What is the best Latin history book to read, which is enjoyable, yet informative?

by galatite

I'm a Latin and Attic Greek student, and I want to read more Roman history. As I have never read a whole history text before, I would like something that isn't too dry. I was thinking De Bello Gallico, but I'm not sure. I will probably read in translation, as I want to get to know the history, rather than the text itself. Thank you.

Perilla

Here are a few options:

  • Suetonius The Twelve Caesars. Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE) doesn't write history. He writes biography (a different genre then just as it is now). The Twelve Caesars is a set of short biographies of the first twelve emperors (including Julius Caesar). Suetonius had access to imperial archives as part of his job (although he seems to have ceased to hold that job before finished writing). He's not especially reliable as a historian (although people can go overboard in skepticism), but of course he isn't intended to be. His concern is character. The Twelve Caesars is one of the most enjoyable reads you'll find - Suetonius includes little songs and jokes that circulated about emperors, gossip, lurid anecdotes etc (much of Suetonius will be familiar if you know I, Claudius).
  • Caesar is a good one to start with if you have some Latin, because his language tends to be quite straightforward. This has the advantage (and perhaps simultaneously disadvantage!) of being a text written by an eyewitness, since Caesar is writing about his own exploits.
  • Tacitus (c.56 - after 117 CE) is contemporary with Suetonius and covers many of the same events (making it interesting to consider the differences in their approaches). He's best known for the Annals and the Histories, although he also wrote an ethnographical treatise Germania and the biography Agricola (about his father-in-law who was based in Britain). Bewtween them, Annals and Histories cover roughly the same period as Suetonius (except that it starts around the death of Augustus)
  • Livy (64 or 59 BCE - 17 CE) Ab urde condita begins with the founding of Rome (this section contains many of Rome's legends about its early years) through to Augustus' time. Sadly, many sections are missing.

Livy, Suetonius and Tacitus all cover a substantial period of time. Other texts are much more specific, dealing with a single event (such as Caesar's wars or Sallust's Jugurthine War or Conspiracy of Catiline). It's up to you to decide whether you want to start with a general history and then later zoom in on specific events once you have a context for them or start with a mor self-contained episode that can be grasped and branch out.

Since you're a Latin student, you could think about using the Loeb translations - then you can just glance at the Latin text on the facing page to get some Latin practice in.