Aurelian and the Third Century

Rating:
Summary: The Empire Renascent
Review: This concise and informative biography deals with Aurelian, Emperor of Rome from 270-275; a man who in many ways revitalized the military and politic fiber of Rome, but whose comparatively brief reign has left him largely forgotten. (Indeed until this biography the usual means of reading about Aurelian - other than through Gibbon - was to go to biographies on Queen Zenobia, the Palmyrian rebel who he famously defeated). In every sense, Aurelian's brief but successful reign presaged Diocletian's lengthy and successful one.

The first half of the book is a narrative of his many achievements (peace in Britain, the Eastern frontier restored, an imperial pretender in Gaul defeated, the Aurelian walls constructed); the second is more of an essay-format discussion of the economic and other social aspects of his reign. My only gripe is that the second half is considerably more academic than the first, and as such does not read as well. Having said that, this is an excellent work. Particularly interesting is Watson's observations about the supposed 3rd century "decline"; as he observes, this is an after-the-fact construct, and Romans of that era did not necessarily view themselves as being in the middle of some giant historic slide.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read on the era of the Empire and Aurelian!
Review: This is an excellent book! I was recently in London and discovered this book in a Picadilly area bookstore. I read it when I could, finally finishing it on my flight home. The author dives into the time period and does an excellent breaking down and putting events back into order, backing everything with evidence. Aurelian the Emperor has always been a fascination of mine since childhood (along with Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Julian the Apostate, even Valentinian III; along with every detail of the Roman Empire!), and I am now 48. And to-date this is the best book of literature/ biography of what is known about that fascinating emperor, Aurelian. And one of the best about explaining the backdrop of "Political" Roma during the mid -3rd century. A must read!