Summary of Barry Strauss's The War That Made the Roman Empire

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The Battle of Actium in 31 BC was the culmination of events that had been building for decades. It was the result of a civil war that started in 49 BC when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River into Italy.
#2 In 44 BC, five men and women met in Rome. They were all ambitious, and they all wanted to be the next ruler of Rome. They could never have guessed how much drama lay ahead.
#3 Antony was born into a noble Roman family in 83 BC. His father, also named Marcus Antonius, was a successful orator and lawyer, but he died shortly after his son was born. Young Antony grew up in the shadow of his parents’ deaths.
#4 Antony was a successful general and politician during the civil war that followed Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon. He received important assignments from Caesar, and was in charge of organizing the defense of Italy.

Sujets

• Ancient
• Rome
• Ancient history
• Roma (serie de televisión)

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 10 avril 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669383086
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Barry Strauss's The War That Made the Roman Empire
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Battle of Actium in 31 BC was the culmination of events that had been building for decades. It was the result of a civil war that started in 49 BC when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River into Italy.

#2

In 44 BC, five men and women met in Rome. They were all ambitious, and they all wanted to be the next ruler of Rome. They could never have guessed how much drama lay ahead.

#3

Antony was born into a noble Roman family in 83 BC. His father, also named Marcus Antonius, was a successful orator and lawyer, but he died shortly after his son was born. Young Antony grew up in the shadow of his parents’ deaths.

#4

Antony was a successful general and politician during the civil war that followed Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon. He received important assignments from Caesar, and was in charge of organizing the defense of Italy.

#5

Antony was married to Fulvia, a twice-widowed noblewoman who recruited an army. He played a key role in the events of the fatal year of 44 BC. He offered Caesar the crown, and when the assassins took refuge on the Capitoline Hill, he steered the Senate into a compromise.

#6

Octavian was born in 63 BC. He was the son of Gaius Octavius, who was wealthy and ambitious but not a Roman noble. He was adopted by Caesar, and then took the title Augustus when he reached the age of thirty-five in 27 BC. He was not a born soldier, but he was tenacious, cunning, and brave.

#7

After Caesar’s death, Octavian returned to Rome. He was escorted by some of Caesar’s supporters and soldiers. He accepted Caesar’s adoption, insisting from then on that he be addressed as Caesar. His mother was the first to do so.

#8

Octavian was a young politician who wanted to attain the positions and honors that were promised to Caesar’s adopted son. He was able to convince two hardened Roman legions to defect from Antony.

#9

After defeating Antony and driving him north across the Alps, Octavian made a switch and began supporting Cicero and the Senate. He then made a triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus, who controlled nearly twenty legions, to govern Rome together.

#10

In Roman history, there were three triumvirs, but only Antony and Octavian mattered. The balance between them shifted every day, and it was rare to find someone like Marcus Agrippa who remained faithful to one leader throughout his career.

#11

The Battle of Philippi was the final showdown between Antony and Octavian. It was a Roman civil war, and it pitted east against west. Brutus and Cassius were the leaders of the eastern army, which wanted to free the Roman people or die trying.

#12

After the Battle of Philippi, Cleopatra sent a fleet to aid Octavian and Antony. It sustained damage in a storm, and Cleopatra got sick and had to return to Egypt. The fleet had helped Octavian and Antony by drawing away the republicans’ ships from Italy, thereby giving the two men the opportunity to transport some of their troops safely across the Adriatic.

#13

Antony was the architect of victory at Philippi, and he took the East. He made his base in Athens, while Octavian ruled the West from Rome. Gaul, however, remained in Antony’s hands.

#14

After the Battle of Philippi, Antony went south to Athens, where he spent the winter of 42–41 BC. He then traveled to Ephesus, a great port and religious center in what is now western Turkey. He installed his followers in power and raised money.

#15

Antony made his headquarters in Tarsus, an ancient port on the route from Syria to the Euxine (Black) Sea. Cleopatra arrived there, and Antony summoned her to account for the alleged support she had provided to the cause of Brutus and Cassius during the Philippi campaign.

#16

Cleopatra was a genius when it came to propaganda. She identified herself with the goddess of love, Aphrodite, as well as with Egypt’s supreme female deity, Isis. She passed her audition with Antony.

#17

Cleopatra was the queen of Egypt from the age of eighteen in 51 BC. She had claimed the throne after her brother and coruler, Ptolemy XIII, had driven her out. She raised an army that defeated her brother in a naval battle in which he drowned.

#18

The Roman Empire had left Egypt independent, but its commanders had meddled in the country for more than a century, mercilessly squeezing Egypt’s financial resources and humiliating its rulers with gusto.

#19

Cleopatra’s appearance was carefully cultivated by her. She presented herself as Greek, Egyptian, and a feminine beauty, depending on the audience and the purpose. She was robust and healthy enough to give birth to four children.

#20

Cleopatra’s coinage shows her as a massive, stiff, and older woman. She has a thick neck, and she wears a cloak normally worn only by men. Cleopatra was probably of mixed ethnicity, and she may have been half Egyptian.

#21

Cleopatra was a great queen, and she was able to rule Egypt well. She was also interested in drugs and poisons, and she loved learning and literature.

#22

Cleopatra was one of the most brilliant individuals of her age. She was married to Caesar in 47 BC, and they went on sightseeing trips together. In summer 47 BC, she gave birth to Caesarion. It cannot be proven that Caesar was the baby’s father, but there is no good reason to doubt it.

#23

Cleopatra was very clever, and she used this to her advantage with Antony. She took him fishing on the Nile, and when he had bad luck, she had his slaves attach a salted herring to his hook.

#24

The Inimitable Livers was a society dedicated to worshipping Dionysus, and it is believed that Antony and Cleopatra were members. They spent their time feasting each other at extravagant expense.

#25

The Perusine War was the result of Octavian confiscating land from Italy to give to military veterans. He drove his opponents out of Rome, and surrounded Fulvia and Lucius, Antony’s brother, and their army in Perusia. They were all killed, except for Sextus Pompey, the only son of Caesar’s rival, Gnaeus Pompey.

#26