Romans and Aliens

by J.P.V.D. Balsdon

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1979

About the author

John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon (per Library of Congress)

Reviews

[Tyler Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ignore the bombastic title; this book (more a sourcebook than a monograph) examines how the Romans viewed themselves, how the Romans viewed foreigners, and how foreign peoples view the Romans. It's a shame that Balsdon died with the book in such an unfinished state- there's all sorts of fascinating tidbits in here, and I'd love to see what kind of thesis he would develop from this.

[Brent Lambell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first serious history text I had ever read. A junior college professor assigned this to me and it was way over my head from the use of Latin to the basic tools and verbage of the history discipline. I feel like a second read now would yield a very different experience, but the length and density of the book makes me feel uninspired to do so. Maybe another time. All that said, I remember the book being well laid out and it had a lot of information on the different cultures and their relationships within and outside of the Roman Empire.