LOEB IS ALL YOU NEED -- DIONE -- STORIA DI ROMA (in 80 BOOKS) -- book by book -- analytic content

Speranza

Dione will never let you forget he was a Roman senator!

For the little we know of Dione, filled out with a bit of reasonable conjecture, as well as a brief analysis and critique of his "Roman History" and a somewhat longer account of the tangled manuscript situation, we should thank Prof. Cary!

The excerptors are less well represented, except for Zonaras, about whom there is a careful article in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

The standard system is that used in the Boissevain edition.

Cary exercises a good deal of editorial judgment on the fragmentary texts of Dio and reassembles them in an order that suites Cary — leaving, however, the standard numbering in place to facilitate reference.

As a result, to the casual reader it appears very disordered.

For example, sections assigned by Boissevain to one Book often appear in a different Book of the Loeb edition — while keeping the original Book numbering.

Because some pages of the printed edition contain only excerpts, e.g., by Xiphilinus or Zonaras or Tzetzes, some pages will appear even more disordered, seeming to have been skipped in this transcription.

But they haven't!

The confusing mess that the Loeb editor superadded to an already complex text, and the technical difficulties involved in sorting it out, can but should not be confusing.

****************************************************

LIBRO 1

The origins of Roma.

ENEA.

Lavinium

and Alba Longa.
Romolo founds Rome.
Numa.

*******************************************************

LIBRO 2

The reigns of Tullus Hostilius
Ancus Marcius
Tarquinius Priscus
Servius Tullius, and Tarquin the Proud.
Brutus, the rape of Lucretia,
and the expulsion of Tarquin.

************************

LIBRO 3

Brutus
Valerius Publicola
and the beginnings of the Republic.

********

LIBRO 4

Porsenna becomes Rome's ally.
Serious dissension between the patricians and the plebeians,
mostly over debts, threatens Rome's survival.
Establishment of the office of dictator.
The Aventine secession of the plebs.
The first tribunes of the plebs.

******************

LIBRO 5

War with the Volsci.
Treason of Coriolanus.
Rome saved by Coroliano's mother and his wife.
Internecine warfare between patricians and plebeians, with bouts of unity brought about by wars against the Etruscans, the Aequi, and the Sabines.
The Laws of the Twelve Tables.

******************

LIBRO 6

The establishment of the offices of consular tribune and of censor.
Wars with the Etruscans, with Veii.
The dictator Camillus celebrates a triumph.
Description of a Roman triumph.
War with the Faliscans.

****************

LIBRO 7

War with the Gauls.
The Capitol besieged. Marcus Capitolinus attempts to take power: he is thwarted and killed. Camillus dictator for several terms. The story of the Lacus Curtius. War with the Latins. Harshness of Manlius Torquatus.

*********************

LIBRO 8

Wars with the Samnites and with Capua.

The tribunes annul the debts of the people.

****************************

LIBRO 9

War with Tarentum and Pyrrhus, king of Epirus: in a first stage, they are successful.

*************************

LIBRO 10

Defeat of Tarentum and Pyrrhus.
The Romans intervene in the internal struggles of the Volsinii, on the side of the nobility.

***********************

LIBRO 11

First Punic War, fought mostly in Sicily and the islands.
Duilius builds Rome's first navy.
Rectitude and bravery of Regulus, hostage to the Carthaginians.

*****************************

(FROM LIBRO 12 TO LIBRO 25)

***************************

LIBRO 12

Rome is victorious in the First Punic War.
Roman Wars with
-- the Gauls
-- the Faliscans
-- Liguria
-- Corsica
--  Sardinia.
Rome intervenes in Greek affairs.

************************

LIBRO 13

Beginning of the Second Punic War.
The Saguntines in Spain.
The Gauls ally themselves with the Carthaginians.

****************

LIBRO 14

The Second Punic War.
reverses.
Fabius Maximus, elected dictator,
Fabio opts for a passive policy in order to wear out the enemy
from which he acquires the name of The Delayer (Cunctator).

*******************

LIBRO 15

The Second Punic War continued.
The disaster at Cannae.
The Romans successfully besiege Syracuse.
Death of Archimedes.
Rome captures Capua: a turning point.

***************

LIBRO 16

The Second Punic War continued.
Scipio's successful campaigns in Spain.

*****************

LIBRO 17

The Second Punic War continued.
Scipio gains an ally in Masinissa, a North African.
Together they bring the war to Africa.
The Carthaginians defeated.

********

LIBRO 18

After the Punic war: war with Philip of Macedonia.
The Carthaginians stir up the Gauls on Rome's other flank.
Battle of Cynoscephalae.
Philip defeated.
Catone: his stance on the sumptuary laws, his dealings with Spain.

***************

LIBRO 19

Rome becomes further embroiled in Greece.
War with Antiochus.
Death of Hannibal, in exile in Bithynia.

*****************

LIBRO 20

War against Perseus.
Dealings with Rhodes,
Cappadocia, Egypt.
Campaign against Dalmatia.

*******************

LIBRO 21

The Third Punic War.
War against Corinth.
Both end in total victory for the Romans.
Carthage and Corinth destroyed.

*******************

LIBRI 22‑29:

Wars in Spain: the rebellion of Viriathus. The demagoguery of Tiberius Gracchus. The Bacchanalian scandal. Wars against the Cimbri and the Marsians.

*******************************

LIBRI 30‑35

Mithridatic Wars. Civil war: Marius and Cinna and the proscriptions.

******************


LIBRO 36

Mithridatic War and Armenian campaigns. Pompey against the pirates.

*****************

LIBRO 37

The career of Pompey the Great and Mithridatic War, continued: war against the Asiatic Iberians, annexation of Syria and Phoenicia. The First Triumvirate (Crassus, Caesar, and Pompey).

************************

LIBRO 38

Julius Caesar's first consulate.
Exile of Cicero.
Caesar against the Helvetii.

***************************

LIBRO 39

Gallic War, continued.
Caesar crosses into Britain.
Ptolemy expelled from Egypt and restored.

**************************


LIBRO 40

Gallic War, continued.
Caesar crosses into Britain a second time.
Crassus goes to war against the Parthians, is defeated and killed.
Clodius and Milo. Beginning of the rift between Caesar and Pompey.

********************

LIBRO 41

GIULIO Caesar crosses the Rubicon: civil war.
Caesar's war in Spain.
Caesar and Pompey in Macedonia.
Battle of Dyrrhachium.
Battle of Pharsalus, in which Pompey is defeated.

*****************

LIBRO 42

Pompey flees to Egypt and dies there.
Caesar in Egypt.
Honours voted to Caesar in Rome.
Caesar and Cleopatra.

***********************

LIBRO 43.

Caesar defeats Scipio and conquers Numidia.
Suicide of Cato of Utica.
Caesar's triumphs celebrated in Rome.
Ground broken for the Forum of Caesar.
The Julian calendar reform.
Caesar defeats Gnaeus Pompey in Spain.

********************

LIBRO 44.

Caesar: personality cult leads to his murder.
His funeral.

***************************

LIBRO 45

Character of Julius Caesar's nephew and heir Octavian.
The Second Triumvirate (Octavian, Antony, Lepidus). Rift between Octavian and Antony. Cicero against Antony.

***********************
LIBRO 46

Octavian defeats Antony at Mutina. The Third Triumvirate (Octavian, Antony, Lepidus again).

*******************

LIBRO 47

Proscriptions under the Third Triumvirate. Battle of Philippi: Brutus and Crassus defeated.

*******************

LIBRO 48

More tangled relationships under the Third Triumvirate. Octavian and Antony make agreements with Sextus Pompey then turn on him and defeat him.

*********************

LIBRO 49

Octavian defeats Sextus Pompey and eliminates Lepidus.
Wars against the Parthians, in which Antony is defeated. Octavian conquers Pannonia. Rome acquires Mauretania.

**********************

LIBRO 50

With only two men left in the triumvirate, Octavian and Antony turn on each other: the latter is decisively defeated in the battle of Actium.

**********************

LIBRO 51

Antony and Cleopatra.
Suicide of Antony.
Octavian conquers Egypt.
Octavian celebrates triumphs in Rome.
Marcus Crassus conquers Moesia.

***************

LIBRO 52
Octavian prepares to become the sole ruler of Rome.

***************************

LIBRO 53

Beginning of EMPIRE.

Octavian, to be known henceforth as Augustus, officially becomes the sole ruler of Rome: the beginning of the imperial period.

Organization of provincial administration.

The rôle of Augustus' friend Agrippa. Major construction projects in Rome: dedication of the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine, the Saepta, the Pantheon, the Basilica of Neptune, the Baths of Agrippa. Wars in NW Spain and Arabia. Galatia falls to the Romans.

***************

LIBRO 54

Augustus continues to consolidate his power. Roman rule extends to Rhaetia, Noricum, the Maritime Alps, and the Chersonesus.

***************

LIBRO 55

Death of Drusus. Dedication of the Precinct of Livia, the Campus Agrippae, the Diribitorium, the Temple of Mars. Tiberius retires to Rhodes. Lucius and Gaius Caesar, the natural heirs of Augustus, both die young. Influence of Augustus' wife Livia. Institution of the corps of watchmen (vigiles).

***************
LIBRO 56

Augustus encourages population growth by rewarding those who have more children, and penalizing those who have fewer and those who do not marry. Three legions lost in Germany: the Disaster of Varus. Dedication of the Temple of Concord and the Portico of Livia.

Death of Augustus; his funeral.

*******************

LIBRO 57

Tiberius becomes emperor.
His character.
Cappadocia becomes Roman. Deaths of Drusus and Germanicus Caesar.

******************

LIBRO 58

Rise and fall of Sejanus.
Tiberius consolidates his hold on power despite revolts and scandals in his family.

*******************

LIBRO 59

Gaius Caesar becomes emperor; universally known as Caligula.
His excesses.

********************

LIBRO 60

Claudius becomes emperor and unexpectedly turns out to be a rather good ruler. Britain conquered.

***********************

LIBRO 61 Claudius' reign, continued.
Claudius dies, poisoned by his wife Agrippina.
Nero becomes emperor. Influence of the imperial freedmen.

LIBRO 62

Agrippina gets her comeuppance: Nero has his mother murdered. In Britain, the revolt of Boudicca (Buduica in the text). The Great Fire of Rome. Domitius Corbulo conquers Armenia. Nero's tutor Seneca plots to overthrow him, but the conspiracy is found out and Seneca is forced to commit suicide. Nero's excesses and artistic pretensions.

LIBRO 63

Nero's reign, continued
the rebellion of Vindex in Gaul, the revolt of the Jews put down by Vespasian. Nero overthrown and killed. The brief reigns of Galba and Otho.

LIBRO 64 The brief reign of Vitellius, consumed in civil war.


LIBRO 65 Vespasian becomes emperor. His son Titus captures Jerusalem and destroys the Temple. Vespasian subdues Egypt. Temple of Jupiter Capitoline rebuilt after its destruction by fire.

LIBRO 66
Upon the death of Vespasian, Titus becomes emperor for two years.
The eruption of Vesuvius that buried Pompeii.
A major fire in Rome.
Titus's character.

LIBRO 67 The reign and character of Domitian, notoriously paranoid and cruel.

LIBRO 68 The brief reign of Nerva, then the longer reign of Trajan, who proves to be an excellent man (according to Dio and everyone else). The Dacian Wars end in the subjugation of Dacia. More moderately successful campaigns in Armenia and Parthia. A major earthquake in Antioch. The unsuccessful siege of Hatra. Trajan dies of uncertain causes.
LIBRO 69 Trajan's adoptive son Hadrian succeeds to the throne. His character and interests. Antinous. Final revolt of the Jews and destruction of Judaea. Hadrian's protracted last illness and death.

LIBRO 70
The reign of Antoninus Pius.

LIBRO 71 Marcus Aurelius becomes emperor. The war against Vologaesus in Armenia. Roman bridge-building technique. (Very fragmentary)

LIBRO 72 Wars against the Marcomans and the Iazyges. The revolt of Cassius in Syria ends in Cassius' death. Character of Marcus Aurelius.


LIBRO 73 The reign of Marcus Aurelius' son Commodus: his character and excesses. Here too the historians are unanimous: his cowardice, narcissism, lechery, cruelty. His gladiatorial pretensions. His assassination.

LIBRO 74 The brief reign of Pertinax, and his character. His assassination. The empire is auctioned off by the Praetorian guard to a very rich and foolish man: Didius Julianus his reign, even briefer, and his assassination.

LIBRO 75 Septimius Severus fights his way to the throne. His character. He puts down a rebellion by Pescennius Niger. Successful siege of Byzantium.

LIBRO 76
Severus defeats yet another pretender to the throne: Albinus. War in Caledonia, and second siege of Hatra in Mesopotamia: neither one particularly successful. Power of Plautianus, prefect of the city.


LIBRO 77

Eruption of Vesuvius.
The downfall of Plautianus.
The robber Bulla terrorizes central Italy.
Severus campaigns personally in Caledonia, and dies at Eburacum in northern Britain.

***************

LIBRO 78

The emperor Caracalla: his cruelty of character, his wars,
his destruction of Alexandria.

LIBRO 79

Caracalla's Parthian campaign, during which Macrinus revolts,
kills Caracalla, and seizes power.
Macrinus' reign chiefly occupied with civil war.
He is overthrown by a Syrian family that places one of its young members on the throne: Elagabalus.

***********************

LIBRO 80

Elagabalus (Heliogabalus)
his character and excesses, mostly sexual.
He is overthrown and killed, and the throne passes to Alexander Severus.