Dio's Rome: An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek During the Reigns of Septimus Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and ... and Now Presented in English Form; Volume 5

by Cassius Dio (Creator)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Roman History, History

404 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 230

About the author

Cassius Dio or Dio Cassius (c. 155 – c. 235) was a Roman statesman and historian of Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy.

Reviews

[Jenn Phizacklea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grammar isn’t great. Why include text that has more lacunae than text?
Content is worth wading through these issues, especially when Dio starts writing in the first person, events that he witnessed personally.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was a good read to me, but probably not to anyone who isn't an ardent fan of Roman history.
There are many interesting facts here, and Dio packs a lot of information about a lot of people and events in a fairly short span. Dio covers all the major events, focusing most on the personal character of the Emperors. He clearly shows his reverence for his favorites--Vespasian, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius--and his disgust for those he loathes--Nero, Domitian, Commodus. He is also a solid action writer, and gives more life to battle scenes that other ancient writers I've read.
However, this isn't an easy read. A lot of this probably stems from the fact that this is a translation, and also that sections of these books are missing, but its true nevertheless. The prose didn't have much flow, and the chronology makes odd leaps. Dio also doesn't seem to import much style, either, just bland straightforwardness. While this works for a non-fiction book, it just doesn't have the same flavor as Suetonius's gossipy tone or Eusebius's Godly reverence.