John D. Nerva's Books

Rome's Enemies Within

Imperial Conspiracies and Assassinations in the Roman Empire during the First Century AD

By: John S McHugh

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Rome's Enemies Within

Imperial Conspiracies and Assassinations in the Roman Empire during the First Century AD

By: John S McHugh

The greatest danger to Roman emperors was the threat of deadly conspiracies arising among the Senate, the imperial court or even their own families All the emperors that reigned from Augustus to the end of the first century AD faced such efforts to overthrow or assassinate them. John McHugh uncovers these conspiracies, narrating them and seeking to explain them. The underlying cause in many cases was the decline in influence, patronage and status granted by emperors to the Senatorial class, leading some to seek power for themselves or a more generous candidate. Attempted assassinations or coups led the emperors to mistrust the Senate and rely more on freedmen, causing more resentment. Paranoid emperors often reacted to the merest hint of treason, real or imagined, with punishments and executions, leading more of those around them to consider desperate measures out of self-preservation. And of course, amid this vicious circle of poisonous mistrust, there were ambitious family members promoting their own (or their offspring’s) claims to the purple, and the duplicitous Praetorian Guard. John McHugh brings to light a century of assassination, conspiracy and betrayal, exploring the motives and aims of the plotters and the bloody cost of success or failure.

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Page Count

305

Publisher

Pen and Sword Military

Published Date

ISBN 10

1399061593

ISBN 13

9781399061599

Two Roman Revolutions

The Senate, the Emperors and Power, from Commodus to Gallienus (AD 180-260)

By: John D Grainger

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Two Roman Revolutions

The Senate, the Emperors and Power, from Commodus to Gallienus (AD 180-260)

By: John D Grainger

The disastrous reign of the Emperor Commodus, which saw a great expansion of the power of the emperor, eventually resulted in his asassination, but also in a civil war, which was as revolutionary as that of 69. Though the original assassination had been in the name of a restoration of the authority of the Senate - the program of Pertinax and his supporters - the victory of Septimius Severus established a murderous autocracy, which degenerated into incompetence under his successors. It also set up a continuous tension within the government between imperial and senatorial powers and authority. The weakness of the imperial power after Caracalla was emphasised by the assassination of all emperors between 217 and 238; it also produced an increase in warfare on all frontiers from Syria to Britannia. In the later years of Alexander Severus the Senate began to recover its authority, thanks to the emperor's long absences from Rome in the east and in Germany. His frontier policy displeased the army, however, and his assassination produced the Emperor Maximinus. The recovery of the Senate was immediately stopped in its tracks and Maximinus disdained all authority apart from his own. This was a classic prerevolutionary situation, and the reaction amongst the senators was the revolution of 238, sparked by trouble in Africa under the Gordians, but also producing another civil war and the deaths of several emperors. The authority of the Senate was enhanced by the senatorial victory but in in the end the Senate proved unable to defend the empire, and the contest between imperial and senatorial power continued until the 260s when in effect Gallienus returned to imperial autocracy. This marked the end of real senatorial power, and the empire as an autocracy was finally established.

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Page Count

337

Publisher

Pen and Sword History

Published Date

ISBN 10

139903720X

ISBN 13

9781399037204

Sextus Julius Frontinus and the Roman Empire

Author of 'Stratagems', Advisor to Emperors, Governor of Britain, Pacifier of Wales

By: John D. Grainger

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Sextus Julius Frontinus and the Roman Empire

Author of 'Stratagems', Advisor to Emperors, Governor of Britain, Pacifier of Wales

By: John D. Grainger

Sextus Iulius Frontinus is best known as author of the military handbook Strategems but, in addition to writing this and other works (now lost), he also had a varied and surprisingly influential career in military and civil posts around the Roman Empire. Frontinus loyally served at least six emperors, often acting as a trusted counselor, and even deputized for Trajan while he was busy in Germany and elsewhere. He was possibly the longest-serving governor of Britain (five years), where he completed the subjugation of Wales and established the frontier in northern England at the Ribble-Tees line. He founded several legionary fortresses, including those that later became the towns of York, Chester and Caerleon. He also served on the Rhine, in Spain and Asia and in the civil sphere reformed the water supply of Rome. John Grainger has written the first full biography of Frontinus. Reconstructing his life to the fullest extent permitted by the sources, he favorably re-evaluates his importance, particularly in Britain (at the expense of the better-known Agricola. Froninus' career, the author concludes, is one of the most varied and significant of any that can be reconsructed for any Roman who did not become Emperor.

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Page Count

320

Publisher

Pen and Sword Military

Published Date

ISBN 10

1399051245

ISBN 13

9781399051248

Book's by John D. Nerva

Rome's Enemies Within

Rome's Enemies Within

Two Roman Revolutions

Two Roman Revolutions

Sextus Julius Frontinus and the Roman Empire

Sextus Julius Frontinus and the Roman Empire

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