Pax Romana: War, Peace and Conquest in the Roman World Kindle Edition

The book concludes with a few reflections on the "pax Romana," Roman peace as it existed over centuries. The author, Goldsworthy, says that "it took the domination of an empire like Rome to establish peace over such a wide area." He follows up: ". . .this was a remarkable acdhievement and one deserving admiration, whether or not it balances distaste for the savagery of Roman conquest."Goldsworthy has written other magisterial works. I have read two of those--biographies of Julius Caesar and Augustus. The works are exemplary and give us much detail and reflections on the outcomes of rule by both. This, too, is not just a rendering of what happened and when. There is that, but more as well. Goldsworthy steps back from time to time and reflects on the Pax Romana.Some of the more interesting findings:a. The Empire would leave a fair amount of administration of a newly conquered area to local rulers--if they were willing to submit to Rome and perform in accordance with the Empire's dictates and interest. It is interesting to see how many conquered peoples were willing to accept this state of affairs.b. The Empire cut also decide to "cut and run" if the cost-benefit calculus was not attractive. For instance, withdrawing from some Germanic lands, because of the difficulty of subduing these people.c. A willingness to be savage of an opponent resisted and the Romans had the strength to overcome them.d. Many of the subject nations were willing to work within the Roman parameters, because they received benefits, such a better communication and economic health.e. The surprsingly thin administrative resources of Rome. Governors were sent from Rome to exercise authority in the varios parts of the Empire. But they did not have much Roman bureaucratic infrastructure.Goldsworthy can also assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Pax Romana. All in all, a really fine work. If you want to understand the nature of Pax Romana, this is a very fine resource.

This book is well written and filled with fascinating information I’d never heard about the Roman Empire. My only complaint is the author broke the book up into subjects rather than chronological. I know some readers prefer it that way, I found it sometimes difficult to keep facts straight with the historical jumping around. Still 100% worth reading!

Good book. I wish there were more breaks / synopsis in the sections. Some sections were very long and you forgot the point that was being presented by the time you reached the end.However, inwant an overalll view of the Roman ways over the centuries and i came away satisfied. I may skim read this again to solidify some of the information in my head better.

Great outline on how to hold a society in place and get them to think all’s well

The Roman period of history is one of those subjects where there are so many books written on the subject that it can be a bit difficult to figure out where to start. After seeing this book recommended in a military magazine, I decided that I would try this book. Having merely glossed over the subject of Rome in history class, I had always wanted to know more about this predecessor to modern Western civilization.The book starts off with an introduction by the author explaining that modern historians often focus only on the colonial aspect of Rome and tend to paint Rome as nothing more than a brutal, horrific oppressor of its citizens. This is done with limited evidence and large amount of the book is spent on debunking these assertions with examples and documentation. The story of Rome itself is divided into two sections; one for the Republic and the other for the Empire. Since this is more of a summary, the reader is given the events and people of the time without being bogged down too much with the details. After the timeline is established at the beginning of each section, the author uses subsequent chapters to flesh out the various duties of the Romans, along with fleshing out the ethnic groups and their life under Roman Rule. This provides the reader with a bigger picture of what the Roman Republic and Empire were like for those who lived during that period of time.I enjoyed reading this book quite a bit and the narrative is easy to follow. Learning about the lives of the Romans and how they remained the dominant power in the area for about five hundred years is fascinating. It also provides some lessons that can be applied to our own time. The only drawback of this book is that a lot of time is spent debunking the modern historical narrative that has developed around Rome. At first, I was appreciative of this effort, and I understand why it has to be addressed. However, it did get a bit tiresome by the end of the book to have to be pulled back into modernity to address one more fallacious argument driven by the narrative. That the author felt the need to do this is a sign of the times we live in, I suppose.Overall, though it's a very good summary of Roman times that provides the reader with plenty of sources about the subject matter. If you'd like to get started on learning about Rome, then this is a good place to begin.

Too mired in the details with only brief discussion of the Roman leaders, their lifestyles and the lifestyles of every day Romans and their subjects. I glazed over at the detail of armor swords and other implements.

Muy bien escrito y muy bien explicado en todos los sentidos históricos de la roma republica y porteriormente el imperio.

Rome conquérante, Rome prédatrice, Rome destructrice... Et pourtant, finalement, Rome instauratrice de la paix universelle. C'est cet aspect de Rome que nous présente A. Goldsworthy dans un essai lumineux. Bravo!

This is an outstanding book. Not only is it well written but is also very approachable. Mr Goldsworthy takes on the ambitious task of covering Roman history from the early days to the collapse. It seems initially that he will cover most of the ground that many others have covered, some of them very well (see Mary Beard's excellent SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome) which he does but then veers off to cover areas not usually written about such as the economy and policies of Rome and their conquered territories, structure of the Legions and the auxiliaries who fought for them. He argues that while the hand of Rome could be heavy and at times very brutal it was no better or worse than any other extant power and was to the advantage of these territories because they accrued very real advantages for themselves. To prove this point he covers a number of conquered places that became provinces to show that the Roman Peace was real.Even if you have read a lot about Rome (the Republic and Imperial) you'll find something (if not a number) discussions in this book that are new or only given cursory coverage in other books.

Libro interessante che affronta il tema della Pax Romana e che anzi si chiede se sia realmente esistita. Sfata tantissimi cliché Hollywoodiani che non fanno altro che mostrare l'impero romano come solamente sanguinario e guidato da despoti o folli.Un libro questo che con equilibrio e obiettività ci ricorda che calarsi nell'epoca che si tenta di comprendere aiuta a non saltare a conclusioni frettolose e macchiate dal politically correct per fare improbabili paragoni dell'impero romano con l'era contemporanea.

another great book by mr goldsworthy. judicious examination of the effects of roman rule and the improvement in most people’s lives of the pax romana.