22 Quotes by Peter Heather

With ancient history writers most immediately in view, the author indicates "tendency to look to the virtues and vices of individuals when seeking causes.

...when all the bullshit about rational, divinely inspired social order is put to one side, Roman law was all about defining and protecting property rights...

Reality confounds image.

That the regime was willing to hit itts chief political constituency in the pocket was a clear sign of desperation.

The cornerstone of the Roman legionnaires' astonishing fighting spirit can be attributed to their training.

History has all too often been guilty of favouring the viewpoint of autocratic rulers in describing their glorious victories, when there is so much else that needs to be said.

He was a stylist, not a thinker. He spent time trying to say things in as complicated a way as possible.

[W]ithin a generation, the Roman order was shaken to its core and Roman armies, as one contemporary put it, 'vanished like shadows'. In 376, a large band of Gothic refugees arrived at the Empire's Danube frontier, asking for asylum. In a complete break with established Roman policy, they were allowed in, unsubdued. They revolted, and within two years had defeated and killed the emperor Valens - the one who had received them - along with two-thirds of his army[.]

Author describes one monarch's impressive table but conveys a contemporary's observation, "the weightiest thing at dinner was the conversation".