This book covers a relatively small period of time after the death of Nero. It's best if you know a little about the overall history of Rome, although the author does provide some historical context and background along the way.

Netgalley has failed to send this book. Therefore I cannot read it and cannot give it a proper review. Perhaps it is a good book. Perhaps not. I will never know. I have thoroughly enjoyed other books by Tom Holland, and so I was looking forward to the opportunity to read and review this one.

I need to admit up front that I usually find Roman history nearly impenetrable. There are so many names, positions (what is a consul anyway), and strict rules in Roman history that I often feel like you need a class on it before reading anything about it. Luckily, Tom Holland has taken pity on my feeble little brain.

Pax takes a look at Rome's golden age when it was at the height of its powers and the various (or should I say numerous) emperors of the time period. Holland makes sure to hit the big events like Nero and the burning of Rome but will also drop into smaller events which a Wikipedia article will not touch on. However, please don't misunderstand me. This book is still very dense and very involved. Holland does not write a high-level book with no insight. This is still a deep history and Holland's research is clearly top notch. If you are a well-read Roman historian, I am not sure there would be anything new in this book, but I think it's written for people who would be hopelessly lost without someone holding their hand. (Me, I'm that reader that needs the hand holding.)

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Basic Books.)

Good solid history on the Roman empire including discussion of every day life. A bit dense, but engaging.

I have read all of Tom Holland's other books and Pax did not disappoint. It's well researched and contains a great amount of information and is presented clearly. If you are a Roman Empire hobbyist or the PhD candidate, this book is a great start for base information into your research. It is loaded with a ton of information and has a notes and bibliography to expand your research.
The only problem is the plethora of books on this same topic out in the world. There are too many books in this area and the insights are different based on the scholar, which is definitely expected, but can be confusing for some.

Excellent and hard hitting account of the glory days of the Roam Empire. Really gives a keen insight into the daily workings of the Roman army and leadership. If you want a solid history of this time period and all of the major players you can do a lot worse than this fine historical account. Great job by the author.

Great examination of the Empire that covers both the major metropolis and the hinterlands. Readers should note that it is the third book in a trilogy - readers should seek the previous texts for the accounts of the end of the Republic and the rise of the Caesars.

This book is the third in a trilogy about the ancient Roman empire, focused on the empire at its peak. The book can be a bit dense, as many nonfiction history books can be, but there is a lot of engaging material in here to keep your interest. I particularly liked how much attention was given to showing Rome as a society, and looking at the everyday person living in the empire at this time. We also get a good look at the personal lives of some of this era's leading characters, which provides an interestingly look at the type of people running the empire. Overall, a good book with good information that doesn't just focus on military exploits and those in power.

There have been many histories of classical Rome, and that is the problem for this book. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table. It is a great resource for a general reader who may be unfamiliar with the period, but it delivers little new (to the extent that anything new can be said about Rome). In some ways this reads as a sequel to his previous book, Dominion, in which he examines the degree to which the western world has been shaped by Christian thought, whether or not we are Christians. Rome is almost the antithesis of that, and Holland shows this.

However, one thing that bugged me was his source citation. I believe that any history of the ancient world should discuss the sources used, since so many are blatantly biased (history at the time was not meant to provide an unbiased view) and fragmentary, many known in whole or part only from other, later histories that quote them. Some of the stories, such as Nero's emasculation and marrying of a slave, would have been nice to have in-text citations for.

This is an account of the history of Rome at the height of the empire's expansion and prosperity, the period known as the Pax Romana, from the Year of the Four Emperors to the last of the Five Good Emperors, when flourishing Rome had the entirety of the Mediterranean as its territory and would either hold the peace of its lands or crush rebellions rather swiftly and violently.

Holland's style is very dense but still accessible enough because he seems to write for the general public. Those more knowledgeable about the history of Rome, or Classical Antiquity in general, won't find this either groundbreaking or especially engrossing. It's pretty much a history book for the lay reader. In it, you'll read everything from the top down, from the Caesar to the soldier, since Nero until Trajan, from Dacia to Jerusalem. Compact, readable (if you like Holland's style), and broad enough as to not miss the important aspects of Roman life, how they achieved this long peaceful period, and what it cost them to hold onto it.

If you have read the two previous books about Rome by Holland, this will feel like the completion of the trilogy, so I recommend to those interested to read the previous books too, preferably before this one, even though it can be read as a standalone.

I’ve enjoyed all of Tom Holland’s books. The historian has a knack for a turn of phrase, and his conversational style keeps the narrative flowing. In Pax, he turns his attention to the Pax Romana, that glorious period when Rome was largely at peace, cultivating a power and a beauty the world has seldom known.

Titanic figures stride across Holland’s pages, from Trajan to Hadrian, Nero to Dio Chrysostom. Holland’s skill as a historian lies in large part in his ability to capture a feeling of what it was like to live in such dangerous and eventful times. He also knows how to capture the idiosyncrasies of character, and the individuals of this book fairly leap off the page.

All in all, I very much enjoyed Pax. It’s a briskly-paced history that deepens and enriches our understanding of one of the most pivotal periods in Roman history.