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Brillâs Companion to Cassius Dio
Series:
This Companion is the first of its kind on the Roman historian Cassius Dio. It introduces the reader to the life and work of one of the most fundamental but previously neglected historians in the Roman historical cannon. Together the eighteen chapters focus on Cassius Dioâs background as a Graeco-Roman intellectual from Bithynia who worked his way up the political hierarchy in Rome and analyzes his Roman History as the product of a politically engaged historian who carefully ties Romeâs constitutional situation together with the cityâs history.
Jesper Majbom Madsen, Professor, University of Southern Denmark, is co-editor of Brillâs Historiography of Rome and Its Empire Series. He is the author of Eager to be Roman: Greek Response to Roman Rule in Pontus and Bithynia (2009) and is the co-editor of Roman Rule in Greek and Latin Writing: Double Vision (2014). Apart from the co-edited volume Cassius Dio: Greek Intellectual and Roman Politician (2016) he has published extensively on Cassius Dio including âCassius Dio and the Cult of Iulius and Roma at Ephesus and Nicaea (51.20.6â8)â (Classical Quarterly 66/1 [2016]) and Cassius Dio (2020). His latest book From Trophy Towns to City-States; Urban Civilization and Cultural Identities in Roman Pontus (2020) was recently published.
Andrew G. Scott in an Associate Professor of Classical Studies, Villanova University (Villanova, PA, USA). He is the author of Emperors and Usurpers: an historical commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman history, books 79 (78)-80 (80) (217-229 CE) (OUP 2018) and co-editor (with Carsten H. Lange) of Cassius Dio: The Impact of Violence, War, and Civil War (Brill 2020). He has also written numerous articles and book chapters on the histories of Cassius Dio and Herodian, as well as on various aspects of Spartan social history.
Contributors are: Tønnes Bekker-Nielsen, Sulochana R. Asirvatham, Luke Pitcher, Caillan Davenport, Christopher T. Mallan, Josiah Osgood, Adam M. Kemezis, Christopher Baron, Estelle Bertrand, Jesper Majbom Madsen, Eleanor Cowan, Antonio Pistellato, Andrew G. Scott, Marianne Coudry, Christopher Burden-Strevens, Roger Rees, Caitlin C. Gillespie, Carsten H. Lange
Andrew G. Scott in an Associate Professor of Classical Studies, Villanova University (Villanova, PA, USA). He is the author of Emperors and Usurpers: an historical commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman history, books 79 (78)-80 (80) (217-229 CE) (OUP 2018) and co-editor (with Carsten H. Lange) of Cassius Dio: The Impact of Violence, War, and Civil War (Brill 2020). He has also written numerous articles and book chapters on the histories of Cassius Dio and Herodian, as well as on various aspects of Spartan social history.
Contributors are: Tønnes Bekker-Nielsen, Sulochana R. Asirvatham, Luke Pitcher, Caillan Davenport, Christopher T. Mallan, Josiah Osgood, Adam M. Kemezis, Christopher Baron, Estelle Bertrand, Jesper Majbom Madsen, Eleanor Cowan, Antonio Pistellato, Andrew G. Scott, Marianne Coudry, Christopher Burden-Strevens, Roger Rees, Caitlin C. Gillespie, Carsten H. Lange
"... the volume overall is a great success and fully achieves its stated aims. The quality of the individual chapters is high, and many make important contributions. Each chapter includes a survey of recent work on its topic, and this, together with Kemezisâ masterly overview, makes the volume an admirable guide to the recent Dio explosion, to which it is itself a most valuable addition." - John Rich, in: BMCR 2025.07.42
"The volumes under discussion are invaluable contributions to the scholarship on Dioâs intellectual landscape, narrative technique, and theory of empire. (...) Brillâs Companion offers an exciting and up-to-date reflection of the complexity and sophistication of the debate, (...). Finally, what strikes the reader of these volumes as a whole is that all chapters are extremely well-written and well-edited." - Leanne Jansen, Department of Classics, Groningen University, in: "Literary Technique in the Roman History", Mnemosyne 78.3 (2025)
"Da qualche anno a questa parte si assiste a un curioso e per certi versi enigmatico fenomeno di âriscopertaâ di Cassio Dione, con una crescita a dir poco tumultuosa e sovrabbondante della letteratura scientifica in materia [...]. Non si può dunque negare lâutilità di un volume complessivo â volutamente di ampio respiro â che possa fornire un orientamento aggiornato e affidabile sui risultati fin qui raggiunti dalla ricerca. In tal senso la scelta dei due studiosi quali responsabili del progetto è sicuramente azzeccata e quanto mai felice. [...] La visione dâinsieme che si ricava dalla lettura di questo Companion to Cassius Dio è indubbiamente stimolante e ricca di spunti fecondi. Tutti i contributi sono di alto livello e suscitano un forte interesse; molti appaiono scritti con eleganza, alcuni riescono nella non facile impresa di proporre risultati nuovi e originali su questioni fin qui poco frequentate dalla critica. [...] In tal senso la raccolta di saggi di Madsen e Scott â la prima del suo genere dedicata interamente al colto senatore della Bitinia â devâessere salutata con vivo favore perché viene a colmare un evidente vuoto editoriale, specialmente alla luce dellâenorme fioritura di studi dellâultimo periodo. Tommaso Leoni, in: Bollettino di Studi Latini Anno LV - fascicolo II - Luglio-Dicembre 2025.
"The volumes under discussion are invaluable contributions to the scholarship on Dioâs intellectual landscape, narrative technique, and theory of empire. (...) Brillâs Companion offers an exciting and up-to-date reflection of the complexity and sophistication of the debate, (...). Finally, what strikes the reader of these volumes as a whole is that all chapters are extremely well-written and well-edited." - Leanne Jansen, Department of Classics, Groningen University, in: "Literary Technique in the Roman History", Mnemosyne 78.3 (2025)
"Da qualche anno a questa parte si assiste a un curioso e per certi versi enigmatico fenomeno di âriscopertaâ di Cassio Dione, con una crescita a dir poco tumultuosa e sovrabbondante della letteratura scientifica in materia [...]. Non si può dunque negare lâutilità di un volume complessivo â volutamente di ampio respiro â che possa fornire un orientamento aggiornato e affidabile sui risultati fin qui raggiunti dalla ricerca. In tal senso la scelta dei due studiosi quali responsabili del progetto è sicuramente azzeccata e quanto mai felice. [...] La visione dâinsieme che si ricava dalla lettura di questo Companion to Cassius Dio è indubbiamente stimolante e ricca di spunti fecondi. Tutti i contributi sono di alto livello e suscitano un forte interesse; molti appaiono scritti con eleganza, alcuni riescono nella non facile impresa di proporre risultati nuovi e originali su questioni fin qui poco frequentate dalla critica. [...] In tal senso la raccolta di saggi di Madsen e Scott â la prima del suo genere dedicata interamente al colto senatore della Bitinia â devâessere salutata con vivo favore perché viene a colmare un evidente vuoto editoriale, specialmente alla luce dellâenorme fioritura di studi dellâultimo periodo. Tommaso Leoni, in: Bollettino di Studi Latini Anno LV - fascicolo II - Luglio-Dicembre 2025.
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Reviewing Cassius Dio
âJesper Majbom Madsen and Andrew G. Scott
1 Cassius Dioâs Bithynian Background
âTønnes Bekker-Nielsen
2 Cassius Dioâs Greek and Roman Identity
âSulochana R. Asirvatham
3 Cassius Dio and Greco-Roman Historiography
âLuke Pitcher
4 The Senatorâs Story
âCaillan Davenport
5 From Deconstruction to Reconstruction: Cassius Dioâs Roman History in Western Europe, 1421â1750
âChristopher T. Mallan
6 Cassius Dio in Gibbon
âJosiah Osgood
7 A Survey of Recent Scholarship on Cassius Dio
âAdam M. Kemezis
8 The Lost Books of Cassius Dioâs Roman History (1â35)
âChristopher Baron
9 Cassius Dio and the Last Decad(e)s of the Roman Republic: Understanding the Collapse of the Republican Regime (Books 21â50)
âEstelle Bertrand
10 The Almost Flawless Princeps: Cassius Dioâs Idealized Portrait of Octavian-Augustus
âJesper Majbom Madsen
11 Cassius Dio and the Julio-Claudians: Fear and Loathing in the Early Principate
âEleanor Cowan
12 Cassius Dio and the Emperors: From the Flavians to the Antonines
âAntonio Pistellato
13 Cassius Dio and the Age of Iron and Rust
âAndrew G. Scott
14 The Republican Speeches
âMarianne Coudry
15 The Agrippa-Maecenas Debate
âChristopher Burden-Strevens
16 âTo Bury Caesarâ: The Poetics and Polemics of Funerary Oratory in Cassius Dio
âRoger Rees
17 Women, Politics, and Morality in Cassius Dioâs Roman History
âCaitlin C. Gillespie
18 Cassius Dio on Civil War: Between History and Theory
âCarsten H. Lange
Index
Introduction: Reviewing Cassius Dio
âJesper Majbom Madsen and Andrew G. Scott
Part 1 Cassius Dio, Greek Intellectual and Roman Politician
1 Cassius Dioâs Bithynian Background
âTønnes Bekker-Nielsen
2 Cassius Dioâs Greek and Roman Identity
âSulochana R. Asirvatham
3 Cassius Dio and Greco-Roman Historiography
âLuke Pitcher
4 The Senatorâs Story
âCaillan Davenport
Part 2 Text and Reception
5 From Deconstruction to Reconstruction: Cassius Dioâs Roman History in Western Europe, 1421â1750
âChristopher T. Mallan
6 Cassius Dio in Gibbon
âJosiah Osgood
7 A Survey of Recent Scholarship on Cassius Dio
âAdam M. Kemezis
Part 3 Chronological Surveys
8 The Lost Books of Cassius Dioâs Roman History (1â35)
âChristopher Baron
9 Cassius Dio and the Last Decad(e)s of the Roman Republic: Understanding the Collapse of the Republican Regime (Books 21â50)
âEstelle Bertrand
10 The Almost Flawless Princeps: Cassius Dioâs Idealized Portrait of Octavian-Augustus
âJesper Majbom Madsen
11 Cassius Dio and the Julio-Claudians: Fear and Loathing in the Early Principate
âEleanor Cowan
12 Cassius Dio and the Emperors: From the Flavians to the Antonines
âAntonio Pistellato
13 Cassius Dio and the Age of Iron and Rust
âAndrew G. Scott
Part 4 Key Themes
14 The Republican Speeches
âMarianne Coudry
15 The Agrippa-Maecenas Debate
âChristopher Burden-Strevens
16 âTo Bury Caesarâ: The Poetics and Polemics of Funerary Oratory in Cassius Dio
âRoger Rees
17 Women, Politics, and Morality in Cassius Dioâs Roman History
âCaitlin C. Gillespie
18 Cassius Dio on Civil War: Between History and Theory
âCarsten H. Lange
Index
University students and scholars working in the field of Roman history or Greco-Roman historiography. Fits Year student through to masterâs degrees and post grad students.