Peter Heather, Macmillan,
2005, £25
hb, c400pp, 0-333-989147
This book was difficult to
assess as I was sent an advance reading copy, which included only the text and
notes. Missing were critical aspects
such as maps, bibliography, and index.
The contents list also promised a dramatis personae, timeline and
glossary.
Heather builds his scene
carefully, detailing the rise of Rome as a superpower, and also looking at the
cultures which conflicted with the acquisitive Empire. Heather has a readable,
chatty, and wryly amusing writing style.
This modern interpretation of Empire’s disintegration gathers together
recent research, as well as re-assessing older evidence.