The Romans: From Village to Empire

Synopsis

Vividly written and accessible, The Romans, second edition, traces Rome's remarkable evolution from village, to monarchy, to republic, to one-man rule by an emperor - whose power at its peak stretched from Scotland to Iraq and the Nile Valley - to the empire's fall in 476. Firmly grounded inancient literary and material sources, the text describes and analyzes major political and military landmarks, from the Punic Wars, to Caesar's conquest of Gaul and his crossing of the Rubicon, to the victory of Octavian over Mark Antony, and through Constantine's adoption of Christianity. Featuringtwo new chapters (13 and 14), the second edition extends the book's coverage through the rise of Christianity, the growth of the Barbarian threat, the final years of the empire, its fall in 476, and, finally, to its revival in the East as Byzantium. This edition also combines chapters 1 and 2 intoone - "Archaic Italy and the Origins of Rome" - and integrates more material on women, religion, and cultural history throughout.Ideal for courses in Roman history and Roman civilization, The Romans, second edition, is enhanced by two new 8-page, 4-color inserts and almost 100 extensively captioned illustrations. It also includes more than 30 ancient maps and textual extracts. A new Image Bank CD contains PowerPoint-basedslides of all the photos and maps in the text.