Roman Way

Rating:
Summary: Worse than the Greek Way.
Review: A while ago, I wrote an online review of the Greek Way (same author). I criticized it for being unclear. I thought that no book could ever be more boring than that one. Once again, I was wrong. Edith Hamiliton once again forgot to include things that are relatively important or interesting. Parts of the book include sections on Roman drama, history, and Philosophy.

Rating:
Summary: Should be read with "The Greek Way"
Review: Greece and Rome are the foundations of the modern world system and Western culture. We all owe a big debt to the spirit of those two little countries in southern Europe who gave so much to the world. "Roman Ways" should be read with "Greek Ways" if the reader wants to get a better picture of the achievements of these two sister civilizations. A good introduction to anyone who is learning the classics.

Rating:
Summary: brilliant and thoughtful
Review: I read this book (actually is was a combo of The Greek Way and The Roman Way). I really enjoyed it a lot. Edith Hamilton has a style that seems to bring one back in time. One almost believes he is there experiencing that ancient time. But moreover, one receives a personal feel of all the charactors she so richly describes. Caesar, Cicero, Catullus, Horace, etc. all seem to come alive. Above it all, Ms. Hamilton has a wonderful writing style that manifests itself throughout. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Not close to "The Greek Way"
Review: I read this for my AP European History class, as did "The Greek Way". This book must be too familiar to her "Greek Way" to be appealing to readers who have read both. The text seems to drag on. If you do have hours to kill, though, it's not a bad book. I don't hate it, it actually covers important topics on Rome fairly well, but it could be less boring.

Rating:
Summary: Not close to "The Greek Way"
Review: I read this for my AP European History class, as did "The Greek Way". This book must be too familiar to her "Greek Way" to be appealing to readers who have read both. The text seems to drag on. If you do have hours to kill, though, it's not a bad book. I don't hate it, it actually covers important topics on Rome fairly well, but it could be less boring.

Rating:
Summary: A complete bore!!
Review: i was required to read this book for summer reading and i fell asleep 5 times trying to get through the first chapter. it is boring and pointless. i like books and can read about a page a minute or faster. i found myself taking five minutes to get through one page! i strongly dislike this book

Rating:
Summary: Not the best survey of Rome
Review: I'd have to partially agree with the previous viewer. The Roman Way is boring at times. Hamilton's prose can be haulting, and her analysis somewhat pedantic. However, Hamilton was a product of a certain time and certain educational background, and one has to take that in mind when evaluating her style.

The major problems with the book are two. The first is that this book, when compared to Hamilton's Greek Way, is almost an afterthought. It's easy to see which culture was nearer and dearer to Hamilton, and into which she invested more thought. It's almost as if, having done a survey of the Greeks, Hamilton said to herself: "I suppose I better humor the Romanophiles and say a few words about those Latins."

The second problem is the method of analysis. Hamilton concentrates on the literature of the period, and from this draws her conclusions about Roman mentality. A lot of scholars from her era seem to think of classical society mostly in literary terms. Unfortunately, there is a lot more to a civilization than its poets and dramatists.

Hamilton saw the Greeks as a pleasant people who saw beauty in every day nature, and who tried to place themselves in harmony with that nature. She saw the Romans as people who had little use for beauty, and were instead on a quest to control nature. These generalizations don't do much justice to either culture.

Still, Hamilton is such a giant in the field, you almost have to read her works whether or not you find them sound. And her enthusiasm for the classical world, especially for Greece, is almost infectious.

Rating:
Summary: Should be read with "The Greek Way"
Review: No one wrote about ancient history as well as Hamilton; she made these eras come alive, and explained them in a way that made perfect sense to a 20th-century reader. Her book on "The Greek Way" is even better, because I really dig the Greeks!!

Rating:
Summary: Classic Edith Hamilton
Review: No one wrote about ancient history as well as Hamilton; she made these eras come alive, and explained them in a way that made perfect sense to a 20th-century reader. Her book on "The Greek Way" is even better, because I really dig the Greeks!!

Rating:
Summary: Classic Edith Hamilton
Review: No one wrote about ancient history as well as Hamilton; she made these eras come alive, and explained them in a way that made perfect sense to a 20th-century reader. Her book on "The Greek Way" is even better, because I really dig the Greeks!!