Appian’s Roman History

Appian of Alexandria lived in the early-to-mid second century AD, a time when the pax Romana flourished. His Roman History traced, through a series of ethnographic histories, the growth of Roman power throughout Italy and the Mediterranean World. But Appian also told the story of the civil wars which beset Rome from the time of Tiberius Gracchus to the death of Sextus Pompeius Magnus. The standing of his work in modern times is paradoxical. Consigned to the third rank by nineteenth-century historiographers, and poorly served by translators, Appian's Roman History profoundly shapes our knowledge of Republican Rome, its empire and its internal politics. We need to know him better. This collection of 15 new papers from a distinguished international team studies both what Appian had to say and how he said it. The papers engage in a dialogue about the value of Appian's text as a source of history, the relationship between that history and his own times, and the impact on his narrative of the author's own opinions - most notably that Rome enjoyed divinely-ordained good fortune. Some authors demonstrate that Appian's text (and even his mistakes) can yield significant new information, others re-open the question of Appian's use of source material in the light of recent studies showing him to be far more than a transmitter of other people's work.

Appian of Alexandria lived in the early-to-mid second century AD, a time when the pax Romana flourished. His Roman History traced, through a series of ethnographic histories, the growth of Roman power throughout Italy and the Mediterranean World. But Appian also told the story of the civil wars which beset Rome from the time of Tiberius Gracchus to the death of Sextus Pompeius Magnus. The standing of his work in modern times is paradoxical. Consigned to the third rank by nineteenth-century historiographers, and poorly served by translators, Appian's Roman History profoundly shapes our knowledge of Republican Rome, its empire and its internal politics. We need to know him better. This collection of 15 new papers from a distinguished international team studies both what Appian had to say and how he said it. The papers engage in a dialogue about the value of Appian's text as a source of history, the relationship between that history and his own times, and the impact on his narrative of the author's own opinions - most notably that Rome enjoyed divinely-ordained good fortune. Some authors demonstrate that Appian's text (and even his mistakes) can yield significant new information, others re-open the question of Appian's use of source material in the light of recent studies showing him to be far more than a transmitter of other people's work.

Kathryn Welch (University of Sydney) Appian of Alexandria: A ReappraisalAndrew G. Bonnell (University of Queensland) A "very valuable book": Karl Marx and AppianJosiah Osgood (Georgetown University)Breviarium Totius Imperii: The Background of Appian's Roman HistoryJonathan J. Price (Tel Aviv University) Thucydidean Stasis and the Roman Empire in Appian's Interpretation of HistoryJohn Rich (University of Nottingham) Appian, Polybius and the Romans' War with Antiochus the Great: A study in Appian's Sources and MethodsRichard Westall (Catholic University of America, Rome) The Sources for the Civil Wars of Appian of AlexandriaFiona Tweedie (University of Sydney) Appian's Characterisation of Scipio AemilianusEleanor Cowan(University of Sydney) Deceit in AppianLuke Pitcher (Somerville College, Oxford) The Erotics of AppianMartin Stone (University of Sydney) Tiberius Gracchus and the Nations of ItalyKit Morrell (University of Sydney) Appian and the Judiciary Law of M. Livius Drusus (tr. pl. 91)Tom Stevenson (University of Queensland) Appian on the Pharsalus Campaign: Civil Wars 2.48-91Kathryn Welch Programme and Narrative in Civil Wars 2.118-4.138Bronwyn Hopwood (University of New England) Hortensia Speaks: An Authentic Voice of Resistance?Kai Brodersen (Erfurt University) Epitaphios: Appianos and his Treasured Eutychiathesaurizein ten eutychian