10 Amazing Books about Ancient Rome for You Now
Book ListsThe most important civilization ever? The foundation of the modern world? Check out our curation of 10 of the best books on ancient Rome.
Links to purchase or find a copy in your library are available for each book listing. (Note: books are listed in reverse-chronological order).
For more Roman book lists, check out our book lists on the periods of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, or for more Roman culture, see our book lists on the Roman Emperor, Roman Slavery, and Roman Law. Also, check out our other book lists, including another ancient civilization, Greece.
1. Matyszak, Philip, and Joanne Berry. A History of Ancient Rome in 100 Lives. Thames & Hudson, 2023.
publisher description
One hundred vivid portraits of real-life characters bring to life the highs and lows of Rome’s dramatic history.
A vibrant portrait of a lost world, A History of Ancient Rome in 100 Lives reveals the mightiest civilization of antiquity through the eyes of one hundred of its citizens. The book gives a voice not just to Rome’s most famous generals and rulers, such as Caesar and Caligula, but also to its builders, sculptors, poets, historians, gladiators, shepherds, enslaved people, and courtesans. The book begins with Faustulus, the fosterfather of Romulus and Remus, and closes with the final emperor, Romulus Augustulus. The stories of Roman women are given their due as well―from Servilia, Caesar’s lover; to Agrippina, the murderous wife of Claudius; Amazonia, the sword-swinging gladiator; and Hypatia, philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician. Exploring every level of society and using the latest archaeological evidence as well as ancient texts, the authors build up a picture of what it meant to live in Ancient Rome. 20 color illustrations
authors
Philip Matyszak has a doctorate in Roman history from St John’s College, Oxford. He is the author of numerous books on the ancient world, including Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World, The Greek and Roman Myths, The Gods and Goddesses of Greece and Rome, and Ancient Magic.
Joanne Berry is a Roman historian and archaeologist and associate professor of classics at Swansea University. She is the author or coauthor of many books, including The Complete Pompeii and The Complete Roman Legions.
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2. Shelton, Jo-Ann, and Pauline Ripat. As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History. 3rd edition. Oxford University Press, 2022. (note: sourcebook)
publisher description
As the Romans Did offers a rich, revealing look at everyday Roman life. It provides clear, lively translations of a fascinating array of documents drawn from Latin and Greek source material–from personal letters, farming manuals, medical texts, and recipes to poetry, graffiti, and tombstone inscriptions. Each selection has been translated into readable, contemporary English. Extensive annotations, abundant biographical notes, maps, appendices, cross-references to related topics, and a newly updated bibliography provide readers with the historical and cultural background material necessary to appreciate the selections. Arranged thematically into chapters on family life, housing, education, entertainment, religion, and other important topics, the translations reveal the ambitions and aspirations not only of the upper class, but of the average Roman citizen as well. They tell of the success and failure of Rome’s grandiose imperialist policies and also of the pleasures and hardships of everyday life. Wide-ranging and lively, the third edition of As the Romans Did offers the most lucid account available of Roman life in all its diversity.
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Jo-Ann Shelton is Professor of Classics (Emerita), University of California, Santa Barbara
Pauline Ripat is Associate Professor of Classics, University of Winnipeg (Canada)
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3. Graham, Abigail, and Antony Kamm. The Romans: An Introduction. 4th edition. Routledge, 2020.
publisher description
The Romans: An Introduction is a concise, readable and comprehensive survey of the Roman world, which explores 1,200 years of political, military and cultural history alongside religion, social pressures, literature, art and architecture.
This new edition includes updated and revised materials designed to develop analytical skills in literary and material evidence, evoking themes that resonate in both ancient and modern societies: fake news, class struggles, urbanization, concepts of race and gender, imperialism, constitutional power and religious intolerance. The fourth edition incorporates a number of new features and evolving fields:
- A new chapter on provinces, provincial administration and acculturation in the Roman Empire.
- An extended chapter on Christianity and Rome’s legacy with new case studies in the reception of Roman culture.
- An extended chapter on Roman society and daily life, including recent scholarship on gender and race in the ancient world.
- Integrated use of text and material evidence which is designed to develop analytical skills in critical source assessment.
- The book’s successful Open Access website updated to include new case studies on emerging topics such as performance politics, religious syncretism, media sensationalism and cultural heritage.
Thoroughly updated and redeveloped, this new edition of The Romans will continue to serve as the definitive introduction to the life, history and culture of the Roman world, from its foundation to its significance to later civilizations.
author
Abigail Graham has been a Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Warwick and is currently a visiting fellow at the Institute for Classical Studies in London. She specializes in the epigraphy and monumentality of the ancient world, coordinating epigraphic training courses for the British School at Rome and the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents (Oxford). In addition to articles, book chapters and media appearances, she has published The Roman Empire: A Brief History (2008) and keeps a blog: CaveatLector:ReadingRome.
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4. Potter, David. Ancient Rome: A New History. Third edition. Thames & Hudson, 2018.
publisher description
The most historical coverage and images, now more student friendly
Praised for its beautiful visuals, use of primary sources, and coverage into the early medieval period, Ancient Rome, Third Edition now includes a more student-friendly approach. With new chapter-opening maps, new family trees, more subheadings, and even more color images, the text is certain to increase student engagement. A new People of Ancient Rome online resource offers the best guidance for understanding the context of primary sources. 220
author
David Potter is Francis W. Kelsey Collegiate Professor of Greek and Roman History, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan. Recognized internationally as an authority on the Roman Empire, he is the author of many scholarly articles and books. He is also a gifted educator whose courses include Sports and Daily Life in Ancient Rome, War in Greek and Roman Civilization, and Emperors of Rome.
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5. Mathisen, Ralph W. Ancient Roman Civilization: History and Sources: 753 BCE to 640 CE. Oxford University Press, 2018.
publisher description
Combines an engaging narrative and extensive primary sources to make Roman history more accessible than ever before
Ancient Roman Civilization: History and Sources: 753 BCE to 640 CE integrates in a single volume both a historical narrative and parallel translated primary sources. The book’s unifying theme of cultural confrontation–how the Romans interacted or engaged with a multitude of other Mediterranean, Asiatic, and African cultures–is interwoven throughout.
author
Ralph W. Mathisen is Professor of History, Classics, and Medieval Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has authored, edited, or coedited thirteen books and has published 100 scholarly articles.
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6. Beard, Mary. S.P.Q.R.: A History of Ancient Rome. Liveright, 2016.
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In SPQR, an instant classic, Mary Beard narrates the history of Rome “with passion and without technical jargon” and demonstrates how “a slightly shabby Iron Age village” rose to become the “undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean” (Wall Street Journal). Hailed by critics as animating “the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life” (Economist) in a way that makes “your hair stand on end” (Christian Science Monitor) and spanning nearly a thousand years of history, this “highly informative, highly readable” (Dallas Morning News) work examines not just how we think of ancient Rome but challenges the comfortable historical perspectives that have existed for centuries. With its nuanced attention to class, democratic struggles, and the lives of entire groups of people omitted from the historical narrative for centuries, SPQR will to shape our view of Roman history for decades to come.
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A professor of classics at Cambridge University, Mary Beard is the author of the best-selling The Fires of Vesuvius and the National Book Critics Circle Award–nominated Confronting the Classics. A popular blogger and television personality, Beard gave the Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. She lives in England.
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7. Campbell, Brian. The Romans and Their World: A Short Introduction. Yale University Press, 2016.
publisher description
Drawing on an array of ancient sources, and covering topics of interest to readers with little prior background in Roman history as well as those already familiar with the great civilization, Brian Campbell provides a fascinating and wide-ranging introduction to the world of ancient Rome.
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Brian Campbell is professor of Roman history, Queen’s University, Belfast.
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8. Smith, R. Scott. Ancient Rome: An Anthology of Sources. Edited by Christopher Francese. Hackett Publishing Company, 2014. (note: sourcebook)
publisher description
“Terrific . . . exactly the sort of collection we have long needed: one offering a wide range of texts, both literary and documentary, and that–with the inclusion of Sulpicia and Perpetua–allows students to hear the voices of actual women from the ancient world. The translations themselves are fluid; the inclusion of long extracts allows students to sink their teeth into material in ways not possible with traditional source books. The anonymous texts, inscriptions, and other non-literary material topically arranged in the ‘Documentary’ section will enable students to see how the documentary evidence supplements or undermines the views advanced in the literary texts. This is a book that should be of great use to anyone teaching a survey of the history of Ancient Rome or a Roman Civilization course. I look forward to teaching with this book which is, I think, the best source book I have seen for the way we teach these days.” –David Potter, University of Michigan
authors
Christopher Francese is Professor of Classical Languages, Dickinson College.
R. Scott Smith is Associate Professor of Classics, University of New Hampshire.
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9. Martin, Thomas R. Ancient Rome: From Romulus to Justinian. Yale University Press, 2013.
publisher description
A beautifully written, highly accessible, and comprehensive history of Rome from its founding in the eighth century BC through to Justinian in the sixth century CE.
With commanding skill, Thomas R. Martin tells the remarkable and dramatic story of how a tiny, poor, and threatened settlement grew to become, during its height, the dominant power in the Mediterranean world for five hundred years. Encompassing the period from Rome’s founding in the eighth century B.C. through Justinian’s rule in the sixth century A.D., he offers a distinctive perspective on the Romans and their civilization by employing fundamental Roman values as a lens through which to view both their rise and spectacular fall.
Interweaving social, political, religious, and cultural history, Martin interprets the successes and failures of the Romans in war, political organization, quest for personal status, and in the integration of religious beliefs and practices with government. He focuses on the central role of social and moral values in determining individual conduct as well as decisions of state, from monarchy to republic to empire. Striving to reconstruct ancient history from the ground up, he includes frequent references to ancient texts and authors, encouraging readers to return to the primary sources. Comprehensive, concise, and accessible, this masterful account provides a unique window into Rome and its changing fortune.
author
Thomas R. Martin is professor of Classics at the College of the Holy Cross. His publications include Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times, Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China, and, as co-author, The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures. He lives in Sutton, MA.
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10. McGeough, Kevin M. The Romans: An Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2009.
publisher description
The Romans provides an accessible introduction to the history, society, and scholarship of one of the most captivating and enduring civilizations in human history. From the establishment of the monarchy and the Republican era to the decline of the Empire, this comprehensive volume examines every aspect of Roman culture from both historical and archaeological perspectives. In addition to surveying the well-estbalished subjects of Roman history, author Kevin McGeough discusses the latest events in the archaeological investigation of Rome, such as the recent excavations at the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum and the controversial identification of an ossuary thought by some to hold the body of James, the brother of Jesus. The text is accompanied by carefully chosen illustrations, maps, a glossary, and chronology. Throughout, general readers and students will gain a vivid understanding of Roman civilization and of why it still captures our imagination today.
author
Kevin McGeough is Assistant Professor of Archaeology at The University of Lethbridge. He is an editor of the ABC-CLIO Encyclopedia of World History, and is series editor for The Intimate Lives of Ancient People.
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