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Open Letters Review

Open Letters Review

An Arts & Literature Review

Open Letters Review

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May 22, 2025

The Buried City by Gabriel Zuchtriegel

May 22, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
The Buried City by Gabriel Zuchtriegel

The director of the Pompeii Archeological Park writes about unearthing the famous buried city

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May 22, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Jamie Bulloch, The Buried City, Pompeii, Vesuvius, Ancient Rome, Roman history, archeology
May 01, 2025

Pompey the Great by Lee Frantanuono

May 01, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Pompey the Great by Lee Frantanuono

A new biography of ancient Rome’s famed military wunderkind

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May 01, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Lee Frantanuono, Pompey the Great, Pompey the Great: The Roman Alexander, Alexander the Great, history, Roman history, ancient Rome
January 25, 2025

Lawless Republic by Josiah Osgood

January 25, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Lawless Republic by Josiah Osgood

A new history of Cicero taking advantage of political chaos to further his career

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January 25, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Lawless Republic, Josiah Osgood, Cicero, Catiline Conspiracy, history, ancient history, Roman history
December 02, 2024

The Roads to Rome by Catherine Fletcher

December 02, 2024/ Steve Donoghue
The Roads to Rome by Catherine Fletcher

The author’s look at all the many people who’ve walked the famous roads of Rome

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December 02, 2024/ Steve Donoghue/
The Roads to Rome, Catherine Fletcher, Ancient Rome, Roman history, travel writing
October 12, 2024

Violence in the Forum by Natale Barca

October 12, 2024/ Steve Donoghue
Violence in the Forum by Natale Barca

A new history of the social and political convulsions of late Republican Rome

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October 12, 2024/ Steve Donoghue/
Natale Barca, Violence in the Forum, ancient Rome, Roman history
July 30, 2024

Iron Imperator by Iskander Rehman

July 30, 2024/ Steve Donoghue
Iron Imperator by Iskander Rehman

A well-illustrated new history of ancient Rome’s enigmatic Emperor Tiberius

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July 30, 2024/ Steve Donoghue/
Iron Imperator, Emperor Tiberius, Roman history, Roman emperors, Ancient Rome, ancient history, Iskander Rehman
October 26, 2023

Emperor of Rome by Mary Beard

October 26, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
Emperor of Rome by Mary Beard

A new history of Roman emperors and their world.

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October 26, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Roman history, Mary Beard, Steve Donoghue, Ancient Rome
September 01, 2023

Theoderic the Great by Hans-Ulrich Wiemer

September 01, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
Theoderic the Great by Hans-Ulrich Wiemer

A masterful new biography of the storied Theoderic the Great.

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September 01, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
History, Nonfiction Translations
Theoderic the Great: King of the Goths, Hans-Ulrich Wiemer, Theoderic, Ostrogoths, Roman history, history, biography, ancient biography, Steve Donoghue, 2023
June 23, 2023

Palatine by Peter Stothard

June 23, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
Palatine by Peter Stothard

A mesmerizing look at the Roman emperor Vitellius and the tumultuous times that produced him.

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June 23, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Palatine, Peter Stothard, Aulus Vitellius, Vitellii, ancient Rome, Roman history, Roman emperors, the twelve Caesars, Steve Donoghue, 2023
November 12, 2022

Nero by Anthony Everitt & Roddy Ashworth

November 12, 2022/ Steve Donoghue
Nero by Anthony Everitt & Roddy Ashworth

A new biography of the infamous Roman emperor Nero.

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November 12, 2022/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Nero: Matricide Music and Murder in Imperial Rome, Anthony Everitt, Roddy Ashworth, ancient Rome, Roman history, Nero, Roman emperors, biographym, Steve Donoghue
June 21, 2020

Alaric the Goth by Douglas Boin

June 21, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Alaric the Goth by Douglas Boin

A biographical study of the man who sacked the city of Rome.

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June 21, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Alaric the Goth, Douglas Boin, Roman history, Steve Donoghue, Ancient Rome
June 18, 2020

The Loeb Classical Livy, Books 23-25

June 18, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
The Loeb Classical Livy, Books 23-25

A new English-language translation of some of the most dramatic writing from Roman historian Livy.

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June 18, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
History
JC Yardley, Livy, Loeb Classical Library, classics, Roman history, Steve Donoghue, Ancient Rome
October 12, 2019

The Successor by Willemijn Van Dijk

October 12, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The Successor by Willemijn Van Dijk

An account of Tiberius’ life before his reign that is about as full as it can be given the sources we have.

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October 12, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, Nonfiction Translations
Willemijn Van Dijk, Kathleen Brandt-Carey, Baylor University Press, Dutch translation, nonfiction, biography, Roman history, Steve Donoghue, translations
September 13, 2019

Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World by Emma Southon

September 13, 2019/ Peggy Kurkowski
Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World by Emma Southon

Agrippina is a smart choice for those who think they probably won’t enjoy ancient Roman history.

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September 13, 2019/ Peggy Kurkowski/
History
Peggy Kurkowski, Aggrippina, Roman history, Augustus
June 17, 2019

The Origin of Empire by David Potter

June 17, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The Origin of Empire by David Potter

Built on a careful blending of original sources and secondary sources, both scholarly and popular.

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June 17, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
History
David Potter, Harvard University Press, Ancient Rome, Roman history, Steve Donoghue
April 25, 2019

The War for Gaul translated by James O'Donnell

April 25, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The War for Gaul translated by James O'Donnell

A fluid, confessional thing unlike any other English-language Caesar.

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April 25, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
History, Nonfiction Translations
Julius Caesar, James O'Donnell, Roman history, translations
August 03, 2018

Rome Resurgent by Peter Heather

August 03, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Rome Resurgent by Peter Heather

Heather explores which historical characterization of the era makes more sense: was Justinian a “romantic visionary” or a self-deluded crackpot?

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August 03, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
History
Peter Heather, Oxford University Press, Ancient Warfare and Civilization series, medieval history, The Fall of the Roman Empire, The Restoration of Rome, Procopius, Edward Gibbons, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Averil Cameron, Anthony Kaldellis, Roman history, Steve Donoghue
February 24, 2018

Pantheon: A New History of Roman Religion by Jörg Rüpke

February 24, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Pantheon: A New History of Roman Religion by Jörg Rüpke

The author closely follows the literary and archeological trail through the long history of the Republic.

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February 24, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
History, Nonfiction Translations, Religion
Jörg Rüpke, David M. B. Richardson, Roman history, religion, Steve Donoghue, History, translations
February 19, 2018

The Throne of Caesar by Steven Saylor

February 19, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
The Throne of Caesar by Steven Saylor

Mystery fiction based on the most famous murder in history.

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February 19, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
Historical Fiction, Fiction-Mystery/Suspense
Steven Saylor, Minotaur Books, Roman history, historical fiction, mystery fiction, Steve Donoghue
January 03, 2018

The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works

January 03, 2018/ Zach Rabiroff
The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works

Time has a funny way of turning scoundrels into icons.

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January 03, 2018/ Zach Rabiroff/
History, Nonfiction Translations
Gallic War, Alexandrian War, African War, Spanish War, Kurt Raaflaub, Robert Strassler, Roman history, Julius Caesar, Zach Rabiroff, History, translations
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