The Rise of Imperial Rome AD 14-193 (Essential Histories)

Any review of this book would have to start out by mentioning the fact that the book is part of the Osprey "Essential History" series and that this series is relatively short in terms of length. Books in this series are only 96 pages in length, about a third of which consists of illustration of one sort or another (i.e., maps, photographs of topology and statues of characters discussed in book, etc.). Thus if one is looking for a lengthy tome on the subject this book is not it. The more relevant question is whether or not the book, despite its short length, provides a good succinct discussion of the time period covered. The answer is an unequivocal yes.There are a number of reasons for this. First and foremost is the author's very deep and extensive knowledge of the subject. Dr. Campbell has a PhD in the field and has written extensively on the subject and this knowledge really shows through, especially in regard to his ability to cite historians of antiquity. The book is also very well illustrated in terms of maps and photographs pertaining to the specific subject matter discussed. The book concentrates, almost exclusively, on the emperors involved and the military campaigns themselves. Little outside of this is discussed (i.e., economics, social development, etc.). Considering the short length of the book however, this is not unreasonable. The book is also written in a quite dry and academic manner but considering the author is an academic this is not a surprise. The contents of the book more than make up for this very slight negative.The book, in short, provides a very good overview of the political and military history of the times. Four stars.

Outstanding work, accessible to all readers.

This is a short history of the early imperial years of the Roman Empire. This book is one of the books in the series called "Essential Histories" which is published by the Osprey Publishing Company.

When you consider the quality of the writing combined with the low price, the essential histories series is well worth 5 stars. The volume covers Augustus (post civil war) to Commodus. Detailed without being too dry, analytical without getting bogged down, this is a good text to learn or remind yourself of the main events of era. Very happy with it.

A very good summary - I use it before reading historical novels to get an overall view of the time.

Long winded, too much detail.