The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Roman Empire Review

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(More customer reviews)One can find any number of books on ancient Rome. Many of them deal only with one particular period, or with very specific aspects of ancient Rome. But Rome endured, in one form or another, for a quite staggering length of time. So much happened during that period that I've always found it hard to get a handle on Roman history--to place the isolated events and the strange-sounding names in some sort of context. Nelson's book provides a broad overview of the entire pageant of Roman history and culture from 800 B.C.E. through the fall of Constantinople in 1453 C.E. This book is *precisely* what I'd been seeking for the last couple of years. Besides being informative, it's quite a fun read. One gets a sense of the Romans not as mere historical archetypes, but as people, facing problems similar to those we face today--sometimes with exasperation, often with humor. I especially liked Juvenal's description of the joys of a traffic jam, circa 234 C.E.!
The history and culture of Rome are long and complex. This delightful book is a great roadmap for the interested reader.

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Did you ever stop and notice how much your daily life is influenced by the contributions of the Romans? Satire, tax shelters, the interstate highway system, the sports stadium, the health club, and the real biggie and the reason you have the ground under your feet: Manifest Destiny.

The CIG to the Roman Empire you get: -- Why Rome wasn't built in a day: Fascinating blow-by-blow description of how the Romans conquered the world.-- Accurate depictions of life in ancient Rome -- What was it like to be a gladiator? A plebe? A slave? A woman?-- An in-depth look at Roman society, politics, and architecture -- and why its timeless influence still effects us even today.-- A close-up view of the famous (and infamous) leaders of the Roman Empire: Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, and -- of course -- Caesar.-- A look at Roman influence around the world -- from Egypt to the UK to Romania to Syria.--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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