L. Annaei Flori Epitome Rerum Romanarum: Compendio Della Storia Romana

by Florus

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition ++++ L. Annaei Flori Epitome Rerum Compendio Della Storia Romana; Biblioteca Degli Scrittori Latini Lucius Annaeus Florus J. Antonelli, 1841

Genres: History, Classics

212 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1929

Reviews

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epitome of Roman History
By Annaeus Florus (about 70AD – 140AD)
Several authors by the name of Florus are mentioned in Roman History. The author of this work is likely the one who lived at the time of the emperor Hadrian. He was a contemporary of Suetone.
His work, the Epitome of Roman History is a condensed version of Roman History, spanning over seven hundred years, from Romulus to Augustus. From its humble beginning to its greatness and its decline.
Like Seneca, though not using the same divisions, Florus uses as a comparison of the life of a person, from childhood to virile man and the decline of old age.
The work is not a reduced version of Tacitus or Livy’s History of Rome. The style of Florus’ writing is quite different and visibly authentic. He is using a colourful and pleasant vocabulary to describe events precisely in good sequence and never boring. He knows how to recall lively images of actions with intelligent comments of his imagination.
Having said that, it is also true that our author has made a good number of chronological and geographical mistakes. May these serve as proof of authenticity if need be.
Florus is writing his History like an epic poem; the reader will notice how the author is proud of his origins; how often he mentions the Romans as the Royal Nation.
The fact the author wanted a condensed version of history, made him reduce time scales to a minimum and the reader may have the impression that Roman History was just a long list of wars, one after the other. Wars of conquest and in the end civil wars.
But from works of other authors, the reader of Roman History will know how long many of these wars have lasted, how devastating they were and the number of victims just unimaginable, considering that the warriors used only weapons of steel or bronze and no gunpowder.
This relatively short work of History gave A. Florus great celebrity in the middle ages when it was widely used as a textbook in schools.
Editors of the seventeenth century were rivalling to translate the work into French, English, Danish etc. up to twelve languages at the time.
This work can certainly serve as a reference book for readers starting in Roman History.
There will be rich material and suggestions for further reading.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise summary, this is excellent for teaching Roman history.

[Luca Ottavi]

"Ego nolo Florus esse", e iure meritoque, aggiungerei. La carrellata asettica delle guerre combattute da Roma si accompagna a uno stile di pretenziosa brevitas che strizza l'occhio ad autori ben più quotati. Un ottimo bignami per passare l'interrogazione dal grammaticus, in attesa di un più sostanzioso Sallustio.

[Elliot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun to read! Goes fast, provides "wikipedia-quality" synopsis of Roman history up to the time of Augustus and Christ.