Background
Potter, David Stone was born on March 15, 1957 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Harold David and Elizabeth Fleming Potter.
(Literary Texts and the Roman Historian looks at literary ...)
Literary Texts and the Roman Historian looks at literary texts from the Roman Empire which depict actual events. It examines the ways in which these texts were created, disseminated and read. Beside covering the major Roman historical authors such as Livy and Tacitus, he also considers the contributions of authors in other genres like: * Cicero * Lucian * Aulus Gellius. Literary Texts and the Roman Historian provides an accessible and concise introduction to the complexities of Roman historiography.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415088968/?tag=2022091-20
( To the practical modern mind, the idea of divine proph...)
To the practical modern mind, the idea of divine prophecy is more ludicrous than sublime. Yet to our cultural forebears in ancient Greece and Rome, prophecy was anything but marginal; it was in fact the basic medium for recalling significant past events and expressing hopes for the future, and it offered assurance that divinities truly cared about mere mortals. Prophecy also served political ends, and it was often invoked to support or condemn an emperor's actions. In Prophets and Emperors, David Potter shows us how prophecy worked, how it could empower, and how the diverse inhabitants of the Roman Empire used it to make sense of their world. This is a fascinating account of prophecy as a social, religious, and political phenomenon. The various systems of prophecy--including sacred books, oracles, astrological readings, interpretation of dreams, the sayings of holy men and women--come into sharp relief. Potter explores the use of prophecy as a nieans of historical analysis and political communication, and he describes it in the context of the ancient city. Finally, he traces the reformation of the prophetic tradition under the influence of Christianity in the fourth century. Drawing on diverse evidence--from inscriptions and ancient prophetic books to Greek and Roman historians and the Bible--Potter has produced a study that will engage anyone interested in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean and in the history and politics of the Roman Empire.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674715659/?tag=2022091-20
(The Sybylline Oracles that provide narratives of Roman hi...)
The Sybylline Oracles that provide narratives of Roman history are our best sources for popular understanding of contemporary events, since they were written by those with no obvious connection with the government. The Thirteenth Oracle is particularly interesting as it remains the only first-hand narrative of the critical years of the mid-third century AD, when the empire stood on the brink of political collapse. This book contains the first new edition of the text of the Thirteenth Oracle since 1902, an extensive historical introduction, and a detailed commentary that discusses disputed points of chronology, and how the authors, living in Roman Syria, viewed both the great rival powers of Roman and Persia, and the war that ensued. This work should be of particular value to scholars, graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and historians interested in the history of the late Roman empire.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198144830/?tag=2022091-20
( David S. Potter's comprehensive survey of two critical ...)
David S. Potter's comprehensive survey of two critical and eventful centuries traces the course of imperial decline, skillfully weaving together cultural, intellectual and political history. Particular attention is paid throughout to the structures of government, the rise of Persia as a rival, and the diverse intellectual movements in the empire. There is also a strong focus on Christianity, transformed in this period from a fringe sect to the leading religion. Against this detailed background, Potter argues that the loss of power can mainly be attributed to the failure in the imperial elite to respond to changes inside and outside the empire, and to internal struggles for control between different elements in the government, resulting in an inefficient centralization of power at court. A striking achievement of historical synthesis combined with a compelling interpretative line, The Roman Empire at Bay enables students of all periods to understand the dynamics of great imperial powers.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415100585/?tag=2022091-20
(At the outset of the period covered by this book, Rome wa...)
At the outset of the period covered by this book, Rome was the greatest power in the world. By its end, it had fallen conclusively from this dominant position. David Potter's comprehensive survey of two critical and eventful centuries traces the course of imperial decline.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FBBRKUQ/?tag=2022091-20
( The Roman Empire at Bay is the only one volume history ...)
The Roman Empire at Bay is the only one volume history of the critical years 180-395 AD, which saw the transformation of the Roman Empire from a unitary state centred on Rome, into a new polity with two capitals and a new religion―Christianity. The book integrates social and intellectual history into the narrative, looking to explore the relationship between contingent events and deeper structure. It also covers an amazingly dramatic narrative from the civil wars after the death of Commodus through the conversion of Constantine to the arrival of the Goths in the Roman Empire, setting in motion the final collapse of the western empire. The new edition takes account of important new scholarship in questions of Roman identity, on economy and society as well as work on the age of Constantine, which has advanced significantly in the last decade, while recent archaeological and art historical work is more fully drawn into the narrative. At its core, the central question that drives The Roman Empire at Bay remains, what did it mean to be a Roman and how did that meaning change as the empire changed? Updated for a new generation of students, this book remains a crucial tool in the study of this period.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415840554/?tag=2022091-20
Potter, David Stone was born on March 15, 1957 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Harold David and Elizabeth Fleming Potter.
Bachelor, Harvard University, 1979; Doctor of Philosophy, University of Oxford, 1984.
Visiting assistant professor Greek and Latin, Bryn Mawr (Pennsylvania) College, 1984-1986; assistant professor Greek and Latin, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1986-1991; from associate to professor Greek and Latin, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1991-1996-; director Lloyd Hall Scholars program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, since 1999.
( The Roman Empire at Bay is the only one volume history ...)
(The Sybylline Oracles that provide narratives of Roman hi...)
(Literary Texts and the Roman Historian looks at literary ...)
(A lively survey for the nonspecialist, with new essays an...)
(At the outset of the period covered by this book, Rome wa...)
( To the practical modern mind, the idea of divine proph...)
( David S. Potter's comprehensive survey of two critical ...)
Married Ellen Ann Bauerle, August 18, 1990. Children: Claire Penelope, Natalie Sarah Ni Qing.