Chronicle of the Roman Emperors: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome

User Review: - Read cover to cover, then have handy as a companion to Gibbon
I first read Scarre's Chronicle of the Roman Emperors cover to cover, to get the complete narrative of the western empire during the imperial period. He definitely hits the highlights in the main text which contains the narrative. The thematic topics are off to the side of the page, in gray boxes or timeline graphs. The dynastic family trees are very easy to follow. There could have been more maps, especially for the more military emperors like Trajan, but that is more my personal preference than an actual critique, since my primary interest is in military matters. All in all, I enjoyed the read-through, even though I often got distracted from the narrative by the thematic elements. But then again, I think the primary purpose of this book is to serve as a reference, so the thematic sections should appear near the relevant narrative text.

The greatest value I have gotten out of this chronicle, however, is as a companion to Gibbons's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Reviewing Scarre for a particular emperor, before reading Gibbon's account of that emperor, proved invaluable to me since to fully enjoy the beauty of Gibbon's language, it helps very much to already have a fresh grasp of the subject matter. Scarre's Chronicle of the Roman Emperors allows you to do just that with minimal effort.

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User Review: - Great.
Fun to read, but also very informative. A good book for the non-speacilist who wants to learn more about history or simply get a good overview before taking a trip to Rome.

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User Review: - Good Reference Material

For anyone with even a passing interest in Roman history this book is an invaluable source of knowledge about the Roman Emperor's. Personally it helps to set the scene for me even if the book is a work of fiction if I can pin point the period of Roman history that is being written about and knowing what emperor was reigning in Rome and in what years is a sure fire way of pin-pointing the period in which the book is written.

Of course the book is so much more than a time scale of Roman history, there is also information regarding what wars if any were fought during a particular emperor's reign and what Roman building were attributable to any given emperor. The book covers the succession of 80 emperors, with biographical portraits of the 56 most notable ones. Names that leap out from the pages of the history books, Julius Caesar, Hadrian, Nero, all names to conjure with.

There are contemporary judgements made by writers of the time including Suetonius and Tacitus and these are balanced by character assessments made in the light of modern research. This is a book that is well worth having, not only for its reference capabilities but also it is a good read in its own right.

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User Review: - excellent for reading, browsing, or as a reference book
Replete with timelines, maps, sidebars, and photographs, this is a wonderful resource. Whether you're watching a DVD of "I, Claudius" or reading Gibbon, it's a highly useful reference book where you can get a quick read on any emperor. Often, I'll pull it down from the shelf to research a particular emperor, then find myself still reading it an hour later.

What I like best about it are the photographed busts of the emperors which along with the lively writing really bring the Roman rulers to life. They also allow one to trace the change in Roman art from the idealized classicism of Augustus to the grim realism of the mid 3rd century's portrait of Philip the Arab when the Empire was falling apart to the stolid and blank cartoonlike portrait of Constantine the Great in the 4th century when the Empire had been restored, but had become Christian and more medieval.

A real gem, this book is highly recommended for fans of Roman history.

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User Review: - Great!
Excellent book, very few errors. Good source of information, very nice colorfull pictures and sketches. Worth the cost.

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