The Grandeur That Was Rome

Sidgwick & Jackson Great Civilizations Series

by J.C. Stobart

The Grandeur That Was Rome was first published in 1912, the book illustrates the history of Rome culture and civilization. An excerpt from the author's preface: This book is a continuation of " The Glory that was Greece," written with the same purpose and from the same point of view. The point of view is that of humanity and the progress of civilisation. The value of Rome's contribution to the lasting welfare of mankind is the test of what is to be emphasised or neglected. Hence the instructed reader will find a deliberate attempt to adjust the historical balance which bias, I venture to think, been unfairly deflected by excessive deference to literary and scholastic traditions. The Roman histories of the nineteenth century were wont to stop short with the Republic, because " Classical Latin" ceased with Cicero and Ovid. They followed Livy and Tacitus in regarding the Republic as the hey-day of Roman greatness, and the Empire as merely a distressing sequel beginning and ending in tragedy. From the standpoint of civilisation this is an absurdity. The Republic was a mere preface. The Republic until its last century did nothing for the world, except to win battles whereby the road was opened for the subsequent advance of civilisation. Even the stern tenacity of the Roman defence against Hannibal, admirable as it was, can only be called superior to the still more heroic defence of Jerusalem by the Jews because the former was successful and the latter failed. From the Republican standpoint, Rome is immeasurably inferior to Athens. In short, what seemed important and glorious to Livy will not necessarily remain so after the lapse of nearly two thousand years. Rome is so vast a fact, and of consequences so far-reaching, that every generation may claim a share in interpreting her anew. There is the Rome of the ecclesiastic, of the diplomat, of the politician, of the soldier, of the economist. There is the Rome of the literary scholar and the Rome of the archaeologist.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Archaeology, Ancient History

322 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1912

Reviews

[Carlos Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

先來說說本書書名的來源好了。
如果筆者所查資料無誤，當是來自Allan Poe的《TO HELEN》，原句是：

「Thy Naiad airs have brought me home To the glory that was Greece And the grandeur that was Rome。」

上古時代，希臘、羅馬的確是西方文明的象徵，就像人家會說，政治是希臘的，行政是羅馬，當然，他們留給後人的絕不止於此。

作者J.C.斯托巴特用這句話來當書名，或許有其意涵吧。不過因為書中沒提供原文寫法，筆者試著搜索倒是沒查到本書作者的來歷。(多少也有點小偷懶)不過這一系列向來以翻譯經典人文叢書為主，作者的兩本著作《光榮屬於希臘》、《偉大屬於羅馬》也都是有點年代的作品了。

比起《羅馬人的故事》系列，本書當然是比較學術性的作品，包含的範圍也比較廣一些，，基本上作者為了符合書名，所以把時間點截止在奧古斯都的時代，然後再在卷末略略提了一下到五賢帝的事蹟。

筆者對於本書的期待，是比較接近史論的，希望能看到不同觀點的一些看法。作者在這方面，只能說是差強人意吧。他的評論大致上沒有太多的創見，很多都只是淺觸即止，比較有意思的頂多是討論到日耳曼人時，偷偷婊了一下德國而已。

另外，在翻譯上也是相當的令人失望，有蠻多地方都不怎麼通順，雖然附圖蠻多的，可惜不能彌補這個重大的瑕疵。

這本書蠻遺憾的，並不符合我的期望，也不推薦大家選購。

不過倒是因為這本書認識了Ronald Syme跟他的那本《The Roman Revolution》，不知道有沒有中譯本。

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最近Total War：Rome II出了，所以把架上這本有點久遠前看的書重讀了一遍，回頭看看當初的評論，赫然發現倒是沒太多想改寫的。

好啦，其實這樣講好像是來騙錢，等等觀眾就放熊出來趕我下台了~:P

斯托巴特這本書嚴格來說，對於寫來當入門書而言，不算差。
現在回頭讀他的史論，是還頗有感觸，看來一部作品也是要挑對時間看它的。而且這本書的附圖不少，都是經過挑選的，雖說是黑白照片，但也頗有價值。比較可惜的是，翻譯有點小瑕疵，令我不會想把它推薦給剛踏入羅馬史領域的朋友。

《羅馬人的故事》是不錯的書，但很多人都被那十五巨冊嚇到了。好消息是，中秋節，廣場要推出一本《羅馬的崛起》，跨越的時代跟本書大致上相若，想談的主題也一樣，作者Anthony Everitt 寫過《奧古斯都》、《西塞羅》，都在Amazon有不錯評價，是可以期待。

順待一提，關於羅馬史的古典作品的翻譯狀況：

Livy的作品《建城以來史》前十卷有被上海人民出版社推出拉漢對照版，可以搭配五南的《論李維羅馬史》讀。
Tacitus的《編年史》、《歷史》，北京商務有出，不易購得，建議買台灣商務版。至於《阿古利可拉傳、日耳曼尼亞志》則是只有北京商務版。不過聽說對岸有人想把他的作品全部重翻並且注釋，期待一下吧！
Sallustius的《喀提林陰謀、朱古達戰爭》只有北京商務版。
Caesar的作品太多家翻譯了，台灣有席代岳將軍，對岸就不說了，至少有三家，尤其是最近連出了兩個新版，不知道是夯什麼....:P
Suetonius的《羅馬十二帝王傳》北京商務版剛剛再版，比起有附英文版的三聯版，我還是比較喜歡前者。
Plutarchus的《希臘羅馬名人列傳》就不用說了，席老將軍版吧。
Appian的《羅馬史》最近北京商務剛再版，兩大冊配上詳細地圖，很值得收。
Polybius的《羅馬帝國的崛起》就不用說了。
Varro的《論農業》似乎不好找，北京商務有出，老加圖那本印象中也有，但絕版了。

大概這樣。
偏文學的我就不提了...
共勉之。

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very old book, from about 1912 and revised a bit later. It's a heavy-duty history, written in an old-fashioned and quite beautiful style, packed with information and not at all lacking in the author's perspective, opinion, and humor. The small typeface and 500-plus pages may be slightly off-putting, but it is thoroughly enjoyable page after page.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in the early 20th century to a small group and then reprinted post WW1 to a bored public thirsty for reading material this history of Rome is rather old worldly in both its format, writing and style.

I found the first half of the book dealing with the republic, general history and building of the empire very interesting and compelling however the latter half dealing with architecture/art and the family infighting/chains of succession a bit dull really. I think it might have been more the writing style than the subject matter.

Overall, a pretty good fact filled book with a ton of information on Rome & the Romans.

[Patroclus · Rating 2 out of 5]

some of the visual sources included were wrong and the author's opinions on Rome were bland and unoriginal. i read this book in the hopes of academic scholarship and it instead became a game to see how many mistakes i could spot

[James Boardman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good history - archaic language.