10/16/2023
Historian Holland (Dominion) provides a comprehensive chronicle of the latter half of the Pax Romana, a common shorthand for a long period of stability in the Western world from 27 BCE to 180 CE, when the Roman Empire ruled over a quarter of the world’s population. Beginning with the death of Nero and the tumultuous year 69 CE when four different emperors ruled in succession, Holland demonstrates how “the very quality that had originally won them their empire” and enabled ancient Romans to ensure the stability of the Pax—that is, “their aptitude for killing”—also threatened to be the empire’s undoing. Vespasian (the final of the four emperors) rebuilt Rome after it was damaged in the civil conflict of 69 CE. His successor Titus quelled the Judean uprising. The reign of the megalomanic Domitian, Titus’s successor, was rife with military conflicts across the empire, especially in Britain and the Balkans. Several years of struggle ensued until Trajan became emperor, ushering in nearly two decades of military conquest in the modern-day Middle East. His successor, Hadrian, toured the Roman world, settling numerous conflicts in the far reaches of the empire. Throughout his meticulous narrative, Holland demonstrates how the stability of the so-called peace was maintained through martial violence both in Rome and abroad. Roman history buffs will want to take a look. (Sept.)
A lively survey of Roman warfare and foreign affairs at the height of the empire…[a] sure-footed, tight-wound historical narrative, enlivened with keen insights. [Holland] has a talent for making readers at home in the ancient world, even if they are first time visitors….More so than many who write about Rome, Mr. Holland has a droll wit….The span of conflicts Mr. Holland deals with in ‘Pax’ from Britain to modern Iran, showcases the breadth of his learning.”—Wall Street Journal
“Holland has an eye for an evocative anecdote. The chapter opening with the pen*s of a 90-year-old man being inspected in a court of law is a masterpiece. And his prose is superb. In one poetic passage he describes ‘smoke drifting from the roofs of tenant farms; vineyards and orchards laden down with succulent fruit; herds of cattle lowing softly in the deepening twilight’. Rarely has the distant past seemed so vividly alive”—Financial Times
"A lucid account... Holland’s feel for the lived experience of antiquity is one of the best features of the book."—New York Times Book Review
“Holland’s superb storytelling takes us right into this era as viewed from every standpoint (including our own), offering fresh and vivid insights into well-worn history.”—Guardian
“[Holland's] books are beautifully written and great narrative history.”—TheAtlantic.com
“Tom Holland’s masterful and engaging history of the Pax Romana.”—Aspects of History
“Pax is a captivating narrative history of Rome at the height of its power…historian Tom Holland shows ancient Rome in all its glory.”—The Daily Kos
“A sweeping, colorful history of Rome at its swaggering, superpower zenith by The Rest is History podcaster and bestselling author. Hail Caesar! Hail Tom Holland!”—The Times (UK)
“A masterful blend of subtle politics and carnal colour…Pax provides a deeper and more complex vista on Rome.”—The Telegraph (UK)
"For all the years that have separated the publication of each book in his trilogy, Holland is a surprisingly consistent writer, one whose style you could recognise at a glance. There may be less back-stabbing and court intrigue in this book than in Rubicon and Dynasty; but in allowing us to tread the further reaches of empire through the eyes of the men holding the reins, Pax provides a deeper and more complex vista on Rome"—The Sunday Telegraph (UK)
“Let the sensitive beware: this is a book that judges everything about Rome by the standards of the Romans themselves. The author is a master of immediacy: not for him the fashion of deploring ancient virtues as modern vices.”—The Spectator (UK)
"This is not an underexamined period of history, but Holland handles his material (his sources are primarily Roman: Pliny, Tacitus, Suetonius, Cassius Dio) with rigour and elan. He has a compelling narrative style and an eye for diverting detail. This is a book for lovers of traditional, grand sweep narrative history"—The Sunday Times (UK)
"Holland, who co-hosts the podcast The Rest Is History, is at his best when having fun with Rome’s bloody history. He has a novelist’s vibrant writing style and turns a good phrase. Familiar elements of this period, such as the destruction of Pompeii, still feel fresh in his retelling and he avoids the temptation of so many joyless modern classicists to moralise about what rotters these Romans were with their slavery and their bloodshed and their lack of a proper safeguarding mission statement. He judges them purely by their own values"—The Times (UK)
"[A] vivid account."—Kirkus
“[A] meticulous narrative…Roman history buffs will want to take a look.”—Publishers Weekly
“Tom Holland has written a magnificent, richly detailed and always fluently readable book. He modulates the pace of his narrative excellently and I have read nothing which gives such a detailed and compelling account of the political and administrative life of the provinces and their relations with the imperial government. A better history for the general reader could not have been written."—Literary Review
“A work of narrative history, which Holland, with point and wit, brings off brilliantly.” —Claremont Review of Books
“The definitive history of Rome’s golden age…PAX is a captivating narrative history of Rome at the height of its power…A stunning portrait of Rome’s glory days.”—Englewood Review of Books
“Magnificent.”—Peter Frankopan, author of The Earth Transformed
“In this marvelous book, Tom Holland shows us the Roman empire at its height, in all its splendor and squalor, sophistication and superstition, majesty and cruelty. Ranging far and looking deep, he tells us about emperors and subjects, about a world that is at the same time both familiar and very alien. Highly recommended.”—Adrian Goldsworthy, author of Philip and Alexander
2023-07-07
The third in the author’s series about the Roman world, following Rubicon and Dynasty.
That the two centuries before Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ death in 180 C.E. represented a golden age is not a unanimous opinion among scholars, but it continues to produce histories of this age. This is a fine addition, although Holland confines the narrative to the era’s second half. The author opens in 68 C.E., the last year of Nero’s reign. Nearly a century had passed since Caesar’s adopted son, Octavian, had won a brutal civil war, renamed himself Augustus, and began his long reign. Most popular historians classify Rome’s emperors as either good or bad, with Nero among the bad. Holland delivers a vivid account of his grotesqueries but emphasizes that he was the last of the Augustine dynasty and had not named a successor. Accustomed to a well-ordered government, citizens were shocked at events over the following catastrophic “year of the four emperors,” during which a bloody civil war produced three who died after ruling for a few months, although the winner, Vespasian, turned out well. His son, Titus, died after only two years, but Titus’ younger brother, Domitian, reigned for 15 before being murdered in 96 C.E. Although once dubbed a bad emperor, modern scholars have reconsidered, and Holland presents a mildly approving portrait. More significantly, his successors were the five hallowed “good” emperors who ruled for more than 80 years. Edward Gibbon famously described this time as “the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous.” After the obligatory account of Vesuvius’ destruction of Pompeii, Holland takes up the story of the good emperors. It’s a tale with no shortage of bloodshed, but it was largely confined to the frontiers except for the stubborn Judean uprising. The author includes a helpful timeline and a 10-page dramatis personae.
A capably rendered history of Rome’s more-or-less golden age.
Popular historian Tom Holland will be familiar to many listeners through the books RUBICON and PERSIAN FIRE, and his podcast THE REST IS HISTORY. He is an effective narrator, but his thick British accent and higher pitch require some time to acclimate to. Holland's strength is his lively, richly detailed material, so immersive that a listener is soon swept up in the action and the vivid portrayals of personalities. The reign of Nero and the subsequent "year of four emperors," along with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, are the centerpieces of this audiobook, which unfolds with all the uncertainty and suspense of real-life events. This is history at its best, an experience that every listener can enjoy and profit from. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
