Cassius Dio: Roman History: Books 57 and 58 (The Reign of Tiberius)(Clarendon Ancient History Series)

This volume provides a new translation of Books 57 and 58 of Cassius Dio's Roman History and the 'fragments' of these books preserved in later Byzantine epitomes, as well as the first English language commentary to examine them in their entirety. Dio's Roman History covers almost 1,000 years from the founding of Rome up to the early third century AD, with Books 57 and 58 focusing on the reign of the emperor Tiberius (AD 14-37): his account of this period is one of the most important to have survived from antiquity, not least as it preserves a historiographical tradition in some ways distinct from that of Tacitus and Suetonius. These books also reveal something of his authorial preoccupations and present a glimpse into the mind of the historian, and especially into his understanding of the mechanics of imperial government. The focus of the commentary is both historical and historiographical, in so far as it aims to illuminate not only issues arising from Dio's account of the Tiberian principate, but also to reveal the unity of his work and literary programme: a series of appendices complement the analysis by providing discussion of some of the key historical problems surrounding Dio and the reign of Tiberius. The translation (the first since the Loeb Classical Library edition of E. Cary) aims for both clarity and accuracy, and particular care has been taken to separate the various textual traditions that have been used to reconstruct the lost portions of Dio's text. An accompanying general introduction offers an accessible overview of Cassius Dio's approach to history based on the latest research in the field, and will be of particular use to graduate and undergraduate students coming to the text for the first time.

Table of Contents:
List of Tables Abbreviations Introduction I. Cassius Dio: The Senatorial Historian II. The Roman Historian at Work: The Reign of Tiberius II.i. Sources for the Reign of Tiberius II.ii. Method of Composition II.iii. The Shaping of the Material and the Personality of the Historian II.iv. Conclusions III. The Transmission of the Text of the Roman History III.i. Notes on the Texts and Translations in this Commentary Translation of Book 57 of Cassius Dio's Roman History Translation of Book 58 of Cassius Dio's Roman History Commentary on Book 57 of Cassius Dio's Roman History Commentary on Book 58 of Cassius Dio's Roman History Appendices I. Dio's Literary Career II. Dio and the Chronology of August-October, AD 14 III. Senatorial Business in September, AD 14 IV. The Family of Tiberius Bibliography Index of Names General Index

About the Author :
C. T. Mallan is a Senior Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Western Australia. He was educated at the University of Oxford and the University of Queensland and has held academic posts in both the UK and Australia. His academic work focuses on Roman imperial history and historiography.

Review :
Mallan's excellent commentary on these two books brings a somewhat less familiar Tiberius to the fore, known yet viewed from a different angle. Mallan clearly feels the need to defend, in his Preface, his belief that commentaries remain 'fundamentally useful' books that 'provide a way to access the mind of an ancient writer'. In his clear, readable translation ... and the careful, informative commentary, equally insightful on matters historical and historiographical, that is exactly what he has produced. But it has the additional bonus that, because of his commitment to taking seriously the manuscript tradition and thus Dio's later epitomisors, not just one but multiple minds are here laid bare. It is difficult to imagine anything missing from this commentary, which is sure to become standard.