- Hellenistic And Graeco-Roman Art (By Roger Ling)
There is a shortage of good books in English dealing specifically with the art of this period, and in
particular of books which effectively study the transition from Hellenistic to Roman art. By far the best
and most up-to-date is J.J. Pollitt, Art in the Hellenistic Age (Cambridge, 1986). Another general book,
though highly personal in approach, is T. B. L. Webster, Hellenistic Art (London, 1967); while good
overviews of architecture and sculpture are given respectively by D. S. Robertson, A Handbook of
Greek and Roman Architecture (2nd edn., Cambridge, 1943) and A. W. Lawrence, Greek and Roman
Sculpture (London, 1972).
From the Greek end see the general works on Greek art and architecture cited in the bibliography to
Chapter II. Specifically on the Hellenistic period, J. Charbonneaux, R. Martin, and F. Villard, Hellenistic
Art (London and New York, 1973) provides a broad survey in which the section on architecture is better
than those on sculpture and painting. C. M. Havelock, Hellenistic Art (London, 1971) is more detailed
on individual works but adopts heretical views on dating from Rhys Carpenter. On Hellenistic sculpture
the standard book is M. Bieber, The Sculpture of the Hellenistic Age (2nd edn., New York, 1961), but
the author tends to be too dogmatic about dating and provenance; otherwise there are only monographs
on specific works such as E. Schmidt. The Great Altar of Pergamon (London, 1965). On the luxury arts
an excellent study is H. Hoffman and P. F. Davidson, Greek Gold: Jewelry from the Age of Alexander
(New York, 1966).
For the Roman Republic see the opening chapters of the general works cited in the bibliography to
Chapter 3 1; the only book in English which concentrates on the period before Augustus is A. Boethius,
Etruscan and Early Roman Architecture (Harmondsworth, 1978). G. M. A. Richter, Ancient Italy (Ann
Arbor, 1955) deals with art in Italy in general, studying the impact on it of Hellenistic art and carrying
the 'Greco-Roman' tradition through into imperial times. The Etruscan background can best be studied in
O.J. Brendel, Etruscan Art (Harmondsworth, 1978).
- The Founding Of The Empire (By David Stockton)
-1-
Tacitus (Annals and Histories) and Suetonius (Lives of the individual Emperors) provide the most
complete coverage, see ch. 25. The standard edition and commentary on Tacitus' Annals is that of H.
Furneaux in two volumes (second editions respectively 1896 and 1907); Histories 1 and 2, and 4 and 5
are equipped with a Historical Commentary by G. E. F. Chilver (Oxford, 1979, 1985); book 3 with one
by K. Wellesley (Sydney, 1973). Other important sources are Cassius Dio's Roman History and the
works of Velleius Paterculus and Seneca, Strabo and Pliny the Elder. All of these are available in the