Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age - THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER (Dilly's Story) - Hardcover

Holland, Tom

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1408706989 ISBN 13: 9781408706985

Publisher: Abacus, 2023

Synopsis

The third in the epic trilogy narrating the history of the Roman Empire from renowned historian Tom Holland

About this title

About the Author

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

From the Back Cover

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

From the Inside Flap

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Abacus
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1408706989
• ISBN 13: 9781408706985
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448