Florus’ Epitome Now Online

Bill Thayer has posted a new version of the above on his website.  It’s best described in his own words:

“Florus’ Epitome is now online at LacusCurtius: original Latin, and the English translation by E. S. Forster, Loeb edition, 1929. Those not familiar with the work will find a sort of timeline of Roman military history, the wars of 700 years, as the manuscript headings put it, easily read in two hours: a good orientation to Roman history.

Florus traditionally gets bad press for being inaccurate, rhetorical, and dull. I’d never read him, and had never read the critics either: to my fresh eye he comes out as having done a very good job of presenting 700 years of history in a nicely readable summary, I’d be very hard put to do as well; plus the man has a quirky, dry sense of humor which I think a lot of those critics missed altogether. In sum, not dull at all.”

I like the idea of a timeline of Roman military history that can be read in two hours.  For those interested in finding out a little more about Florus, Jona Lendering provides a good biography over at Livius.