The Romans For Dummies

The book can roughly be organized in two halves. The first covers the culture and context of Rome. There is a lot of great information on the Roman military, government, social structure, religion, and what a day in the life of a Roman was like. The second half of the book covers the history of Rome starting right at the beginning with the founding on April 21, 753 B.C. until the abdication of Romulus Augustus and the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 A.D. (since the rest of the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire is a whole other history, it only gets mentioned at the end with little detail). I liked this book because when I bought it I knew virtually nothing about Ancient Rome. We have all heard of Caesar, but what did he do? This book did an excellent job summarizing everything about the Roman Empire. It is a great starting point for someone who knows little about it.

I bought this book and the Complete Idiot's Guide to the Roman Empire as well because I wanted a good overview of the history of the Roman Empire. I've always been fascinated with the Roman Empire due to its significance in ancient history and its profound influence over Western history, culture, and society. The author Guy de la Bedoyere does an excellent job of explaining the persons, events, and lessons in a very understandable and informative way. The book is organized this way: Part I "Romans -- The Big Boys of the Ancient World" A brief overview of Rome and how it has influenced us both in Western history and in the modern world now. There is an excellent explanation of ancient civilizations (e.g. Egypt, Mespotamia, Phoenicians, Greeks, Etruscans, Macedonians, etc). The author explains the Roman social classes, the Senate, the position of Emperor, how life was in the city of Rome, and the building up of the Roman army Part II "Living the Good Life" The author explains how Rome was the model city, its building projects, the building of good roads, the establishment of trade & commerce, the entertainment, an overview of Roman gods & religion, and the conflict with Christianity Part III "The Rise of Rome" Explanation of how Rome was established, the magnificent 8 kings (753-509 BC), the birth of the Roman Republic, overview of the Punic Wars and Macedonian Wars, and the conquering of Spain and Carthage Part IV "When Romans Ruled the World" Explanation of the rise of the equestrians, the Gracchi rulers, the age of the generals, the Triumvirate, the fall of the Republic, and the ascension of Augustus (Octavian), the period of chaos after Augustus, and the rise of the 5 Good Emperors Part V "Throwing the Empire Away" Explanation of the demise of the Empire under the poor rulership of the latter Emperors, the problems in the 3rd century, the rise of Constantine, the split of the Empire into the East and the West, and the Barbarian invasions. Part VI "The Part of Tens" Ten Turning Points in Roman History Ten Interesting and Occasionally Good Romans Ten (Mostly) Bad Romans Ten of Rome's Greatest Enemies Ten or so Great Roman Places to Visit I preferred this "Dummies" overview of Rome over the Complete Idiot's Guide because the author explains the events, persons, and historical significance in a very straightforward and clear way. The author of the Complete Idiot's Guide (Eric Nelson) liked to insert anecdotes and quotations along the way, but I found that to be rather distracting. I was most interested in the overview of the achievements of the good emperors (why they were good and what were their accomplishments in helping to build or stabilize the empire) and the description of the bad emperors (why they were so bad and what did they do to de-stabilize the empire). The author was able to describe the accomplishments of the great emperors in a very concise and clear way. One of my favorite