The Shortest History of Ancient Rome

Ross King

• Publisher: Old Street Publishing
• Year: 2025
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781913083847
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

'King's supreme ability is to imagine himself into the past. The scope of his knowledge is staggering' JOHN CAREY, SUNDAY TIMES At its largest extent, the Roman Empire stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Irish Sea, from North Africa to central Europe. A fifth of the world's population were Roman citizens. Even after the empire's dramatic decline and fall, its legacy continued to shape politics and laws, language and numerals, calendars and architecture. But what was Rome, who were the Romans, how did they achieve such domination – and why did their mighty empire fall? Ross King's cast of characters includes murderous emperors, rebellious women, remarkable thinkers, fugitive slaves and persecuted Christians. From the foundation myths of Romulus and Remus to the barbarian invasions, this is an unputdownable account of one of the greatest empires the world has seen.

Table of contents

• Praise
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Timeline
• 1: The City on the Hills: The Origins of Rome
• 2: ‘The Favour of Heaven’: The Rise of the Roman Republic
• 3: ‘Men of Violence’: The Decline of the Roman Republic
• 4: Pax Romana: The Age of Augustus
• 5: The ‘Bad Emperors’: Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius
• 6: ‘Let the Earth Be Consumed by Fire’: The Age of Nero
• 7: ‘Savage Victors’: The Height of Empire
• 8: ‘Revere the Gods, Save Mankind’: The Age of the Antonines
• 9: The Empire in Crisis
• 10: ‘There Will Never Be an End to the Power of Rome’
• Acknowledgements
• Image Credits
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author
• Also in this series
• Copyright