
10. The Rise of Athens
11. The Rise of Athens (cont.)
12. The Persian Wars
13. The Athenian Empire
14. The Athenian Empire (cont.)
15. Athenian Democracy
16. Athenian Democracy (cont.)
17. The Peloponnesian War, Part I
18. The Peloponnesian War, Part I (cont.)
19. The Peloponnesian War, Part II
20. The Peloponnesian War, Part II (cont.)
21. The Struggle for Hegemony in Fourth-Century Greece
22. The Struggle for Hegemony in Fourth-Century Greece (cont.)
23. Twilight of the Polis
24. Twilight of the Polis (cont.) and Conclusion

I have put the entire course on my Ipod to listen to during long train rides and I am really enjoying it. I thought maybe some of you would feel the same.

Here is the link:

http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introdu...downloads.html

[Sarkiss]

I have put the entire course on my Ipod to listen to during long train rides and I am really enjoying it. I thought maybe some of you would feel the same.

i was doing that for quite some time now but with different course as well as getting bits and pieces from here and there. thanks for the info, downloading now

[Andronikos]

I wanted to post that course. I found it on this page. There are more courses from various universities. Unfortunately, that one is the only one about ancient history, but if you are interested in modern history, engineering or natural sciences, you will find some good stuff there.

I am not sure if it was mentioned, but interesting books are:
Flavius Vegetius Renatius: Art of war (translation?)
Sextus Iulius Frontinus: War lies (translation?) - short lines about unusual tactics
Onasandros: Commander (translation?), how should a good commander act
All three could be a good source for EB quotes.

[Alien of Germania]

Montvert Publications - Seleucid and Ptolemaic Reformed Armies 168-145 BC.
Author: Nick Sekunda, Art by Angus McBride

2 volumes, one for the Seleucids and one for the Ptoleis.

And sticky this thread!!!

[Andronikos]

I don't know if available in wide spoken languages, but this man has awesome books. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vojtech_Zamarovsk%C3%BD
History written by Rome and The Greek wonder cover EB period or its part.

[Fluvius Camillus]

Is the following book:

"From Samarkhand to Sardis (best on Seleukids) Sherwin-White and Kuhrt"

Really 300+ euros????

Am I searching incorrect? Is there a way around? Or if I really want to enlighten myself I just have to pay that amount?

~Fluvius

[abou]

Is the following book:

"From Samarkhand to Sardis (best on Seleukids) Sherwin-White and Kuhrt"

Really 300+ euros????

Am I searching incorrect? Is there a way around? Or if I really want to enlighten myself I just have to pay that amount?

~Fluvius

Try your library.

The book itself had an incredibly short print run mainly because it was targeted toward a solely academic audience. The book has been out of print for a very long time. The information within is excellent (although there isn't much concerning the military), if you can find it.

[Fluvius Camillus]

Yep it's me again...

Also this book:

"The Fall of the Roman Empire Peter Heather"

was advised and I want to buy it, which should I choose???

Author: Peter Heather & P.J. Heather

Paperback

592 pages | Pan Macmillan | New edition | may 2006

OR

Author: Peter Heather

Paperback

572 pages | Oxford University Press | june 2007

Thanks for the help.

~Fluvius

[Fluvius Camillus]

Sorry to bother again...

"Xenophon's Retreat:Greece Persia & the End of the Golden Age, Robin Waterfield"

There is a more expensive 2006 title and also a cheaper 2007 version, exactly same title and writer. Which one?

They say the last one has 100 more pages, but that may not mean it is better.

~Fluvius

[Fluvius Camillus]

Is there nobody who knows an answer to my question? it has been around 3 days since a posted without the slightest reply. If someone knows which ones to buy please tell me.

Thanks in advance!

~Fluvius

[burn_again]

The Google Books link for Edwyn R. Bevan's The House of Seleucus isn't working for me, but I've found it (and some of his other books) available on archive.org:


Vol. 1:
http://www.archive.org/details/house...ucus01bevauoft

Vol.2:
http://www.archive.org/details/TheHouseOfSeleucusVolII

[Poppis]

Great, thanks!

I read Bevans house of ptolemy a few years ago and loved it, but then couldn't find the house of seleucus.

Too bad the second volume is only available on DjVu, though.