Rating: 
Summary: Graet book of refference!
Review: The 2nd book of these that I bought, the first beeing of the Pharaohs. I have read bits and pieces of it so far, but I'm going to read it thru soon. A great book to have when you want to know something about an emperor.
Rating:
Summary: Classy publication; well done reference work.
Review: The publishers, Thames and Hudson, have produced a fine example of the bookmaker's art. A clean, crisp reference work loaded with names, dates, places, and 328 illustrations including color-coded maps, depicting imperial Rome and its emperors. Each of the 80 emperors who ruled Rome, from Augustus (31 BC-96 AD) to the abdication of 16-year-old Romulus Augustulus, in 476 AD, is described and depicted. Each section begins with a medalian containing a drawing of the subject emperor based upon his surviving coin portraits. In addition, there are many photograhps of statues and busts, to give the reader a good look at the men who ruled Rome. Women who supported and in some cases ruled them, are also included. There is a ton of information in this book. The pleasurable tactile sensations associated with holding and maniplulating a finely wrought tome are an integral part of reading a book -- as opposed to reading a computer screen or skywriting, which are devoid of tactile pleasures -- and this book rests comfortably in the hands. Sturdy, navy blue cloth cover-boards, with a gold publisher's logo on the front cover, and gold lettering on the spine, all wrapped up in an attractive dust jacket, make this book a treat to the eyes, as well as to the touch. And, as befits a reference book intended for much using and perusing, the pages are made of thich, smooth, sturdy, stock. All in all, an afternoon spent in the company of this book could surely be a positive experience for anyone; in fact, lessons could be learned if one isn't careful.
Rating: 
Summary: Grandeur and Depravity of the Roman Emperors
Review: The `Chronicle of the Roman Emperors' by Chris Scarre tells the chronological history of the emperors of Rome. Photos of busts and coins show us what the emperors looked like. There are timelines to show when they lived, and charts of their lives. Scarre tells us about their accomplishments and excesses, and the times they lived in. We see how they came to the throne, and how they lost their thrones. We hear what their contemporaries thought of them. Genealogies and maps are also included to clarify events. This is the best chronology of the Roman emperors, not to detailed but not too general.
Rating:
Summary: Do you want to be Emporer of Rome? No Thank you!
Review: This book demonstrates that being a Roman Emporer was not necessarily something to envy. Once proclaimed, the emporer had to delicately balance happiness between the public at large, the senate, and - most importantly - the praetorian guard (basically the emporer's bodyguards). There are many examples in this book of emporers upsetting one of these groups too much and ending up with their heads on pikes. It seems to have been a shaky, difficult office to maintain. Very few emporers ended their days in peace, and many were brutally murdered (I cringed more than once while reading this book). One big lesson that too many emporers learned the hard way: do not mess with the praetorian guard. This book begins with a brief summary of the city of Rome: how it grew from a monarchy to a Republic and how Octavian secured absolute power from the Senate and became Augustus, marking the beginning of Imperial Rome, which was to be the Western empire's final phase. The book has three sections: The First Emporers (from Augustus to Domitian); The High Point of Empire (Nerva to Alexander Severus); Crisis and Renewal (Maximinus Thrax to Constantine & Licinius); The Last Emporers (Constantine II to Romulus Augustulus). The book also has a continous timeline that runs through sections of the book for an at-a-glance history. It's important to note that this is not a history of the Roman Empire; it's a history of the Roman Emporers. Events not directly (or somewhat) tied to an emporer are not covered. You won't learn about the daily life of a Roman, for example. Still, through the lineage of emporers a history of the empire in general can be extracted. Who fought who, who tried to overthrow who, descriptions of how emporer's wives or mothers influenced (and sometimes took over) government, the conversion from traditional pagan Rome to a Christian Rome (it wasn't ALL Constantine), etc. The fall of Rome is not covered in great detail (the final section is the shortest and the detail becomes almost minimal), but the basic idea that the empire was overrun by various peoples emerges. The pictures, maps, and graphs throughout the book are incredible and complement the text very well. There are maps of conquests, borders of the empire at specific times, coins, maps of the city of Rome, pictures of busts and mosaics of emporers, architectural reconstructions, pictures of buildings in their current state, etc. Though this book will not make you an expert on the Roman Empire, it provides a great outline from which to learn more. Once it's read, keep it handy for reference. There are many lessons that can be learned from the lives and mistakes of the men (and women) who ruled Rome.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for curious beginners in Roman history
Review: This book is a superb addition to the library of history buffs. The book is short but packed with information on many different topics on the Roman Emperors. The book covers all Roman Emperors and does contest some myths commonly held regarding some of the more well-known emperors. The book spends a proportionate amount of time in the book compared to the emperor's rule and importance. In each mini-biography of rule, Scarre adds sections concentrating on interesting aspects of that person's rule. For instance, Augustus' section discusses the early lineage of emperors by tracing and discussing the Julio-Claudian family tree. Trajan's section has a two page insert on Trajan's Column. The book acts as a great reference of Roman leadership. Scarre adds hundreds of images consisting of both artistic renderings and archaeological finds from all periods of the Emperors' rule. Scarre ends with a highly abbreviated discussion of the last emperors of the split Roman empire.
Scarre adds at the end a select bibliography and a robust index.
The book is well bound and should be a long lasting addition to the library.
Rating:
Summary: Good stuff
Review: This book is great either as refresher material, companion to more in depth histories, or something to make you look deeper to your friends and potential sexual conquests. I bought it for all the pretty pictures, and because I'd just finished the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire by (Sir?) Edward Gibbon. The latter being an incredibly dense, though enjoyable read. I wanted something light, colorful, and quick to read. Not to mention it's really easy to forget if Nero came before or after Caligula, and whether or not Probus was a tyrant or just misunderstood (possibly only by me). This book, as it turns out, goes out of its way to be as objective as possible. A lot of the judgments passed down through history ma in fact have been incredibly biased by Republicans (NOT the GOP) and Christians alike. For instance Constantine has always been portrayed as some saintly virtuous hero, when in fact he was a scheming back-stabber looking to get all of the Roman Empire under his banner no mater what the cost. Turn the other cheek indeed. Also it gives the true account of the life of Commodus that Hollywood did such an extravagant job of getting wrong in the movie Gladiator. At any rate, this book was pretty good, and offered several hours of entertainment. I would recommend it most to someone who is curious about ancient Rome, but not yet willing to delve into the dusty old tomes of Roman history. If you like this book, you should definitely check out the saga that Colleen McCullough wrote about a decade or so ago. They're truly excellent, and take place at the end of the Republic.
Rating:
Summary: Great and informitive book
Review: This is an excellent book! The book contains every Roman emperor from the first going into emperors that we might consider Byzantine. Large amounts of data are available about the more prominant emperors, and a good bit of data is found about each of the less prominent. The history gets very sketchy about what information it has towards the very last years of the empire, but for the most part is a solid history. People looking for sources of information about minor emperors up until about 300 will find plenty about just about any emperor. A great addition to any library, would not use a a primary source for specific study of emeperors of Rome, but would definitly use it as a secondary source.
Rating:
Summary: Great and informitive book
Review: This is an excellent book! The book contains every Roman emperor from the first going into emperors that we might consider Byzantine. Large amounts of data are available about the more prominant emperors, and a good bit of data is found about each of the less prominent. The history gets very sketchy about what information it has towards the very last years of the empire, but for the most part is a solid history. People looking for sources of information about minor emperors up until about 300 will find plenty about just about any emperor. A great addition to any library, would not use a a primary source for specific study of emeperors of Rome, but would definitly use it as a secondary source.
Rating: 
Summary: Should be called "Chronicle of the Pagan Roman Emperors"
Review: This is an excellent book, well enough organized to be a useful reference work and well enough written to be an enjoyable read. It does not pretend to be a general or complete history of ancient Rome, instead covering the emperors themselves, giving a coherent picture difficult to get from most traditional histories. After a brief but useful introduction it gives a thorough treatment of each emperor from Augustus to Constantine. The intro says they only cover the "canonical" emperors, but most of the usurpers and pretenders are at least mentioned in the text. Historical sources are cited or directly quoted frequently but are critically analyzed for their biases (e.g., that of senatorial authors against emperors who ignored the senate, or of Christian authors against the persecutors) to attempt to give a balanced account. Ticky-tack details of imperial titles, etc., are pulled out into handy sidebars where they can be ignored if desired or easily enjoyed by those of us who like that sort of thing (like me).
The book beautifully illustrated with photographs of portrait busts of most of the emperors as well as the monuments they built. There are also many drawings and plans showing reconstructions of their palaces, etc. I could have used a few more maps, but I love maps.
So why just three stars? The book essentially stops with Constantine. It makes no attempt to cover the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire after the fall of the west, which is understandable since this would have tripled the size of the book (hopefully they will come out with a new book in the Chronicle series covering this period). Less excusable is the treatment given the Christian emperors between Constantine and Romulus Augustulus, the last western emperor, who are jammed into an epilogue of about a half a dozen pages. This includes important emperors like Valentinian and Theodosius. The fascinating period of puppet emperors at the end of the empire is given just a couple of paragraphs. No reason is offered for the cavalier treatment.
In spite of the weak ending this is still an enjoyable and useful book, and I recommend it. Three stars may be too harsh, but Amazon wont let me give three and a half.
Rating:
Summary: All Things Are Connected
Review: This is the best, single history of the Roman emperors that I have come across. It used to seem to me that they were disembodied names, unrelated to events and time. This work puts the emperors in the context of their times and shows how they succeeded one another and how the social fabric of the empire evolved and disintegrated. The portrait busts add a level of humanity to what would otherwise be a dry and dusty name list. But for the grace of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, there go we.....
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