Have you read any good books lately? (history/numismatics related)

[CPK]

I just finished reading Robert Harris's novel Pompeii and I thought it was excellent - well-researched, colorful, and gripping, especially toward the end. Set in AD 79, the plot follows a young aqueduct engineer named Marcus Attilius. The Aqua Augusta, an aqueduct which feeds numerous coastal Italian cities, has suddenly dried up, and Attilius is tasked with finding and fixing the problem. This leads him to the city of Pompeii, where he finds himself caught up in a complex web of intrigue among the city's most powerful - and corrupt - leaders. Tensions rise in the stifling heat of late August, as Attilius tries to simultaneously fix the aqueduct, find out why the former aquarius went missing, and avoid being killed by those whose corruption he threatens to expose. Against all this is the brooding backdrop of Mt. Vesuvius - which has recently been exhibiting strange and disturbing behavior.

The book not only gives a vivid depiction of what it must have been like living through the Vesuvius eruption, but it also paints in rich detail the sights, sounds, and smells of everyday life in the late-first century Roman world. The author obviously did much research into the subject and did a great job of conveying these impressions to our time. If you enjoy a good novel and Roman history I highly recommend!

What have you been reading lately?

[Curtisimo]

I’m currently in the process of reading Tom Holland’s Persian Fire. A very enjoyable read so far. 

[CPK]

20 minutes ago, Curtisimo said:

I’m currently in the process of reading Tom Holland’s Persian Fire. A very enjoyable read so far. 

Interesting. I was just thinking recently that I'd like to read more about the Persian (Achaemenid) Empire. I will have to check that one out.

[DonnaML]

27 minutes ago, CPK said:

I just finished reading Robert Harris's novel Pompeii and I thought it was excellent - well-researched, colorful, and gripping, especially toward the end. Set in AD 79, the plot follows a young aqueduct engineer named Marcus Attilius. The Aqua Augusta, an aqueduct which feeds numerous coastal Italian cities, has suddenly dried up, and Attilius is tasked with finding and fixing the problem. This leads him to the city of Pompeii, where he finds himself caught up in a complex web of intrigue among the city's most powerful - and corrupt - leaders. Tensions rise in the stifling heat of late August, as Attilius tries to simultaneously fix the aqueduct, find out why the former aquarius went missing, and avoid being killed by those whose corruption he threatens to expose. Against all this is the brooding backdrop of Mt. Vesuvius - which has recently been exhibiting strange and disturbing behavior.

The book not only gives a vivid depiction of what it must have been like living through the Vesuvius eruption, but it also paints in rich detail the sights, sounds, and smells of everyday life in the late-first century Roman world. The author obviously did much research into the subject and did a great job of conveying these impressions to our time. If you enjoy a good novel and Roman history I highly recommend!

What have you been reading lately?

I liked that book, as well as his trilogy of novels about Cicero. As well as a lot of his novels in more modern settings! He's certainly prolific.

[Cordoba]

I'd recently got around to finishing Money and Power in Hellenistic Bactria. very interesting if you're into baktrian coins, and useful die study

[David Atherton]

I love Harris' Pompeii! Well researched and quite gripping. A film was supposed to made based on the book years ago, but nothing came of it. Instead we got Paul W. S. Anderson's bombastic Pompeii in 2014. Oh well.

I finished Tom Holland's Pax over the holidays ... it contains a thorough distillation of Flavian history with a superemely entertaining narrative. But beware ... you can almost play a drinking game with how many times you come across the word 'stupefying' in the text!

Currently, I'm waiting on Barnes and Noble to deliver Mary Beard's latest book Emperor of Rome. 

[kirispupis]

I'm currently reading three books.

I'm only about 40 pages in so far, but it's an engaging read - like all her books.

 

I have ten coins from Samaria now, so I felt it was worth having a reference. This is probably the best reference I've seen in my (small) numismatic book collection.

 

I'm sure the original poem is interesting, but each book is translated by someone different and several of them should never be in the business of translation. I can't stand it when the translator tries to add his/her "touch" to the work. It should try as faithfully as possible to interpret the material. I want to finish this, but I'm having major trouble with the translations.

I recently finished this one, which remains a classic. 

I prefer to read ancient sources about ancient history because I dislike the tendency of modern authors to factor in political/social constraints that exist today but not then. Robert Graves is guilty of a bit of this, but overall the read was good. Most modern novels based in antiquity are awful, but I liked this one.

[lordmarcovan]

Robert Harris' Roman-era stuff is awesome.  I don't read much fiction anymore, but for my next Audible audiobook credit, I am contemplating his Act of Oblivion, set in England and America in 1660.  I'm sure that listening to it will make me want a coin of Commonwealth or Oliver Cromwell all the more.

[TheTrachyEnjoyer]

4 hours ago, kirispupis said:

 

I prefer to read ancient sources about ancient history because I dislike the tendency of modern authors to factor in political/social constraints that exist today but not then. Robert Graves is guilty of a bit of this, but overall the read was good. Most modern novels based in antiquity are awful, but I liked this one.

I was gifted the same for Christmas and started reading it yesterday. The other book Ive read since Christmas was Quo Vadis

This century old romance novel may not at first glance seem like the kind of book I would read. Alas, it was gifted to me so I decided to give it a chance…and thoroughly enjoyed it from cover to cover. The meticulously researched work almost reads like a detailed guide to ancient Rome while the elegant translation lends the entire work a flair of poetry. The plot is exciting and the Characters see much development over the course of events. 

On the far side of a pendulum that recently has swung to rehabilitate the reputation of Nero, this work highlights an equally valid picture of a licentious, monstrous man who ruins the lives of many to satiate his own gluttony and lust. For a glance at Nero, a historically accurate (if fictional) portrayal of his many cronies, and the simultaneous rise of Christianity in the empire, it made for an intriguing read that I would recommend to anyone interested in the era.  

Edited January 10 by TheTrachyEnjoyer

[TheTrachyEnjoyer]

The other two more specialized books that I received for Christmas were

Ive been waiting what feels like eons to read the work on Michael Palaeologus but the price tag held me at bay. I can not wait to begin. 

[Limes]

Currently slowly going through this one. It helps in better understanding the reverse of some of my coins. And it fascinating to go through it and see/read all the marvellous constructions the Romans had built in their city over the centuries. One day Ill hope to visit the eternal city again with this book in my bag. 

[CPK]

Lots of good suggestions to look into here! 👍

Years ago I read Robert Graves' books I, Claudius and Claudius the God - both good, really classic, books.

One of the last books I read was Septimius Severus: the African Emperor by Anthony Birley. It's a good book, a bit dense sometimes in detail but I enjoyed it. Birley evidently dug up every scrap of information related to Septimius Severus for the book, making it an extremely thorough work.

 

[Deinomenid]

For audiobooks, the BBC do an excellent weekly series called In Our Time which has an  hour on a given  topic with top-level experts on whatever it is. It's completely free and available in the US too as long as you use their website rather than podcast. Tiberius was very recent  but there are many more relevant here, from a purely historical point of  view to more philosophical bent. Marcus Aurelius, Justinian, Herodotus, Pericles, Persepolis,  Horace, all sorts.

Eg Roman slavery

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09xnl51

 

Re Mary Beard, when I picked up my Emperors copy they were all signed by the author. Hatchards, Piccadilly, London. (I know  probably of limited use but  just in case as they do deliver internationally. Fantastic old shop too, hundreds of ancients books.)

 

Best recent specifically numismatic read was Schaps, The Invention of Coinage, which is a surprisingly easy read and explains a great deal that might otherwise seem a bit  strange about the whole process. Money wasn't an obvious thing at all. I remember wondering why on earth would say Priam try to "buy off" Achilles with tripods and cauldrons, rather than gold. This book is excellent at the whole process and  indeed refers tongue in cheek to the spits, bowls, cauldrons and tripods of elite  gift-giving as  a kitchen utensil economy.

 

 

[DonnaML]

7 hours ago, lordmarcovan said:

Robert Harris' Roman-era stuff is awesome.  I don't read much fiction anymore, but for my next Audible audiobook credit, I am contemplating his Act of Oblivion, set in England and America in 1660.  I'm sure that listening to it will make me want a coin of Commonwealth or Oliver Cromwell all the more.

I've read it. Excellent book!

[Prieure de Sion]

 

Edited January 10 by Prieure de Sion

[expat]

I have just finished a fictional thriller and now I will start my Christmas gift from my Daughter

[KenDorney]

I'm a bit behind in my reading.  I have about a dozen in my 'immediate read' pile, and maybe another 50 to get around to eventually (and I'm always buying more).  Anyway, I went to the library book sale a while back and they happened to have quite a number of historical fiction titles.

[DonnaML]

1 hour ago, KenDorney said:

I'm a bit behind in my reading.  I have about a dozen in my 'immediate read' pile, and maybe another 50 to get around to eventually (and I'm always buying more).  Anyway, I went to the library book sale a while back and they happened to have quite a number of historical fiction titles.

The Dream of Scipio is one of my very favorite historical novels ever. And I've read a lot of them!

[Phil Anthos]

I love the classics and I have 25 different interpretations of the Iliad. But when my PTSD is particularly oppressive I fall back on historical fiction for distraction. I love Patrick O'Brian and Forester and almost any nautical fiction set during the Napoleonic wars. Also Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series. For a change of pace I'll go to Roman era fiction such as Steven Saylor or Lindsay Davis' Falco series set during Vespasian's reign. Little thought required. 

And then it's usually back to the classics. 

~ Peter 

[Dafydd]

2 hours ago, Phil Anthos said:

I love the classics and I have 25 different interpretations of the Iliad. But when my PTSD is particularly oppressive I fall back on historical fiction for distraction. I love Patrick O'Brian and Forester and almost any nautical fiction set during the Napoleonic wars. Also Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series. For a change of pace I'll go to Roman era fiction such as Steven Saylor or Lindsay Davis' Falco series set during Vespasian's reign. Little thought required. 

And then it's usually back to the classics. 

~ Peter 

Patrick O'Brian is also a huge favourite of mine. For many years I researched Nelson , mainly because of bizarre coincidences in my life relating to Nelson and for Napoleonic fiction you cannot beat O'Brian and he was an interesting character.

In the last couple of weeks I have read these related to coins or to a period in which I collect coins.

 

The first three came from Pen and Sword who are a fantastic resource. 

 

 

This one was a Christmas present and every time I read a Simon Scarrow I say I will never read another one because they are so formulaic, a little like Lee Child, the heroes always win and there is some predictable fight and outcome at a staged point in the novel. Nevertheless a gift is a gift and I will certainly probably read the next one.....

 

 

Not ancients but another Christmas gift as I tend to pick Morgans up when I visit the States. I am sure it is some sort of illness because from a distance of two feet they are all the same and the mintmarks VAM errors and mints don't excite me. Originally the excuse was silver in preparation for an economic collapse but then I started to pick up graded ones. I guess I need some sort of therapy.

 

 

I bought this when I was out Christmas Shopping using my Waterstones rewards points. Waterstones in the UK is a little like a small version of Barnes and Noble. I like Mary Beard as her books are light reading but I prefer her TV documentaries whenever I have time to look at TV which is seldom.

This is another Christmas gift , I collect English coinage and a "Cartwheel Twopence" was a very early acquisition more than 50 years, ago and I still have it despite recklessly trading my main collection for military medals after some frustrating coin deals where dealers tried downgrading my coins, untouched since I bought them from the same famous name dealers. 

 

That's it on coin related reading the rest is quite diverse as I am an eclectic reader reading really anything I can turn a page on.

 

Edited January 10 by Dafydd
Typo

[CPK]

We went to Barnes & Noble last Friday, and I splurged a bit:

I don't know very much about Napoleon so I was wanting to get a good biography. This one, at nearly a thousand pages, should keep me busy for awhile. The book Caesar was recommended me by a friend, who spoke very highly of the author Adrian Goldsworthy - and when I saw a book about Philip and Alexander by the same author, I couldn't resist. The biography of Cicero was on my Christmas wish list this year (I was gifted a different book), so I was happy to pick that up as well.

Right now I'm reading Service With a Smile by P.G. Wodehouse, one of my favorite authors. As soon as I am finished with that I want to start on one of my new books - but I haven't decided which one yet! 🤔

[TheTrachyEnjoyer]

8 hours ago, CPK said:

We went to Barnes & Noble last Friday, and I splurged a bit:

I don't know very much about Napoleon so I was wanting to get a good biography. This one, at nearly a thousand pages, should keep me busy for awhile. The book Caesar was recommended me by a friend, who spoke very highly of the author Adrian Goldsworthy - and when I saw a book about Philip and Alexander by the same author, I couldn't resist. The biography of Cicero was on my Christmas wish list this year (I was gifted a different book), so I was happy to pick that up as well.

Right now I'm reading Service With a Smile by P.G. Wodehouse, one of my favorite authors. As soon as I am finished with that I want to start on one of my new books - but I haven't decided which one yet! 🤔

Great purchases. Ive read the right three and all were enjoyable, especially Goldsworthy’s Caesar

[Svessien]

After having been alive for 50 years, I have finally picked up the Bible. I find it a very interesting book, although this desert god in the old testament is a rather unsympathetic figure.... 

Also, I came across a book that I knew I needed to have: "The book of symbols". It even has a coin in it.

 

[DonnaML]

On 1/12/2024 at 5:55 AM, TheTrachyEnjoyer said:

Great purchases. Ive read the right three and all were enjoyable, especially Goldsworthy’s Caesar

The only non-fiction books by Adrian Goldsworthy I've read are his book on Hadrian's Wall (which I liked) and his recent Pax Romana -- which I like but still haven't quite managed to finish! However, I've read each of his current series of several historical novels that take place in Roman Britain, and very much enjoyed them. As novelists who are also scholars of Roman history go, though, my favorite is still Harry Sidebottom. I've loved each and every one of his books.  

[ambr0zie]

I am currently reading Douglas Jackson's Caligula. 

I like the history combined with fiction (or the other way around). I will not provide any spoilers, but I find the book very pleasant, surely not a historical document, but this is what I was looking for - a "light" book, perfect for 30 minutes - 1 hour before sleep.