@article{863679,
      recid = {863679},
      author = {Strauss, Barry S.,},
      title = {Ten Caesars : Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine  /},
      pages = {xi, 410 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates :},
      abstract = {"Bestselling classical historian Barry Strauss tells the  story of the Roman Empire through the lives of ten men who  ruled Rome, from Augustus, the founder, to Constantine, who  refounded the empire as Christian and established a new  capital at Constantinople, three and a half centuries  later. During these centuries Rome gained in splendor and  territory, then lost both. The empire reached from  modern-day Britain to Iraq, and over time emperors came not  from the old Roman families of the first century but from  men born in the provinces, some of whom had never even seen  Rome. By the time of Constantine, the Roman Empire had  changed so dramatically in geography, ethnicity, religion,  and culture that it would have been virtually  unrecognizable to Augustus. But in one way it remained  faithful to his vision: it survived, no matter the cost. In  the imperial era Roman women--mothers, wives,  mistresses--had substantial authority and influence over  the emperors, and Strauss profiles the most important among  them, from Livia, Augustus's wife, to Helena, Constantine's  mother. But even women in the imperial family often found  themselves forced by their emperors to marry or divorce for  purely political reasons, and at times they faced exile or  even murder. Rome laid the foundations of the West, and its  legacy still shapes us today in so many ways, from  language, law, and architecture to the seat of the Roman  Catholic Church. Strauss examines this enduring heritage  through the lives of the men who made it: Augustus,  Tiberius, Nero, Vespasian, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus  Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Diocletian, and Constantine.  In time they learned to maintain the family business--the  government of an empire--by adapting when necessary and  always persevering. [This book] is essential history as  well as fascinating biography."--Dust jacket.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/863679},
}