Cassius Dio S Forgotten History Of Early Rome

Cassius Dio’s Forgotten History of Early Rome brings together ten studies on the literary, historiographical, rhetorical, and generic and textual dimensions of the least explored section of Dio’s enormous history of Rome: Books 1–21.

Dio Cassius (Cassius Dio), c. 150-235 CE, was born in Bithynia. Little of his Roman History survives, but missing portions are partly supplied from elsewhere and there are many excerpts. Dio's work is a vital source for the last years of the Roman republic and the first four Roman emperors. Dio Cassius (Cassius Dio), ca. 150- 235 CE, was born at Nicaea in Bithynia in Asia Minor. On the death of his father (Roman governor of Cilicia) he went in 180 to Rome, entered the Senate, and under the emperor Commodus was an advocate. He held high offices, becoming a close friend of several emperors. He was made governor of Pergamum and Smyrna; consul in 220; proconsul of Africa; governor of Dalmatia and then of Pannonia; and consul again in 229. Of the eighty books of Dio's great work Roman History, covering the era from the legendary landing of Aeneas in Italy to the reign of Alexander Severus (222-235 CE), we possess Books 36-60 (36 and 55-60 have gaps), which cover the years 68 BCE-47 CE. The missing portions are partly supplied, for the earlier gaps by Zonaras, who relies closely on Dio, and for some later gaps (Book 35 onwards) by John Xiphilinus (of the eleventh century). There are also many excerpts. The facilities for research afforded by Dio's official duties and his own industry make him a very vital source for Roman history of the last years of the republic and the first four emperors. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Dio Cassius is in nine volumes.

Method -- Oratory -- Morality -- Institutions & Empire.

Cassius Dio and the Late Roman Republic offers new understandings of Dio’s late republican narrative both as a well-informed historical source and a skillful narrative informed by the rich tradition of Greco-Roman history writing.

This volume offers an introduction to the life and work of the 3rd-century-AD Greco-Roman senator and historian Cassius Dio, whose work, although imperfectly preserved in 80 books, is of fundamental importance to our understanding of Roman history. It is said that Dio is not one of the best ancient historians and his Roman history, due to its sheer size, is often imprecise and superficial in its analysis. It has also been assumed that there was no political agenda behind the work, and that Dio's principal value to us is as a reliable copyist, who mediated the works of other, and better sources. This introduction to his life and work offers a different picture. Here, Dio is presented through his Greek cultural lens as a politician with a clear vision for how Roman politics and government should be organized. Carefully selected examples will be the starting points for fresh critical analysis of Dio's work and its legacy, both in antiquity and through to the Enlightenment. The book assumes no familiarity with Cassius Dio, his writing or context. All text will be translated and suggested further reading will point readers towards avenues for more detailed study.

Cassius Dio: The Impact of Violence, War, and Civil War is part of a renewed interest in the Roman historian Cassius Dio. This volume focuses on Dio’s approaches to foreign war and stasis as well as civil war.

The volume Cassius Dio the Historian: Methods and Approaches explores the Roman historian’s methodology and agendas. He had his own agendas for writing his Roman History, but at the same time, he was a historian with an ambition to tell the history of Rome.