How did the Romans build and maintain one of the most powerful and stable empires in the history of the world? This illuminating book draws on the literature; especially the historiography; composed by the members of the elite who conducted Roman foreign affairs. From this evidence; Susan P. Mattern reevaluates the roots; motivations; and goals of Roman imperial foreign policy especially as that policy related to warfare. In a major reinterpretation of the sources; Rome and the Enemy shows that concepts of national honor; fierce competition for status; and revenge drove Roman foreign policy; and though different from the highly rationalizing strategies often attributed to the Romans; dictated patterns of response that remained consistent over centuries.Mattern reconstructs the world view of the Roman decision-makers; the emperors; and the elite from which they drew their advisers. She discusses Roman conceptions of geography; strategy; economics; and the influence of traditional Roman values on the conduct of military campaigns. She shows that these leaders were more strongly influenced by a traditional; stereotyped perception of the enemy and a drive to avenge insults to their national honor than by concepts of defensible borders. In fact; the desire to enforce an image of Roman power was a major policy goal behind many of their most brutal and aggressive campaigns.Rome and the Enemy provides a fascinating look into the Roman mind in addition to a compelling reexamination of Roman conceptions of warfare and national honor. The resulting picture creates a new understanding of Rome's long mastery of the Mediterranean world.
#1061156 in Books 2000-08-28 2000-08-28Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.80 x .69 x 6.00l; .90 #File Name: 0520219872274 pages
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Outstanding!By W. WedenojaThe author is an historian with an excellent knowledge of anthropology who has conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork with native communities in Canada. In this outstanding book he gives us a brilliant and hard-hitting history of native North American (U.S. and Canada) religion or spirituality under siege; from the Spanish conquistadors to the present. The book is tightly organized and well-written. There are seven major topics. The main topic; addressed explicitly in the first and final chapters; is the right of indigenous peoples to practice and preserve their languages; religions; and cultures; which have been under constant assault. The other six topics are the evangelical colonialism of missionaries; focusing on Spanish Franciscans in the Pueblo Southwest; boarding schools; Western medicine and the suppression of native medicine; state suppression; focusing on the Ghost Dance; the Potlatch; the Peyote Religion; and sacred spaces; amateur and professional collectors of native artifacts and cultural knowledge; with a discussion of NAGPRA; and the spiritual imperialism of New Age "healers." We learn that native religions have been; of course; transformed by a long history of Western oppression; but they are alive and dynamic and have served as forms of resistance to assimilation as well as healing wounds of cultural genocide. This is probably the best book I have read on native North America. It should be highly regarded by scholars and by native peoples alike. After reading it; there is no mystery why "despondency and despair" and "hopelessness and self-destruction" are such common experiences in Indian Country. The big question is; what can we do about it?0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. GoodBy Lorna EvansThis book was quite good. It came on time and I liked the fact that it was alright. Keep it up.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. This book should be mandatory reading in every seminaryBy Baba-JohnAs a white; Christian; soldier (ex-soldier) this was the most painful; soul wrenching read I have experienced. But; anyone who claims to be be a Christian; believes the the American Mythos; and considers themselves a moral person is living a lie if they do not try to make it through this book and understand what happened to the First Nation in America.You see accounts of the same problems that have always plagued the church; some of which many Christians are only now becoming aware of. If we cannot learn from out mistakes how will we ever find the truth and "enter the Kingdom of Heaven"? If we cannot learn from our mistakes we will keep making them; cutting group after group from our own herd until we have devoured ourselves.Then there is Western Medicine; Western Science; forming their own rigid brand of theology ignoring the inconvenient evidence that what was learned through trial and error through the ages was indeed valid. Herbal medicines; methods of healing that sound primitive; but have their roots in successful practice have been lost and are having to be rediscovered.A comparison is made in this book of the cultural evisceration of the Americans that proceeded us (White Christians) in North America to the weapons testing that took place at Wounded Knee. A chilling adulterous triangle of technology; economics; and industrialized warfare that; maybe; set the stage for the military industrial complex that many deny in the same way they deny climate change or the fact that oil will one day run out. And it became clear to me that ripping out someones sole to replace it with one of your liking if at least as cruel as murdering them.If you do not read this book; you have failed yourself. It is not an easy read; but it is an important one. So do it. Then write your own review.
