THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'Holland, who co-hosts the podcast The Rest Is History, is at his best when having fun with Rome's bloody history' The Times
'A book for lovers of traditional, grand sweep narrative history' Sunday Times
The definitive history of Rome's golden age - antiquity's ultimate superpower at the pinnacle of its greatness
The Pax Romana has long been revered as a golden age. At its peak, the Roman Empire stretched from Scotland to Arabia, and contained perhaps a quarter of humanity. It was the wealthiest and most formidable state the world had yet seen.
Beginning in 69AD, a year that saw four Caesars in succession rule the empire, and ending some seven decades later with the death of Hadrian, Pax presents a dazzling history of Rome at the height of its power. From the gilded capital to realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland portrays the Roman Empire in all its predatory glory. Vivid scene follows vivid scene: the destruction of Jerusalem and Pompeii, the building of the Colosseum and Hadrian's Wall, the conquests of Trajan. Vividly sketching the lives of Romans both ordinary and spectacular, from slaves to emperors, Holland demonstrates how Roman peace was the fruit of unprecedented military violence.
A stunning portrait of Rome's glory days, this is the epic history of the pax Romana.
Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.
Tom Holland is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster. His bestselling books include Rubicon: The Triumph and the Tragedy of the Roman Republic, which won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize; Persian Fire, which won the Anglo-Hellenic League's Runciman Award; Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom; In the Shadow of the Sword: The Battle for Global Empire and the End of the Ancient World; Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar; and Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind.
Holland has adapted Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides and Virgil for the BBC. His translation of Herodotus was published in 2013 by Penguin Classics and followed in 2016 by a history of Æthelstan published under the Penguin Monarchs series, and in 2019 Æthelflæd England's Forgotten Founder as a Ladybird Expert Book. In 2007, he was the winner of the Classical Association prize, awarded to 'the individual who has done most to promote the study of the language, literature and civilisation of Ancient Greece and Rome'.
Holland hosts (with Dominic Sandbrook) the no.1 podcast The Rest is History. He has written and presented a number of TV documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4, on subjects ranging from religion to dinosaurs. He served two years as the Chair of the Society of Authors; as Chair of the PLR Advisory Committee and was on the committee of the Classical Association.
@holland_tom
Praise for Tom Holland
'Terrific: bold, ambitious and passionate' Peter Frankopan
'An exceptionally good storyteller with a marvellous eye for detail' The Economist
'Tom Holland is fun to read, monstrously erudite, wickedly joyful, and ahead of the established consensus' Nassim Nicholas Taleb
'It's not often that you come across a book that completely transforms your understanding of the world' Spectator
The definitive history of Rome's golden age - antiquity's ultimate superpower at the pinnacle of its greatness
The Pax Romana has long been revered as a golden age. At its peak, the Roman Empire stretched from Scotland to Arabia, and contained perhaps a quarter of humanity. It was the wealthiest and most formidable state the world had yet seen.
Beginning in 69AD, a year that saw four Caesars in succession rule the empire, and ending some seven decades later with the death of Hadrian, Pax presents a dazzling history of Rome at the height of its power. From the gilded capital to realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland portrays the Roman Empire in all its predatory glory. Vivid scene follows vivid scene: the destruction of Jerusalem and Pompeii, the building of the Colosseum and Hadrian's Wall, the conquests of Trajan. Vividly sketching the lives of Romans both ordinary and spectacular, from slaves to emperors, Holland demonstrates how Roman peace was the fruit of unprecedented military violence.
A stunning portrait of Rome's glory days, this is the epic history of the pax Romana.
Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.
Vendeur : Gate City Books, GREENSBORO, NC, Etats-Unis
Etat : good. USED book in GOOD condition. Great binding, pages and cover show normal signs of wear from use. N° de réf. du vendeur GCM.2YNN
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Vendeur : WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, Royaume-Uni
Paperback. Etat : Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. N° de réf. du vendeur GOR013191064
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Vendeur : AwesomeBooks, Wallingford, Royaume-Uni
Etat : Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. . N° de réf. du vendeur 7719-9781408706985
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Vendeur : Bahamut Media, Reading, Royaume-Uni
Etat : Very Good. Shipped within 24 hours from our UK warehouse. Clean, undamaged book with no damage to pages and minimal wear to the cover. Spine still tight, in very good condition. Remember if you are not happy, you are covered by our 100% money back guarantee. N° de réf. du vendeur 6545-9781408706985
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Vendeur : Jon A Sewell, Rugby, Royaume-Uni
Hardcover. Etat : Fine. Etat de la jaquette : Fine. 1st Edition. First edition, first printing UK hardback, 2023 Abacus. The book is in fine condition, the dustjacket is in fine condition. Illustrated. N° de réf. du vendeur 7346
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Vendeur : Crappy Old Books, Barry, Royaume-Uni
Hardback. Etat : As New. PAX is the sort of book that arrives wearing imperial confidence like a purple cloak and a slightly alarming amount of gold leaf. Tom Holland, who has long since perfected the art of making the ancient world feel less like a museum and more like an exceptionally glamorous crime scene, turns his attention here to Rome?s so-called Golden Age?that marvellous stretch of civilisation in which emperors, senators, soldiers, prophets, rebels and assorted ambitious oddities all attempted to enjoy the benefits of peace while standing on foundations built by conquest. Because Roman peace, as ever, was a very Roman kind of peace. It meant roads, order, law, engineering, prosperity, monumental architecture and an impressive quantity of administrative competence. It also meant legions, surveillance, exemplary violence and the quiet understanding that dissent could end rather abruptly. In other words, Pax is about one of history?s finest examples of a civilisation announcing that the world is now stable, cultured and civilised, shortly after battering everyone into agreement. Tom Holland is exceptionally good company for this sort of thing. He writes ancient history with flair, intelligence and a relish for character, which means that emperors do not appear as solemn marble busts but as vivid, complicated and occasionally deranged human beings with egos large enough to require their own provinces. Rome itself emerges not as a static backdrop of columns and togas, but as a living empire thrumming with ambition, superstition, brutality, showmanship and political theatre. One can almost hear the sandals slapping on polished stone. And what a cast Roman history always provides. Emperors trying to project divinity while remaining inconveniently mortal. Elites manoeuvring with exquisite selfishness. Provincial subjects adapting, resisting or cashing in. Religious currents shifting under the surface. Armies serving as both guarantors of order and occasional reminders that order has teeth. Holland has a gift for making the whole imperial machine feel at once magnificent and faintly unstable, which is of course exactly right. Rome?s Golden Age was golden partly because it was so brilliantly stage-managed. Behind the gleam lay force, compromise and the perpetual need to keep the centre holding. There is a delicious irony in the title. PAX sounds so calm, so chiselled, so assured?something one might see engraved beneath a laurel wreath on a triumphal monument. And indeed that is the point. The Roman world excelled at presenting itself as the bringer of universal order, even when that order was maintained by means that might strike the conquered as somewhat less serene. Holland understands this tension perfectly. Peace in Rome was never merely the absence of war; it was a political achievement, a cultural performance, and, quite often, a warning. This 2023 Abacus edition looks the part too. The cover positively radiates imperial mood: dark, handsome, laurelled, and just self-important enough to be appropriate. Even better, this copy is signed , which adds that extra little flourish of collector?s pleasure. A signed Tom Holland history is not just a book but a slightly grander object, the sort of thing that says you do not merely read about emperors and empire, you acquire your civilisational drama with authorial ink included. Very Rome, in its way: all substance, plus ceremony. As sold by Crappy Old Books in As New condition, this copy offers the particularly satisfying combination of freshness and prestige. Crisp, sharp, and signed, it has all the appeal of a modern history book that has not yet been knocked about by bedside tables, overfilled shelves or the hazards of lending to unreliable friends. It is ready to stride straight into the life of a new owner looking far more disciplined than most Roman succession plans. And this is very much a book for readers who like history with movement, colour and argument. Not dry chronology, not dutiful textbook sludge, but a full-blooded account of how Rome sold peace to the world and what that peace actually involved. Holland is one of those rare historians who can combine scholarship with narrative voltage, so that one emerges both informed and entertainingly haunted by the thought that all empires insist on their own benevolence eventually. So PAX ? War and Peace in Rome?s Golden Age is grand, clever, vivid and gloriously alive to the contradictions of imperial civilisation. It is a book about power at its most polished: cultured, expansive, self-justifying and never entirely as tranquil as it claims. Add the fact that this copy is signed , and you have something even more tempting than usual: a handsome, collectable volume for anyone who likes their ancient history rich in splendour, menace and human absurdity. In short, a superb signed copy of a book about Rome at its most confident?when the empire offered the world peace, prosperity and roads, while keeping a sword very firmly within reach. Crappy Old Books is delighted, naturally, to send this laurel-wreathed slice of imperial brilliance back into circulation. N° de réf. du vendeur 6078
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Vendeur : Brook Bookstore On Demand, Napoli, NA, Italie
Etat : new. N° de réf. du vendeur a972929ff5e7d0918a61f5d61ae158ff
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Vendeur : GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, Etats-Unis
Etat : As New. Unread book in perfect condition. N° de réf. du vendeur 42292620
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Vendeur : PBShop.store UK, Fairford, GLOS, Royaume-Uni
HRD. Etat : New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. N° de réf. du vendeur GB-9781408706985
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Vendeur : GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, Etats-Unis
Etat : New. N° de réf. du vendeur 42292620-n
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