The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.-A.D. 476: A Study in Survival

I agree with the comments another reviewer made here about Starr's writing style. But I do not arrive at the same conclusion. I learned early on in my read that taking the time to sift through the dense paragraphs Starr serves up pays great dividends. This is an excellent starting point for someone who's never read on the Roman empire. I do have a couple of quibbles - there is significant work left to do for the casual reader. Many names (yes, I include the well-known, such as Plutarch) appear without even a line of biographical context to ease their entry. And Starr, while dissecting the reigns of the Caesars' power, entirely neglects to give us any thoughts on the role of co-emporer. I would have thought this role would have been discussed along with that of the emporer's amicii. Perhaps the co-emporer role superfluous, which is the conclusion Starr allows us to reach in the absence of any other information. Or perhaps he assumes a knowledge of the empire that goes beyond that of one who picks up a brief summary like this one to get an idea how it all worked. In any event, these relatively minor flaws aside, this is a tremendous book. If you hear otherwise, it is likely from readers who are not inclined to read a paragraph twice when on the first run through the message (messages in Starr's case) do not immediately reach them with clarity. This is definitely not fast food for those in a hurry. It is a meal to be taken and digested slowly.