History of Rome from the Earliest times down to 476 AD

This is the Roman history you've been looking for: a crisp, fast-moving narrative that traces the extraordinary arc of a civilization from backwater kingdom to empire that shaped the Western world. Pennell packs a millennium into readable form, moving from the mythic founding through the Republic's political revolutions and military conquests, the corrupt glamour of the Imperial age, and finally to the Germanic invasions that brought the Western Empire crashing down in 476 AD. Along the way, you'll encounter the great figures who made Rome: the stern founders, the cunning politicians who clawed their way to power, the generals who conquered the Mediterranean, and the emperors who ruled over millions. Pennell writes with the confidence of a teacher who knows exactly what students need: clear causation, vivid character sketches, and enough political and cultural detail to understand how Rome actually worked. Originally designed as a companion volume to his History of Greece, this book has served generations of readers seeking to understand the civilization that gave us law, republican government, Latin, and the very concept of empire.