Pax Romana, Adrian Goldsworthy
Pax Romana, Adrian Goldsworthy
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Pax Romana
War, Peace, and Conquest in the Roman World

Author: Adrian Goldsworthy

Narrator: Derek Perkins

Unabridged: 15 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/23/2016

Synopsis

Bestselling author Adrian Goldsworthy turns his attention to the Pax Romana, the famous peace and prosperity brought by the Roman Empire at its height in the first and second centuries AD. Yet the Romans were conquerors, imperialists who took by force a vast empire stretching from the Euphrates to the Atlantic coast. Ruthless, Romans won peace not through coexistence but through dominance; millions died and were enslaved during the creation of their empire.

Pax Romana examines how the Romans came to control so much of the world and asks whether traditionally favorable images of the Roman peace are true. Goldsworthy vividly recounts the rebellions of the conquered, examines why they broke out, why most failed, and how they became exceeding rare. He reveals that hostility was just one reaction to the arrival of Rome and that from the outset, conquered peoples collaborated, formed alliances, and joined invaders, causing resistance movements to fade away.

About Adrian Goldsworthy

Adrian Goldsworthy was educated in Penarth and then read ancient and modern history at St. John's College, Oxford, where he subsequently completed his doctorate in ancient history. His DPhil thesis was the basis for his first book, The Roman Army at War 100 BC-AD 200, which looked at how the Roman army actually operated on campaign and in battle.

For several years Adrian taught in a number of universities and then began to write for a wider audience. A succession of books followed dealing with aspects of ancient military history, including Roman Warfare, The Punic Wars (which was later reissued as The Fall of Carthage), Cannae, In the Name of Rome, and The Complete Roman Army. More recently he has looked at wider themes, combining the military focus with discussion of politics and society in a biography of Caesar and a study of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire titled How Rome Fell.

Adrian is now a full-time writer and a visiting fellow at the University of Newcastle. He frequently gives one-off lectures and talks both to universities and other groups in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Europe. He often appears as a talking head or presenter in TV documentaries and has acted as consultant on both documentaries and dramas.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeffrey on October 20, 2020

Even though Adrian Goldsworthy has been a noted historian for decades, my first encounter with his works was his enjoyable, fictional, Roman series Vindolandia. This book is an overview of Rome at peace, but even when they were at peace, because of the size of the empire, they were never totally at......more

Goodreads review by Callum on December 26, 2024

Pax Romana was a roughly 200-year period lasting from the rise of Augustus in the late first century BC to the early third century AD. The borders of the Roman Empire remained relatively stable, with conquered populations generally acquiescing and later habituating to their rule. Provincial revolts......more

Goodreads review by Trish on September 30, 2023

I've always loved history. Be it ancient civilisations' political systems, architecture, mythology or warfare - it's alll fascinating. Especially when you look at really successful societies that "suddenly" crumbled (I use the term "suddenly" loosely, obviously). The Romans were one such fascinating......more

Goodreads review by Carlos on March 02, 2017

I loved this book, be aware tough it is not the most fast paced book, it deals with the daily goings of the running of the Roman Empire. In it you will learn that while the Roman Empire provided peace to the regions it conquered, it wasn't always permanent and while the term "Pax romana "calls to th......more

Goodreads review by Chris on September 16, 2017

Arrggh. Adrian Goldsworthy. This is the third book of his I've read, which normally would indicate that I think rather well of the author. Yeah, normally that's the case. But it's not the case with Goldsworthy. I mean, I liked the first book of his I read - The Punic Wars. His tome on the Fall of th......more

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