Caracalla Unknown by Unknown 9781473895263, 147389526X instant download after payment.

This biography of the Roman Emperor Caracalla challenges his tyrannical reputation with a revealing narrative of his social reforms and military campaigns.

Caracallahas one of the worst reputations of any Roman Emperor. Many ancient historians were very hostile, and the 18th century English historian Edward Gibbon even dubbed him the common enemy of mankind. Yet his reign was considered by at least one Roman author to be the apogee of the Roman Empire. He was guilty of many murders and massacres—including that of his own brother, ex-wife and daughter. Yet he instituted the Antonine Constitution, granting citizenship to all free men in the Empire. He was also popular with the army, improving their pay and cultivating the image of sharing their hardships.
Historian Ilkka Syvanne explains how the biased ancient sources in combination with the stern looking statues of the emperor have created a distorted image of the man. He then reconstructs a...
About the Author: Dr Ilka Syvanne gained his doctorate in history in 2004 from Tampere University in his native Finland. His doctoral thesis was published as The Age of Hippotoxotai, Art of War in Roman Military Revival and Disaster 491-636 (Tampere University Press, Tampere 2004). Since 2007 he has been Vice Chairman of the Finnish Society for Byzantine Studies. He contributed to Blackwell's Encyclopaedia of the Roman Army (2011) and is the author of the multi-volume Military History of Late Rome, published by Pen & Sword. Most recently he has been nominated as an Associate Professor of the University of Haifa He lives in Kangasala, Finland.