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The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (Hist Atlas) | 
 enlarge | Author: Chris Scarre
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $5.32
You Save: $11.63 (69%)
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Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 87678
Media: Paperback
Pages: 144
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 7.1 x 0.4
ISBN: 0140513299
Dewey Decimal Number: 911.37
EAN: 9780140513295
ASIN: 0140513299
Publication Date: September 1, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Matching clear graphics with informative text, Christopher Scarre's atlas gives a fine overview of Roman history from the emergence of the first city-state in the eighth century B.C. to the rise of Christian theocracy a millennium later. The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome is especially helpful in showing the growth of the Roman empire through successive centuries of military campaigning from Scotland to Arabia and in delineating the networks of trade, transit, and communication that bound the far-flung outposts to the imperial capital. Scarre notes that many of those networks still survive in one form or another.
Product Description
More than 15 centuries after its fall, the Roman Empire continues to profoundly influence world history. This atlas traces the empire's rise and fall, looking at its provinces and cities, trade and economy, armies and frontier defenses; charting its transformation into a Christian theocracy; and assessing its lasting impact. Full color.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 For beginners only!!! January 30, 2002
Jacques Talbot (Oakland, CA United States)
73 out of 75 found this review helpful
If you are already familiar with the broad outlines of Roman history and are looking for a visual reference to further your explorations, keep looking. This volume appears to be the outcome of an effort guided primarily by concern for today's short attention spans and budget limitations. The text is adequate enough as the briefest of introductions to its subject, but in fact this is an ATLAS, not a history per se, and its usefulness as such depends on the quality of its maps, which I found sadly disappointing. For one thing, there are surprisingly few maps in this volume. If you are interested in the growth of the city itself, if you hope to trace the movements of particular military campaigns, or if you seek a better understanding of trade routes, you will not find this volume helpful. Only the tired highlights (which can be found in any number of books) are covered. Furthermore, the maps are small--to the point of silliness--and the editors have in a number of instances alluded to events separated by a wide gulf of years on the same map. This renders even the few maps in the atlas muddled and is sure to confuse rather than inform neophytes, though these would seem to be the primary target audience. On the plus side, the book contains a number of interesting photographs, and the captions to these are surprisingly informative--the best thing about the book. All in all, a great disappointment and a surprising one as I remember Penguin's excellent pocketbook atlases of world history. Unfortunately, the narrowed focus of this Roman atlas was not matched by a corresponding increase in the quality of information offered.
Needed better proofing February 17, 2003
meadowreader (Sandia Park, NM USA)
35 out of 36 found this review helpful
A nice looking book, but as I get into it the need for better editorial work is showing. The battle of Pharsalus is mistakenly placed in Thrace instead of in Thessaly, and two pages later the battle of Philippi is called the battle of Pharsalus! Another reviewer noted that Tacitus is misspelled in the Foreword. This book was published in 1995, so things like this should have been fixed by now. Maybe the rest will be acccurate, but so far it does not inspire confidence.
 Historical Atlas of Where?!? February 20, 2003
alexandersfraser (Canada)
30 out of 34 found this review helpful
I don't know where these folks got their information, but it is certainly not based in reality. I found a tremendous amount of the information in this book to be downright erroneous. At one point, the book claims that the Emperor Tiberius restored the Temples of Castor and Pollux between the years 6 B.C and 7 A.D. Sad to say, Penguin, but Augustus was Emperor during those years and was responsible for the restoration of the Temple. Bad information, bad typesetting (yes, they've actually used cut and paste - the old fashioned form - in areas to correct mistakes before press time), and sadly inaccurate maps are the highlights of this book. On the plus side ... pretty colors.
 Concise Yet Wonderfully Detailed Overview November 8, 1999
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
With several dozen books on my shelf regarding Ancient Rome, I often need something akin to an index for all of their combined knowledge: a few paragraphs, a map, or a photo will have me scurrying to the appropriate text (or, of late, an internet link).Of note are the numerous Roman city maps, showing walls, aqueducts, forts, temples, etc. relative to the natural geography.
 Not really an Atlas February 15, 2006
mfsfusa (SAN FRANCISCO, CA USA)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
I would like to second the comments of Jacques P. Talbot. I bought this book expecting an atlas, that is a book of maps. There are some maps in this book, but they are small and cluttered and I don't really find them useful. The book is mostly pictures and text. It reminds me of that Time-Life series, that is aimed at young people, although this book is not as good as any in that series. The publishers must have changed their mind about what they wanted to do with this book. They should not have put the word "Atlas" on this confused mess. It might be OK as an introduction for people about 14-16 years old, but if you want an atlas with useful maps in it, don't buy this.
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