SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome - Softcover

By the time Beard has finished, she has explored not only archaic, republican, and imperial Rome, but the eastern and western provinces over which it eventually won control...She moves with ease and mastery though archaeology, numismatics, and philology, as well as a mass of written documents on stone and papyrus.--G. W. Bowersock

A masterful new chronicle.... Beard is a sure-footed guide through arcane material that, in other hands, would grow tedious. Sifting myth from fact in dealing with the early history of the city, she enlivens--and deepens--scholarly debates by demonstrating how the Romans themselves shaped their legendary beginnings to short-term political ends.... Exemplary popular history, engaging but never dumbed down, providing both the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life.

A prominent classicist explores Ancient Rome and how its citizens adapted the notion of imperial rule, invented the concepts of citizenship and nation and made laws about those traditionally overlooked in history, including women, slaves and criminals. 5 maps. Reprint.