Claudius: The Emperor and his achievement. Translated by W. D. Hogarth.

From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Somewhat rubbed and scabbed binding, blank stickers on endpaper, edge slightly foxy, otherwise good and clean. / Etwas beriebener und beschabter Einband, unbeschriebene Sticker auf Vorsatz, Schnitt leicht stockfleckig, sonst gut und sauber. - INTRODUCTION: The past ten years have done more, perhaps, for Claudius than for any other figure of ancient history. The conception of Claudius which we have derived from the literary sources has been gradually modified by new discoveries of inscriptions and papyri, and by reconsideration of older documents; the divergence between the literary evidence and the evidence of the actual documents of Claudius� reign grows steadily more marked. The discovery, in particular, of one of the most interesting historical papyri ever brought to light, Claudius� letter to the Alexandrians, has made a new and an important contribution to the materials for any judgement of the Emperor. Quite recently, in addition to minor but still significant finds, there have been published a rescript on tomb-violation from Nazareth or its neighbourhood and a new fragment of the so-called �Acts of Isidore and Lampon�, which enable us, in conjunction with the previously known fragments of the Acts and literary evidence, to reconstruct several features of Claudius� religious policy. The change of view that is bound to follow the appearance of all this new material may be traced already in the writings of M. Rostovtzeff, the leading historian of the Roman Empire: we can only regret that in the much-lamented Hermann Dessau�s history of the Empire, published in instalments during the last few years, no indication of such a change is to be found. A similar tone of fuller sympathy pervades two of the most notable special studies in the field of Claudian government, Fabia�s monograph on the Table of Lyons and Stroux�s account of a judicial reform attested in a papyrus which was originally misinterpreted. The need for co-ordination and control of these new facts, and for their inclusion in a systematic account of Claudius� government, is in itself a sufficient excuse for a new essay on Claudius. - Arnaldo Dante Momigliano (5 September 1908 � 1 September 1987) was an Italian historian of the Classical antiquity, known for his work in historiography, characterised by Donald Kagan as "the world's leading student of the writing of history in the ancient world". (Wikipedia)