{"title":"James Romm","description":"\u003cp\u003eJames Romm’s works delve into the rich tapestry of ancient history, blending meticulous research with vivid storytelling. Readers can explore profound biographies and historical narratives that bring figures like Demosthenes and Plato to life, revealing the complexities of power, philosophy, and warfare in the classical world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith a mastery of both \u003cem\u003ebiography\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ehistorical fiction\u003c\/em\u003e, Romm invites readers into captivating accounts of resilience and intrigue. His books offer a nuanced perspective on history’s pivotal moments, framed by engaging prose that illuminates the human experiences behind monumental events.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"dying-every-day","title":"Dying Every Day","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eDying Every Day\u003c\/em\u003e, acclaimed classical historian James Romm brings to life the high-stakes drama of ancient Rome, a narrative brimming with murder, madness, tyranny, and perversion. Set against the backdrop of one of history's most tumultuous periods, Romm's work delves into the complex relationship between the philosopher Seneca and the infamous Emperor Nero, a tale woven with intricate plots and moral dilemmas, where alliances are as deadly as they are precarious.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt the heart of this gripping narrative is Seneca, the preeminent writer and philosopher of ancient Rome. The story traces his life from his banishment in his fifties to his unexpected appointment as the tutor to the young Nero, who was poised to become emperor. Under the watchful eye of Nero's calculating mother, Julia Agrippina the Younger, Seneca navigates a treacherous path filled with political intrigue and personal peril. Romm masterfully portrays how Agrippina, herself a figure of immense power and ambition, influences both her son and his tutor, shaping the future of the Roman Empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJames Romm seamlessly interlaces the life and teachings of Seneca with the broader historical context, exploring how the moral struggles and political machinations of the time impacted both them and Rome itself. Seneca's philosophies and writings come alive as he attempts to guide Nero with wisdom and restraint. Initially, under Seneca's influence, Nero governs with a surprising level of intelligence and moderation. He implements reforms such as banning capital punishment, reducing taxes, giving slaves rights, and pardoning prisoners accused of sedition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, as Nero grows older, vanity and disillusionment creep in, and Seneca's influence wanes. Agrippina's manipulative tendencies and Nero's own descent into power-hungry madness further complicate the philosopher's ability to maintain control. The young emperor, shaped by a family plagued by treachery and murder, becomes increasingly unhinged. Romm paints a vivid picture of the ominous shift from idealistic governance to tyrannical rule.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDying Every Day\u003c\/em\u003e provides an intimate portrait of Seneca's moral struggles amidst the madness and excess of Nero's regime. Despite preaching a rigorous ethical creed in his treatises and exalting those who defied danger for what was right, Seneca finds himself embroiled in the very corruption he seeks to temper. His role as Nero's advisor places him in a paradoxical position: the only man capable of summoning the emperor's better nature, yet also forced to collude in the tyranny and horror that unfolds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs the story progresses, the harrowing events of Nero's rule unravel, including five family murders, the catastrophic Fire of Rome, and a brutal purge that decimates the Senate's golden age. In the midst of this turmoil, Seneca's philosophical ideals clash with the harsh realities of political power. Romm's narrative captures the intense personal and moral conflicts that define Seneca's relationship with Nero, creating a compelling and nightmarish account of a philosopher-poet ensnared in the machinations of a despot.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDying Every Day\u003c\/em\u003e is not just a historical account; it is a profound exploration of power, morality, and the human condition. James Romm's meticulous research and engaging storytelling illuminate the dark corridors of Roman history, bringing to light the complex and often tragic life of Seneca, a man of reason caught in a world descending into madness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Gardners Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45745197711596,"sku":"9780307743749","price":34.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780307743749.jpg?v=1726672169"},{"product_id":"histories-by-james-romm-9781624661136","title":"Histories","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis volume includes a wealth of helpful footnotes; more than a dozen maps and illustrations; a chronology of the Archaic Age; a glossary of main characters, places, and terms; suggested further reading; and an index of proper nouns.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHistories\u003c\/em\u003e edition reproduces the fluent pace and readability of Herodotus' world-encompassing work. Mensch has produced a close translation of Herodotus' Greek that is also an engrossing read in English. As an old-time Herodotean, I found myself drawn into Herodotus' universe of history and story all over again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCombined with Romm's elegant introduction, which conveys the lure of Herodotus' work, the lucid maps and tables, and the pertinent, uncluttered notes, this is an edition to read for pleasure and for education. I recommend it to future students of Herodotus and their instructors, and to any reader who wants to discover and rediscover Herodotus in a vibrant new translation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e- Emily Greenwood, Yale University\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46849261043948,"sku":"9781624661136","price":34.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/12116223482766.jpg?v=1759031109"},{"product_id":"demetrius-by-james-romm-9780300274165","title":"Demetrius","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA portrait of one of the ancient world’s first political celebrities, who veered from failure to success and back again\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“This colourful biography of Demetrius explores his rich inner life and reveals an ancient world of violence and intrigue.”—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe life of Demetrius (337–283 BCE) serves as a through-line to the forty years following the death of Alexander the Great (323–282 BCE), a time of unparalleled turbulence and instability in the ancient world. With no monarch able to take Alexander’s place, his empire fragmented into five pieces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCapitalising on good looks, youth, and sexual prowess, Demetrius sought to weld those pieces together and recover the dream of a single world state, with a new Alexander—himself—at its head. He succeeded temporarily, but in crucial, colossal engagements—a massive invasion of Egypt, a siege of Rhodes that went on for a full year, and the Battle of Ipsus—he came up just short. He ended his career in a rash invasion of Asia and became the target of a desperate manhunt, only to be captured and destroyed by his own son-in-law.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJames Romm tells the story of Demetrius the Besieger’s rise and spectacular fall but also explores his vibrant inner life and family relationships to depict a real, complex, and recognisable figure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"John Wiley and Sons Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855762247916,"sku":"9780300274165","price":25.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780300274165.jpg?v=1759276089"},{"product_id":"plato-and-the-tyrant-by-james-romm-9781324093183","title":"Plato and the Tyrant","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlato is one of history's most influential thinkers, the \"sublime philosopher\" whose writings remain foundational to Western culture. He is known for the brilliant dialogues in which he depicted his teacher, Socrates, discussing ethical truths with prominent citizens of Athens. Yet the image we have of Plato—an ethereal figure far removed from society and politics, who conjured abstract ideas in peaceful groves—is a fiction, created by Plato's admirers and built up over centuries. In fact, Plato was very much a man of the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003ePlato and the Tyrant\u003c\/em\u003e, acclaimed historian and classicist James Romm draws on personal letters of Plato—documents that have long been kept in obscurity—to show how a philosopher helped topple the leading Greek power of the era: the opulent city of Syracuse. There, Plato encountered two authoritarian rulers, a father and son both named Dionysius, and tried to steer them toward philosophy. At the same time, he worked on his masterpiece, \u003cem\u003eRepublic\u003c\/em\u003e, in which he conceived a ruler who unites perfect wisdom with absolute power. That dream has echoed down through the ages and given rise to a famous term, one that Plato himself didn't actually use: philosopher-king.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs Romm reveals, Plato's time in Syracuse helped shape \u003cem\u003eRepublic\u003c\/em\u003e—and also had disastrous results for Plato himself and for all of Greek Sicily. The younger Dionysius, emotionally unstable but intellectually curious, welcomed Plato with open arms, but soon the relationship soured. Plato's close friendship with Dionysius's uncle, Dion—possibly a bond of romantic love—created a rift in the ruling family that led to a chaotic civil war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCombining thrilling political drama with explorations of Plato's most cherished ideas, Romm takes us into the heart of Greece's late classical age, a time when many believed that democracy had failed. Plato's search for solutions led him to write his fervent plea for a new political order, and also led him to a place where he believed his theories might be put into practice. But \u003cem\u003ePlato and the Tyrant\u003c\/em\u003e demonstrates how Plato's experiment with enlightened autocracy spiraled into catastrophe, and also gives us nothing less than a new account of the origins of Western political thought.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000706810092,"sku":"9781324093183","price":60.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/827e109e5827235b6790b80e966d8774.jpg?v=1763323560"},{"product_id":"the-sacred-band-by-james-romm-9781501198021","title":"The Sacred Band","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom classicist James Romm comes a “striking...fascinating” (\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e) deep dive into the last decades of ancient Greek freedom leading up to Alexander the Great’s destruction of Thebes—and the saga of the greatest military corps of the time, the Theban Sacred Band, a unit composed of 150 pairs of male lovers.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe story of the Sacred Band, an elite 300-man corps recruited from pairs of lovers, highlights a chaotic era of ancient Greek history, four decades marked by battles, ideological disputes, and the rise of vicious strongmen. At stake was freedom, democracy, and the fate of Thebes, at this time the leading power of the Greek world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe tale begins in 379 BC, with a group of Theban patriots sneaking into occupied Thebes. Disguised in women’s clothing, they cut down the agents of Sparta, the state that had cowed much of Greece with its military might. To counter the Spartans, this group of patriots would form the Sacred Band, a corps whose history plays out against a backdrop of Theban democracy, of desperate power struggles between leading city-states, and the new prominence of \u003ci\u003eeros\u003c\/i\u003e, sexual love, in Greek public life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter four decades without a defeat, the Sacred Band was annihilated by the forces of Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander in the Battle of Chaeronea—extinguishing Greek liberty for two thousand years. Buried on the battlefield where they fell, they were rediscovered in 1880—some skeletons still in pairs, with arms linked together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom violent combat in city streets to massive clashes on open ground, from ruthless tyrants to bold women who held their era in thrall, \u003ci\u003eThe Sacred Band\u003c\/i\u003e recounts “in fluent, accessible prose” (\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e) the twists and turns of a crucial historical moment: the end of the treasured freedom of ancient Greece.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Arotahi Agency","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000815599852,"sku":"9781501198021","price":54.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/13259833482722.jpg?v=1763306880"},{"product_id":"demosthenes-by-james-romm-9780300269383","title":"Demosthenes","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe tragic story of ancient Greece's last democratic leader and his doomed fight to save Athens from Macedonian domination.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the spring of 340 BCE, news arrived that Philip of Macedon had seized a town in central Greece, a base from which he could march on Athens. In the fierce debates about how to respond to the rising threat in the north, Demosthenes, the greatest orator of his day, convinced the Athenian Assembly to confront Philip on the field of battle. Though that effort failed and Athens fell into the grip of Alexander the Great, Philip's son and successor, Demosthenes had established himself as one of history's most eloquent defenders of democracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this thrilling biography of the man who led the charge for Greek freedom, \u003cem\u003eDemosthenes\u003c\/em\u003e, James Romm follows Demosthenes from his early career as a legal speech writer through his rise in politics, his fall from grace in a corruption scandal, and his desperate flight to the island of Calauria—where he took his own life rather than submit to Macedonian forces. As he brings to life the bare-knuckle, insult-filled verbal brawls of Athenian orators, Romm not only explores the mind of the man who took on the challenge of saving Greek freedom but also shows how democracies can be destroyed by infighting and internal division.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47031783096556,"sku":"9780300269383","price":44.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/62854d8aa295ae958c3e50f7c8fbec14.jpg?v=1764154408"},{"product_id":"the-illustrated-meditations-by-james-romm-9781917226059","title":"The Illustrated Meditations","description":"The twelve books of Meditations were written over 2,000 years ago by the Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius as a personal diary of notes, nudges and mental exercises to help him live a good life. Yet, with their gentle instructions on living stoically, in harmony with nature and in pursuit of the ‘common good’, they seem the perfect fit for managing the modern malaise. Little wonder that legions of text-only translations are dominating the bestseller lists. The Illustrated Meditations takes all that is admirable about Aurelius, and elevates it. A curated selection of his most significant life lessons are arranged thematically in chapters, and carefully edited to make them mindful of today’s readers. Introductions explain their history and philosophy, and a commentary is provided by a modern philosopher. Most significantly, a selection of fifty meditations are beautifully illuminated with thoughtful and witty commissioned artworks to bring them to life. Whether you wish to be the bee that maintains the good order of the hive, or the rocky cliff that happily endures the constant waves, The Illustrated Meditations is the perfect stoic starting point.","brand":"Arotahi Agency","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47288928993516,"sku":"9781917226059","price":34.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/1d687927ecd165c4c03b7e64b4166475.jpg?v=1770603094"},{"product_id":"ghost-on-the-throne-by-james-romm-9780307456601","title":"Ghost on the Throne","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-two, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea in the west all the way to modern-day India in the east. In an unusual compromise, his two heirs—a mentally damaged half-brother, Philip III, and an infant son, Alexander IV, born after his death—were jointly granted the kingship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut six of Alexander’s Macedonian generals, spurred by their own thirst for power and the legend that Alexander bequeathed his rule “to the strongest,” fought to gain supremacy. Perhaps their most fascinating and conniving adversary was Alexander’s former Greek secretary, Eumenes, now a general himself, who would be the determining factor in the precarious fortunes of the royal family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJames Romm, professor of classics at Bard College, brings to life the cutthroat competition and the struggle for control of the Greek world’s greatest empire in \u003cem\u003eGhost on the Throne\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47742018650348,"sku":"9780307456601","price":55.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780307456601-ghost-on-the-throne.jpg?v=1781429901"},{"product_id":"plato-and-the-tyrant-by-james-romm-9781324130574","title":"Plato and the Tyrant","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlato is one of history's most influential thinkers, the \"sublime philosopher\" whose writings remain foundational to Western culture. 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At the same time, he worked on his masterpiece, \u003cem\u003eRepublic\u003c\/em\u003e, in which he conceived a ruler who unites perfect wisdom with absolute power. That dream has echoed down through the ages and given rise to a famous term, one that Plato himself didn't actually use: philosopher-king.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs Romm reveals, Plato's time in Syracuse helped shape \u003cem\u003eRepublic\u003c\/em\u003e—and also had disastrous results for Plato himself and for all of Greek Sicily. The younger Dionysius, emotionally unstable but intellectually curious, welcomed Plato with open arms, but soon the relationship soured. 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