- Written Sources for the Roman Empire come from both Roman Historians and Inscriptions on Monuments and Tombs.
- Below is a list of the written Sources from the Roman Period to today.
Top Ten Classical Sources for the Roman Empire by Date
- Livy (c. 59 BCE – c. 17 CE) ‘Roman History’.
- Ptolemy's Almagest (50 CE)
- Natural History (79 CE) by Pliny the Elder (23-79CE)
- Periplus of the Euxine Sea by Arrian (c.92-175 CE)
- New Testament (c.150 CE)
- Antonine Itinerary (c.290 CE).
- Peutinger Table (c.390 CE)
- Notitia Dignitatum (400-420 CE)
- Laterculus Veronensis (Verona List) (7th century CE)
- Ravenna Cosmography (700 CE)
Top Roman Historians
- Polybius (203-c. 120 BCE) early Roman history
- Diodorus Siculus of Sicily (1st century BCE) Greek history.
- Livy Titus Livius (c. 59 BCE – c. 17 CE) Roman history
- Strabo (c. BCE – c. 24 CE) Greek Geographer and Historian
- Plutarch (c. 46 – 120 CE) ‘Parallel Lives’
- Dio Chrysostom (c. 40-115 CE)
- Pliny the Elder (61-112 CE) Natural History
- Tacitus Gaius Cornelius (c. 56 – c. 120 CE) early Roman Empire.
- Appian (c. 95 – c. 165 CE) Roman history.
- Arrian (c. 92-175 CE) Greek History
- Dio Cassius or Cassius Dio (c. 160 – c. 229 CE) Roman history.
- Herodian (c. 170 – 240 CE) Roman history.
- Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 325/330 CE – c. 392/400 CE) Roman history.
- Macrobius (370-430 CE) Saturnalia (commentary on Roman Religion)
Top Sources for the Eastern Empire (395-1453 CE)
- Zosimus (460-520 CE) he wrote about the Roman Empire between 27 BCE-410 CE.
- Chronicon Paschale (7th century CE)
- Procopious: History of the Wars (553 CE)
- Evagrius Scholasticus: Ecclesiastical History (431-593 CE)
- Agathias Scholasticus: Histories (552-558 CE)
- Theophylact Simocatta: History (7th century CE)
Top Modern Sources by date
- Ecclesiastical History of the English People (c.1731 CE)
- The Venerable Bede (c.672-735 CE) Written as a history of the Christian Church in England, it mainly covers the Anglo Saxon period but contains references to the Roman period before the Saxon invasion.
- History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-1789)
- Edward Gibbon (27 April 1737 – 16 January 1794)
- Theodore Mommsen (1817-1903 CE)
- History of Rome Volumes 1-5. (First Published 1854-56 CE)
- Corpus Inscriptiorium Latinarum (CIL) 1861: Mommsen founded this collection of inscriptions which continues today.
- ILS: Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae (1892-1916)
- A Listing of Latin Inscriptions in three volumes by Hermann Dessau, published between 1892-1916 CE. Each inscription is given a catalogue number, for example, ILS 5624.
- CIL: Corpus Inscriptionarum Latinarum (1954)
- A more comprehensive collection of Latin Inscriptions found in the Empire since 1954 CE.
- Each inscription is given a catalogue number, often with the ILS number, eg, CIL 1.2.345, ILS 572.
- Margary numbers (1955)
- In 1955 ‘The Roman Roads of Britain’ was published by Ivan Margary.
- This is a catalogue of known and supposed Roman Roads and their branches in Britain by the historian Ivan Margary.
- Margary copied the modern road numbering technique.
- RIB: ‘Roman Inscriptions of Britain’ (1965)
- First published 1965 CE and continuously updated since.
- A continually updated catalogue of epigraphical inscriptions found in Britain, such as those found on tombstones or milestones.
- They are given a RIB reference number which is then cross referenced to the CIL number (see below).
- Barrington’s Atlas of the Greek and Roman World (2000)
- The Atlas is the result of a huge academic research project which lists all the ancient towns and cities of the Greco-Roman world with both their original and modern names.
- The Atlas covers the period from c.1,000 BCE to c.640 CE.
- The Atlas encompasses the geographical region between the Azores and China.
- Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire (2002 CE)
- A Hardcover published by Facts on File Inc. written by Matthew Bunson.
- The Encyclopedia of the Ancient Roman Empire (2019 CE)
- A Paperback published by Amber Books.
Lost Sources