From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome 133 BC to AD 68 (Routledge Classics)

Scullard continues where he left off at the end of "A History of the Roman World: 753-146 BC." I gave that book four stars, and if I could I would give this one 4 and 1/2, but I had to choose between four and five. The author maintains his academic style which can be both informative and tedious.I found the first section, which talked a lot about latifundia, pretty dry and kind of confusing. I blame my lack of background knowledge rather than any authorial deficiencies. However, the extended discussion of the need for land reform and the marginalization of the peasant farmer (and how this affected the Roman military) does help one to understand the tumultuous years of nearly incessant civil wars which were to follow. After this initial background, I found the bulk of the narrative very engaging and it held my interest with ease.I only have two issues with this book, one related to content and one related to the digital format. First, I felt like once Scullard powered his way through the Principate of Augustus, he started to run out of steam and seemed to treat the remaining years (from Tiberius to Nero) as something of an afterthought. Second, you can tap the link in the text proper to take you to the endnote, but the corresponding number in the endnote is just plain text and does not function as a link. This is a minor complaint as you can just tap the back button on your device.After reading Scullard's two surveys, the highest compliment I can give is that I immediately wished he had written a third covering the remaining years of the Empire. I even came up with a title: "From Nero to Zero"! Instead I will have to chop my way through the dense thicket of Gibbon's account of the decline of the Western Empire. That is unless anyone has any recommendations for the twilight period of the Western Empire. I've read Norwich's three volumes on the Eastern Empire, so I really want to find a book (a little less challenging than Gibbon) that covers this gap between 68 AD and 476 AD (or even just 330 AD).

I loved the information Scullard put forth in his history. It was a great sampling of political leaders in 133 BC to AD 68. Shows how the Julio-Claudian period came about, and what happened once it started. It had just enough details that you would understand the politics of the period very well, but not quite enough if you were to focus on any one aspect of this period, so you would need to supplement with another, more focused book on the particular area you need. Wonderful for a history course on this subject.

This account of the period in question goes into amazing detail about not only the events, but also the social and political forces at work which played an important role in determining the outcomes. It gave me a better understanding of the transition of Rome from a Republic into a Dictatorship.

It was very detailed but still interesting. It was nice to find a Roman history book that did not start out at the founding of Rome. Who, except phd candidates cares about that stuff. This book covered the time period that seems to have been the most important.

Good overview. A very good place to start even if on the dry side and dated in many ways.

excellent summary of the time-period

Living every pages.

This is a fabulous book for serious students. The intended audience is not the casual or general reader, but someone looking for a rather detailed account of the period that set the Republic into its death spiral and ending with the last Julio-Claudian emperor. It assumes some knowledge of Latin (the Senatus Consultum Ultimum of the other review) as well as some grasp of the workings of the Roman govt. I majored in Greek and Roman history, and I would put this as a third year text for someone who's read Suetonius or other such primary sources. It's a great book, but it aims at a fairly narrow audience.

I came to this after listening to the Emperors of Rome podcast. The book both fills in further detail of the Julio-Claudians and gives some information which allows an alternative or more balanced understanding of each Emperor and places them into the background of the Grachi, Sulla etc.However, I’m not a Latin speaker so I became increasingly frustrated when Scullard peppers his work with important Latin quotes. After a while laboriously typing these into Google translate becomes infuriating!! After all this time in print you would have thought the publisher would add translations.

Great introductory book for those interested in Roman history which is scholarly but not boring and difficult to follow. My only gripe is that Scullard will occasionally use Latin quotes which go untranslated, which could be difficult for those who are not fluent in Latin. When I first read this book however I did not know any Latin and was still able to follow it.

A proper history. Really well sourced and explanations are very thorough. If you are studying Roman history then you should really have this book.

This was my 'A' level text book and I am delighted to be able to get reacquainted with it once more (and not have to write any essays!) A good overview of how the Republic became an Empire.

Still a classic and reliable account, largely narrative. Of course not updated since HHS died thirty or so years ago, so teh reader mustn't expect either that the last word has been said on any matter (it never is) or that Scullard's interpretation is necessarily the right one. But as a tightly written, readable, and reliable short history of 133 BC–AD 68 it can hardly be bettered.