bookshelves: dip-in-now-and-again, ancient-history, skoolzy-stuff, history, ttc, winter-20122013, roman-civilisation, slaves, under-50-ratings, spring-2014, autumn-2015, nonfic-nov-2015, nonfiction, tbr-busting-2015

36 half hour lectures.

4. The Roman Way of War
5. Celtic Europe and the Mediterranean World
6. The conquest of Casalpine Gaul
7. Romans and Carthaginians in Spain
8. The Roman Conquest of Spain
9. The Genesis of Roman Spain
10. Jugurtha and the Nomadic Threat



Constantine, Algeria

11. Marius and the Northern Barbarians



12. Rome's Rivals in the East
13. The Price of Empire
14. Julius Ceasar and the Conquest of Gaul
15. Early Germanic Europe
16. The Nomads of Eastern Europe
17. Arsacid Parthia
18. The Augustin Principate and Imperialism
19. The Roman Imperial Army

Whipped through these last few lectures, so am now on a mirroring timeline with Trajan re Portus.




4* The Vikings (Great Courses, #3910)
TR Secrets of Sleep Science: From Dreams to Disorders
TR Turning Points in Modern Times: Essays on German and European History
4* Myth in Human History (Great Courses, #2332)
3* History of Russia: From Peter the Great to Gorbachev (Great Courses, #8380)
TR Classic Novels: Meeting the Challenge of Great Literature (Great Courses, #2310)
4* Rethinking Our Past: Recognizing Facts, Fictions, And Lies In American History
OH A History of England from the Tudors to the Stuarts (Great Courses, #8470)

Read from April 26 to 29, 2010

Description: Ancient Rome is the setting for the superb new novel from Robert Harris, author of the number one bestsellers Fatherland, Enigma and Archangel.

Where else to enjoy the last days of summer than on the beautiful Bay of Naples. All along the coast, the Roman Empire’s richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas. The world’s largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum and Pompeii.

Only one man is worried. The engineer Marius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. His predecessor has disappeared. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta’s sixty-mile main line -- somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Marius -- decent, practical, incorruptible -- promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. But as he heads out towards Vesuvius he is about to discover there are forces that even the world’s only superpower can’t control.

Bought at Rome airport March 2010 for M's birthday. Discussion points that raised their heads during reading:

- plot spoilers for this story are everywhere
- when those plot spoilers are ignored, Iceland is reminding us very subtlety.
- M is getting frustrated at the countdown method of layout
- 'Who in their right mind would climb up to look at what's happening'

A pal sent through a jokey email on Friday written in pidgin swedish/icelandic.

Put 30 billion euros in the bin outside the Icelandic Embassy and we will turn off volcano. Not call Polis.

M's verdict - he thought the facts about the volcanoes and the aqueducts were stunning, and the story surrounding the historical facts, exciting. He would give the overall result somewhere between a 3 and 4 star.

My Verdict - I liked it a little more and the descriptions of the eruption were staggering.

4* Fatherland
4* Pompeii
3* Imperium
2* The Ghost
4* Lustrum
3* Selling Hitler