James Romm Reihenfolge der Bücher

James Romm ci accompagna avventurosamente negli ultimi decenni di libertà dell’antica Grecia fino alla distruzione di Tebe da parte di Alessandro Magno; e allo stesso tempo ci fa scoprire la saga del più grande corpo militare dell’epoca, il Battaglione sacro: un reparto d’élite di 300 uomini reclutati tra coppie di amanti che rimase imbattuto per quarant’anni. Romm mette in luce un momento caotico della storia antica, decenni segnati da battaglie, dispute ideologiche e scontri tra imperi, regni e città, dall’ascesa di uomini forti senza scrupoli e da donne coraggiose. In gioco c’erano la libertà, la democrazia e il destino di Tebe, all’epoca la principale potenza del mondo greco. Se ne Il fantasma sul trono Romm ci aveva raccontato il destino dell’Impero macedone dopo la morte di Alessandro Magno, ora ci porta a poco prima dell’avventura del famoso condottiero, quando la Grecia combatte per l’ultima volta per la propria libertà. E in un testo avvincente ed erudito insieme, ci ritroviamo immersi in un grande affresco storico difficile da dimenticare.

Marcus Aurelius' Meditations serves as a timeless guide for living a good life, blending stoic philosophy with practical wisdom. This illustrated edition enhances his teachings with thematic chapters, modern commentary, and curated life lessons tailored for contemporary readers. It features fifty meditations paired with thoughtful artwork that brings Aurelius' insights to life, making it an engaging introduction to stoicism. Whether contemplating resilience or harmony, this book offers a visually enriched pathway to understanding and applying Aurelius' enduring principles.

A portrait of one of the ancient world's first political celebrities, who veered from failure to success and back again

The historians of Ancient Greece pioneered a new literary craft, leaving an enduring legacy that forms the foundation of a major discipline. This accessible edition features key selections from Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Plutarch, whose biographies rely on primary sources now lost. It compiles their most popular and widely taught works, charting landmark events such as the Persian War, Peloponnesian War, and the lives of Alexander the Great and Demetrius, offering a sweeping portrait of the Hellenic world. These historians were the first to explore the possibilities of their craft, emphasizing that historical writing transcends mere chronicles of past events. Together, their works highlight each author's focus on themes like religion, leadership, character, and the lessons of war. For instance, readers are prompted to consider Herodotus's inclusion of speeches, dialogues, dreams, and oracles as part of the factual record. Thucydides offers insights into human nature that remain constant over time, while Plutarch frames historical biography as a means of depicting moral qualities. As contemporaries of the eras they chronicled, Thucydides and Xenophon provide vital eyewitness accounts of their tumultuous times.

From classicist James Romm comes a thrilling deep dive into the last decades of ancient Greek freedom leading up to Alexander the Great’s destruction of Thebes—and the saga of the greatest military corps of the age, the Theban Sacred Band, a unit composed of 150 pairs of male lovers. The story of the Sacred Band, an elite 300-man corps recruited from pairs of lovers, highlights a chaotic era of ancient Greek history, four decades marked by battles, ideological disputes, and the rise of vicious strongmen. At stake was freedom, democracy, and the fate of Thebes, at this time the leading power of the Greek world. The tale begins in 379 BC, with a group of Theban patriots sneaking into occupied Thebes. Disguised in women’s clothing, they cut down the agents of Sparta, the state that had cowed much of Greece with its military might. To counter the Spartans, this group of patriots would form the Sacred Band, a corps whose history plays out against a backdrop of Theban democracy, of desperate power struggles between leading city-states, and the new prominence of eros, sexual love, in Greek public life. After four decades without a defeat, the Sacred Band was annihilated by the forces of Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander in the Battle of Chaeronea—extinguishing Greek liberty for two thousand years. Buried on the battlefield where they fell, they were rediscovered in 1880—some skeletons still in pairs, with arms linked together. From violent combat in city streets to massive clashes on open ground, from ruthless tyrants to bold women who held their era in thrall, The Sacred Band follows the twists and turns of a crucial historical moment: the end of the treasured freedom of ancient Greece.

Wenn die Philosophen Trauer tragen! Wir kennen den edlen Römer Seneca, den Stoiker und Autor ethischer Schriften, der mit verklärtem Blick seinen Tod erwartet. Aber es gibt noch einen anderen Seneca – den skrupellosen Politiker und Tyrannenlehrer, der als engster Berater Neros fungiert. Seine Geschichte erzählt James Romm in diesem packenden Buch über das alltägliche Sterben am Hof des Kaisers. Wird es Seneca als Erzieher des jungen Nero gelingen, seinen Zögling zum ersten römischen „Philosophenkönig“ zu formen? Dem steht der Sinn eher nach Musik, Frauen und rauschenden Gelagen. Kaum dass er im Jahre 54 seine Regierung antritt, beginnt sich eine Spirale aus Verunsicherung, Misstrauen und Größenwahn zu drehen. Mit scharfem Blick für die Windungen der neronischen Tyrannenherrschaft zeichnet Romm das Grauen nach, das bald in Rom um sich greift. Dort sterben nicht nur vermeintliche Konkurrenten – nein, das Blutvergießen Neros gipfelt im Mord an der eigenen Mutter. Der Kaiser lässt sich auch nicht die Chance entgehen, nach einer gescheiterten Verschwörung in einer wahren ‚Säuberung‘ die führenden Senatoren hinzurichten. Schließlich ist Seneca selbst an der Reihe und muss erkennen, dass sich die süße Milch der Weisheit, mit der er seinen Schüler einst nährte, in das Gift eines Ungeheuers verwandelt hat.

Als 323 v. Chr. Alexander der Große völlig überraschend im Alter von kaum 33 Jahren in Babylon stirbt, ist sein ganzes Geschlecht – das makedonische Königshaus der Argeaden - dem Tode geweiht. Was sich in den folgenden 25 Jahren an Intrigen und Gewalt, Mord und Krieg abspielt, kann mit jedem Königsdrama Shakespeares mithalten. James Romm beschreibt meisterhaft die dramatischen Ereignisse im Kampf um das Erbe Alexanders. In einer gespenstischen Sterbeszene nimmt Alexander Abschied von seinen engsten Gefährten, die ihm von Jugend auf vertraut waren und mit ihm buchstäblich die Welt erobert hatten. Die Frage, auf wen sein Reich übergehen solle, soll er mit den Worten beantwortet haben: "Auf den Stärksten“. Wer aber der Stärkste ist, muss blutig ausgekämpft werden. Als Resultat dieses Ringens versinkt das riesige Herrschaftsgebilde, das sich über drei Kontinente ausdehnt, in einer nicht enden wollenden Folge von Kriegen. Dabei werden die Familienangehörigen des Toten zu Faustpfändern in den Händen der Diadochen, der ehemaligen Generäle Alexanders, von denen jeder versucht, die gesamte Macht auf sich zu vereinen. In seiner mitreißenden Schilderung der stürmischen Ereignisse und der ebenso leidenschaftlichen wie gewissenlosen Akteure ist dem Autor ein wahres Epos über den Untergang eines Weltreichs gelungen.

Praise for James Romm's DYING EVERY DAY Romm adeptly expounds the puzzle of Seneca's life. -The New Yorker James Romm stitches this tapestry of evil together with a practiced hand. -Buffalo News A splendid and incisive historical page-turner. . . . This is how history should be written: vivid storytelling springing to life at a master's touch. . . . Romm's narrative proves so compelling precisely because he concentrates on character, combining erudite scholarship with a novelist's flair for telling detail. The result becomes an exception to the rule: When exercised with wisdom, dexterity and fervor, literary power shines as incorruptible. -Wichita Eagle Thoroughly engaging and fascinating. . . . A high-stakes drama, laced with murders, madness, and despotism. . . . The highlight of the spring season. -Hudson Valley News Romm's compulsively readable account of imperial intrigues (incest, murder, suicide) brings contradictory visions of Seneca into three- dimensional focus. -Chronogram Romm's approach combines the commonly known with the fascinating, but more obscure. He makes a sustained point of showing Seneca as neither black nor white, neither totally deserving of his fate, nor so noble that all charges should drip off his well-oiled back. He shows different sides to the emperors as well and puts the women of the Caesars into their well-deserved positions of prominence. . . . The fact that Romm presents the Stoic philosopher in this novel complex light and that he shows sides of the more famous that aren't common knowledge leaves me feeling [like] I got an awful lot out of reading it. Have I mentioned, I really, really liked this book? -N. S. Gill, About.com Historians from Seneca's contemporaries through the present day have puzzled over his true character. Ascetic Stoic moralist or conniving courtier? Romm doesn't claim to settle the centuries-old mystery, but sheds light using ancient sources and occasional references to modern critics, joining his readers in marveling at a regime remembered by history for its shocking excesses. -Julia Jenkins, Shelf Awareness (Starred Review) Extensively researched. A book that will be welcomed by both scholars and those with a more casual interest in history. In addition and most important to our time is the detailed study of power politics and the inevitable consequences of weakness and corruption allowing power to be concentrated into few hands... An engrossing account of a time when rational thought was set aside in favor of passion and when good men cowed in the face of tyranny and did nothing to stem it. -New York Journal of Books

Originally published: Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

During twelve years of continuous campaigns, Alexander conquered an empire that stretched from the shores of the Adriatic to the edge of modern India.