Author Description

Embark on an epic twelve-hundred-year journey through the rise and fall of the ancient world's greatest power. Beginning with the foundational myths of Aeneas and the wolf-suckled twins Romulus and Remus, this comprehensive history charts the full trajectory of Roman civilization. It chronicles the transformation from a small kingdom of seven kings into a formidable Republic, detailing how a single city-state on the Tiber River came to dominate the Italian peninsula through relentless warfare and political pragmatism, setting the stage for its expansion across the globe. Witness the dramatic story of the Roman Republic, a five-hundred-year epoch defined by internal struggle and near-constant warfare. The narrative delves into the fierce "Struggle of the Orders" between patricians and plebeians, explores the titanic Punic Wars against its great rival Carthage, and follows the legions as they march east to conquer the Hellenistic kingdoms. This volume vividly recounts the Republic's tragic unraveling, detailing the doomed reforms of the Gracchi brothers and the rise of warlords like Marius and Sulla, culminating in the seismic clash of titans like Pompey, Crassus, and the incomparable Julius Caesar, whose conquest of Gaul and crossing of the Rubicon sealed the Republic's fate. Follow the bloody transition from Republic to Empire, from the assassination of Caesar to the rise of his heir, Augustus, who masterfully established the Principate and ushered in two centuries of unprecedented peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana. Explore the great achievements in engineering, law, and culture that became Rome's lasting heritage. The story continues through the successive imperial dynasties, from the power, intrigue, and madness of the Julio-Claudians like Caligula and Nero, to the stability and administrative genius of the "Five Good Emperors" of the Nervan-Antonine dynasty, representing the zenith of imperial power. This history then chronicles th