Ab urbe condita vs Pharsalia: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Campaigns, Latin language, Early works to 1800, History, Fiction
Ab urbe condita
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"Romulus and Remus, the rape of Lucretia, Horatius at the bridge, the saga of Coriolanus, Cincinnatus called from his farm to save the state - these and many more stories immortalized by Livy in his history of Rome have…
Pharsalia
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"In this edition Professor Fantham offers the first full-scale commentary on the neglected second book of Lucan's epic poem on the war between Caesar and Pompey: De bello civili. Book II presents all three leading…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Ab urbe condita is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 7 for Pharsalia.
- Pharsalia has the widest readership — 1705 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Ab urbe condita | Pharsalia | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.9 (1705) |
| Hardcover | 3.0 (2) | — |
Reception
| Ab urbe condita | Pharsalia | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 8 | 1705 |
| Editions | 558 | 182 |
| Citations | — | 4 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 59 |
| Reading it now | — | 2 |
| Written reviews | — | 2 |
| Wikipedia attention | 7089 | 2559 |
| Pages | 237 | 424 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Ab urbe condita or Pharsalia?
Pharsalia has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Pharsalia 3.9/5, Ab urbe condita 3.9/5).
Which is shorter to read: Ab urbe condita or Pharsalia?
Ab urbe condita is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Ab urbe condita (237 pages, ≈ 4 h 23 m); Pharsalia (424 pages, ≈ 7 h 51 m).
Which is harder to read: Ab urbe condita or Pharsalia?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Ab urbe condita: Demanding; Pharsalia: Demanding.