Ancient Rome: A Complete History of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chronicling the Story of the Most Important and Influential Civilization the World Has Ever Known Paperback – November 7, 2013

An encyclopedia in a single book, Ancient Rome covers all the bases of Roman history, making it the ideal first book for anyone interested in the Roman Empire. Whether a child with a voracious appetite for "all things Roman", or an adult interested in binge-boning up on Roman history, this book is a perfect start. It has over 1,000 beautiful color photographs of archaeological artifacts and historically-accurate reproductions. It has topics covering lots of territory. For example, its chapter on Housing covers housing for the rich, the first apartments, villas outside Rome, emporer's palaces, and British villas. Whew!The book's only limitation is that its two-page-per-topic format only goes so deep. Consequently, if you want to go deep you'll need other books. But of course, that's always the case! Two thumbs up.

Very detailed book complete with pictures. I enjoyed this book as I am taking a trip to Rome and have used it to learn more about the history and architecture of the city. I am an avid reader and don't typically require pictures, but in this case they really accentuate the text and serve as a visual aid. This would make a good coffee table book even. My boyfriend doesn't read novels but he really enjoyed this as well. I recommend for anyone who is looking to experience Rome or just learn more about it's rich history.

This book is awesome because it gives you the complete history of the roman empire and the money and weapons that this empire used. Love it and it gives you and idea how big and strong the roman empire was in its time.

Truly an encyclopedia spanning the Golden Age of Rome. There is more here than you may want, so it makes a great reference on a per subject basis. For a true understanding of what life was like in Rome, there is no substitute for Anthony Everitt's works on Augustus and Cicero, but for an encyclopedia, it doesn't get better than this.

I purchased this book for my son's fifth grade project. It is comprehensive, yet easy to understand. The chapters are well labeled, so he could find the answers to his questions easily. I loved helping him with his project. Nothing like having the right book for the class.

I purchased this book as a gift for my husband. I had a theme around Italy. He loves history and this book was a wonderful addition to his collection. A great balance of reading and visual aids.

This is a wonderful overview of the fabulous Romans and their history and life style. Photos are excellent and it reads like a novel. The short vignettes allow one to read and return over and over. I'm glad I own this book.

I have listened to hundreds of hours of lectures with different methods of presenting the materials (The Great Courses series) and read Caesar's commentaries, Tactitus, Suetonius, etc... etc... I thought this might be a more visual medium to add to all of the other content I've consumed. For the most part it is... The maps are nice, and the original drawings are ok, if a bit too cartoony at times. Some of the busts that are reprinted aren't the usual photos of busts you'll see on a wikipedia page, so that's nice.The main problems I have are1. It is organized thematically. I personally prefer a chronological presentation, with occasional thematic breaks...for example a break after the conquest of italy to discuss paganism, or the role of women in Roman society, things that don't present themselves in a chronology. There is a timeline on page 14, but it's 4 pages long and doesn't really communicate anything visually. I prefer not to see the city of marble on page 1. I want to see Romulus and Remus and Aeneus. If you're fine with this, add an additional star.2. There is too much characterization. For example, a statue of Constantine is captioned "A head of Constantine I hints at the colossal arrogance of the first emperor to actively promote Christianity." A bust of Caesar is captioned "This bust of Caesar is unusually unflattering - unlike his two lively histories." Well, alright. I can draw my own conclusion, but thanks.I am disappointed in some of the choices in terms of photos or drawings, but there's no getting around that in a 500 page book. You have to make choices.Finally: There are 2 versions from what I can tell. The hard cover and soft cover. The soft cover version I have is in a larger format than the hard cover version of the Ancient Greece volume. I prefer the soft cover, as it has a larger format, and the point is to pore over the photos and illustrations.