Book’s Nature
The book Greeks and Romans Bearing Gifts: How the Ancients Inspired the Founding Fathers by Carl J. Richard targets those who enjoy history especially when told by a professional. The good thing about this book is that it can be used by professionals (for research purposes) or by people who do reading as a hobby. Richard has done a professional work in researching before putting down the results of his research. By taking the reader from the known to the unknown, he carefully tells the reader about what role(s) the ancients played in inspiring the founding fathers. The book explores the Greek and the Roman world and what the founders of this country (United States), learnt from these people.
The author has used his experience and research to write a fascinating book about the impact of ancient Rome and Greece on the men who founded this country. The author recounts the stories of Rome and Greece in a way that makes the reader want to turn page after page. It has not been written by a man who just wants to write pages and pages of a book in order to increase the volume thus increase the price, it has been written by one who wants to tell a story that will be told generation after generation. One who wants to tell a story that is not yet fully told. One who tells a story that can be used by both the professionals in the academic field and those who read for leisure.
The book has been published by Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, who are known for publishing works that are not just average, but quality works. The numbers of pages in the book (224) make it easy for one not to get bored as the details are to the point and the reader does not have to read the same concepts or facts repeatedly. A number of scholars have cited this book in their works. They include Richard J. Rowling in his book Was Frankenstein Really Uncle Sam?, Joseph Farell and Michael C. J. Putnam in A companion to Vergil’s and Its Traditon, Cal Jillson in American Government Political Development and Institutional Change, amongst others.
Content of the Book
As mentioned earlier, the book is about how the stories of the ancient Greek and Rome influenced our founding fathers. According to Richard, these stories from these two countries had a major impact in the decisions made by those who founded this country. The author goes ahead and mentions some of the orators whom the founders greatly admired. These men included Suetonius, Cicero, Livy, Plutarch, Herodotus, Polybius, Demosthenes, Sallust, Tacitus, Thucydides, amongst others. In the chapters that follow, Richard gives a summary on what these orators felt concerning the topics of individual rights and Sparta. He also talks about democratic perils and Athens, the wars in Persia and the supremacy of the government of the republic and how Greece fell and its need for a strong central government. The topic about Rome in its early days and the virtues of the republican, hoe the Roman Republic fell and the desire to have revenge have been gone through in this same book. The emperors of Rome and the value of liberty is another topic that has been discussed through the eyes of the orators.
As one turns each page after the other, the author greatly gives a recount of what the founders could have picked up they read such stories or as they went through the classics. The author does not entirely give an entire story on its own then later gives another story of what the founders might have learnt/picked up, but rather incorporates both the stories and the findings of the founders in the same context in order to have a flow. The thesis of the book resembles another, which he published in 1995 known as The founders and the Classics: Greece, Rome and the American Enlightment[1]. Although this book is about the role the Greek and the Roman empires played in the founding of the nation, it dwells more on the role they had in enlightening the Americans, especially in the language arena and the general academic field. Some books that fall in the same topic category as this are The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life 1780-1940 by Caroline Winterer and Citizen Democracy: Political Activists in a Cynical Age (People, Passions, and Power) by Stephen E. Frantzich.
As backed up by the other authors mentioned, Richard tells us that the ancient history of the Greeks and the Romans should not be taken for granted. A lot of literature justifies that the Greeks and the Romans are an important invisible part of the Americans. The importance of this book to the society as a whole is quite evident. For example, John Taylor differentiated the merits of the Sparta landed aristocracy with the associates of the British commercial leaders in the year 1814 (pg.31). Richard also takes the reader through how the founding men of the nation dug up and used these ancients in the planning of the Republic. For example, Alexander Hamilton cited the Greeks’ failure to propel himself about a well-built central government as the main reason why the Greeks fell to Philip of Macedon.
As one continues reading, one gets to learn that the federalists, those at the convention that dealt with constitution affairs, at the state endorsing conventions and in the essays that had been published frequently mentioned the Greece of the ancient days as a people shattered by devolution (pg. 92). With the help of the books named above, the other writers justify these concepts. Although Richard’s book is more specific on the roles the ancient Rome and Greece played in the founding of the nation it is important that this is more general than other works. This book gives a general view on how the ancients contributed in the different fields/arenas. The other books are more specific. For example, they dwell on the role they played on civilization, politics, and social welfare, amongst others.
Critical Analysis
The author, Carl J. Richard, is a PhD holder and a professor of history at the university since 1988. As mentioned earlier, he has written other books, which are related to the ancient Rome and Greece in one way or the other. This is mostly in relation to the role they played in the founding of this nation. As a professor for many years, Richard has taken his time to study and analyze these ancients, hence comes up with such splendid works. The contents in this book are those of a professional and not for one who is looking to add some more cash in his bank account. The references used are scholarly and reviewed. The comments made of the book include those of other professionals in t he same field such as Winterer[2].
However, the book also has a few weaknesses, which could have been looked into. As mentioned earlier, the book can be read by those reading for entertainment and those reading in order to carry out a research. One doing deep research about the history of The United States would not dwell so much on this book. This is because the facts are highlighted rather than deeply discussed. One who has a deeper interest in the ancients and the American history would not find this book so helpful. The book only highlights on the major points and areas that were greatly affected by the ancients, but does not go into the minor areas or issues. This book is a better read for one who is beginning to research on the history of this country.
The book has been divided well so that each chapter tackles specific issues/areas affected by the ancients. However, the language used can bend on a beginner’s side rather than to the professional’s side. The advantage of reading this book is that it gives highlights of the areas that were affected were the ancients. This makes it easy for one researching to gather the specific points/information needed. However, for those searching for a more detailed work, this book would not be very helpful. On a more general view, it would be nice if the author either came up with another volume that gave more information that is detailed or added more pages to give a more detailed account and an explanation to the concepts and the facts presented.
The price of the book is quite affordable and can be accessed by both students, people reading for leisure and professionals. However, an online preview of some contents in the book would have done a much better job for those who only want to get specific details and do not need the whole book. This could be done at a smaller fee or a few pages of the book could be previewed in order to help the one researching get an idea of what it is about. Being a historian who has really dwelt on the ancients’ influence on the decisions the founding fathers deed, Richard tends to dwell on the positives more than the negatives of the ancients’ influence. It would have been better if he had made a balanced assessment.
In relation to the book’s title, subtitles and thesis, the author has stuck to all these so that the titles and the thesis merge with the contents of the book. By the end of the book, the reader is not the same as the way they started reading the book. One is more enlightened and is not left more confused than the way they started. The author makes a good conclusion of the contents of the major issues that were affected by the ancients. The use of primary sources makes one gain confidence in the works of the author. It shows that he has experience in whatever he is doing and knows what he is doing. The materials used also reflect on the other aspects of history such the general history rather than specifically dwell on the ancients’ impact on the founders. Concerning the author, Richard should do more research on this topic. This is not to down water his work, but so that one can get a more detailed account of this part of history. The books could have contents, which are not too general so that they are of more use to those doing professional research as it is of use to those reading for leisure or for the students.
[1] There are other books that can be viewed online which he has written on the ancient Greece and Rome and their influence on how Americais today. They can be found through this link: http://www.amazon.com/Greeks-Romans-Bearing-Gifts-Ancients/dp/0742556239
[2] There are other authors and organizations that have commented well on his works. These comments can be found through this link: http://www.conservativebookclub.com/products/bookpage.asp?prod_cd=c7298
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