Philip Matyszak

Matyszak, Philip. The Enemies of Rome. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2004.

"Until recently, it was assumed that Rome carried the torch of civilization into the barbarian darkness, bringing law, architecture and literature to conquered peoples. An alternative view now suggests that many of Rome's enemies - the Celts and Dacians, for example - were developing civilizations in their own right before obliteration at the Roman sword. Indeed, as Philip Matyszak argues, had Rome not crushed rival powers so completely, the drop into the Dark Ages might not have occurred. At Rome's collapse, no other powerful civilizations remained to absorb the impact.
This engrossing book looks at the growth and eventual demise of Rome from the viewpoint of the peoples who fought against it. They varied from the highly cultivated Greeks and Egyptians, to wild and rebellious Britons and Germans, to the Asiatic empires of the Persians and Parthians.
Their leaders were driven by ambition, vindictive hatred, fear, political calculation or naked greed. Some fought to preserve their heritage, some for personal survival and others from a warrior's love of battle.

Defying the might of Rome was a dangerous business, and few of the men and women described in these pages died in their beds. Some, like Vercingetorix andJugurtha, were captured, exhibited in triumph and then, while their conquerors sat down to a festive dinner, killed in the dungeons below. Rather than face such an end, some of Rome's greatest adversaries, including Hannibal, Boudicca and Cleopatra, killed themselves.

Here is the reality behind legends such as Spartacus the gladiator, and the stories of Shapur the conqueror and Mithridates the connoisseur of poisons. Some enemies of Rome were noble heroes, others were murdering villains, but each has a unique and fascinating story. "