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A Roman historian of Greek origin, Appian began writing his «Roman History» during the second century AD. Of the original twenty-four books only sections from half of these remain. Most importantly among these are books thirteen through seventeen, or the books that detail «The Civil Wars,» which stand out as the most comprehensive historical account of this period of Roman history. «The Civil Wars» covers the period from 133 to 70 BC, a tumultuous time in the history of Rome which we see the famed Catiline conspiracy, the rise of the first and second triumvirate, Julius Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon and defeat of Pompey, and the dramatic struggle between Augustus Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. For students of Roman history there exists no better document of this important period of conflict in the Empire than Appian's «Civil Wars.»

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A Roman historian of Greek descent, Appian was born in Alexandria (c. 95), received a formal education and later moved to Rome to serve as a barrister (c. 120). He was eventually presented with the title of procurator under Antoninus Pius, which allowed him to spend time on his «Historia Romana». The collection totaled 24 books written in Greek dialect, of which, unfortunately, only about half have survived, either complete or in large fragments. Beginning with Appian's own preface, the work chronicles nine centuries of Roman history, including the Spanish, Hannibalic, Punic, Illyrian, Syrian, and Mithridatic wars, and most significantly in the second volume, the Civil Wars. Although Appian's contributions were based on his limited knowledge of Republic institutions, he spent considerable time compiling, organizing and reducing material from such Greek and Latin authors such as Hieronymus of Cardia, Polybius, Gaius Asinius Pollio, Caesar, and Augustus. «The Roman History» is today an invaluable record of military history. Here in this edition we have the first of two volumes in which Appian's history of Rome's foreign wars are detailed.

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