I am looking for a academic book about the history of Rome, the city, or the ancient Roman world. It will be my first read on the subject. So I need something introductory and wide. Something of a good book to start your leaning from. I just started studying Classical Philology. I need a good authority on the above mentioned subject to set a respectable standard for future learning. And it has to be available in English. So: -a history on the ancient city of Rome, -or on the ancient Roman world. Thank you!
hi! not discouraging others from making recommendatins, but fyi, this sub's book list includes several books about Ancient Rome; give it a scan for something suitable
Your best bet may be to read Roman historians and use discretion. They were obviously bias in their portrayal of certain events or men, but here's the hard thing about the beginning of Rome; if you look at most modern historians, they'll write about the Fall of Rome, even greats like Edward Gibbon, and Peter Heather. This is because in 390BC Rome was sacked and nearly destroyed by Gauls, so just about everything we know of the founding of Rome as a city and a state is at least partially fiction (the Rape of the Sabines, the Tale of Romulus and Remus, ect.). You'll have a hard time knowing about the true beginning of Rome, but to be honest, it's not like anyone actually knows the truth, so you wont be the only one! But a lot of Ancient Roman historians such as Livy, Polybius, ect. have written documents about the foundings and such as Rome, but as I said use discretion, you will be able to, at times, in these readings, know what will be blown out of proportion or not.
I really enjoyed "Atlas of the Roman World" by Tim Cornell and John Matthews. Published in 1982, this book looks at the city of Rome, the political history of the Republic and its transition to Empire. It also looks at the fall of the Roman Empire. It provides detailed maps of all of the provinces of the Roman Empire and the growth of the city of Rome through time. It is far more comprehensive than the more recent "Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome" although the "Historical Atlas of Rome" has better illustrations and art work than the "Atlas of the Roman World, it has only about half as much text.