1st Edition
A History of Rome under the Emperors
A History of Rome Under the Emperors provides an authoritative survey of four centuries of Roman history, and a unique window on German thought in the last century. It caused a sensation when it was published in Germany in 1992, and was front page news in many newspapers. Now in an English paperback edition, this book represents the great lost work of Theodor Mommsen (d. 1903) -- one of the greatest Roman historians of the nineteenth century, and the only one ever to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
A History of Rome Under the Emperors is the work that would have concluded Mommsen's history of Rome, but was never completed. This transcript of his lectures given from 1863 to 1886, made by two of his students, was discovered in 1980. It has now been edited to provide the authoritative reconstruction of the book Mommsen never wrote.
Biography
Alexander Demandt is a Full professor of Ancient History at the Free University, Berlin. Barbara Demandt is a teacher at the Gymnasium for ancient languages in Berlin-Zehlendorf. Thomas Wiedemann is Reader in Ancient History at the University of Nottingham.
'Reading this book now puts you in touch with two worlds: ancient Rome and the austere scholarship of nineteenth century, pre-Wilhelmine Germany.' - Daily Telegraph
'The editors do a valiant job in their introduction, trying to catch something of the spirit of this extraordinary man.' - The Independent
'Historians of Germany as well as Rome may profit from this splendid volume.' - The Times
'It has been superbly done. Demandt gives the full story both of Mommsen's history and the Hensels' lecture notes, while Wiedemann puts Mommsen in his historical context.' - Peter Levi, Sunday Telegraph
'It is a marvellous book, striking in detail, lucid and pleasingly unfair in argument, deeply sound in its root feelings and prejudices and genuinely helpful. It is the best book for those who dislike the Roman Empire, and is often very funny, and what underlies the remarkably dotty view he takes, for example of Virgil, is in itself most illuminating. It is years since I came across such a great book.' - Peter Levi, The Spectator Books of the Year
'This edition, with its extensive notes, is a tremendous achievement and a gift to anyone interested in the full story of the Roman Empire.' - Contemporary Review
