Hi I’ve been reading The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (im gonna abreviate it down to HDFRE for short) recently. I am just wondering if anyone would have any recomendations on either a series of books or similar that tackles the rise of Rome. Reading about its fall really makes me want to read about its rise in a similar enough fashion as i can read books way easier than otherwise for me to be entertained. The deeper dive and not glossing over style of the books is more of what im looking for. If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.
In terms of a good introduction to the era you’re asking about, I recommend the Fontana History of the Ancient World series; there’s volumes on the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, as well as Averil Cameron’s vol on the late Roman Empire. The series is cheap, accessible and very readable
I recognise this is unsolicited advice so please feel free to ignore this, but HDFRE is not an authoritative, comprehensive or up-to-date account of the period it covers. If you’re interested in a recent take, Cameron’s vol is a good start. End of unsolicited advice!
Mary Beard's SPQR is a good overview from the founding (and she spends time examining what we actually know about that) up to the expansion of citizenship in the 3rd century. I'm not sure any modern historian would want to write the grand 'here are the three big causes of 300 years of history' narrative of Gibbon, but Beard's writing is quite engaging.
The askhistorians booklist has recommendations for more specific periods (late republic/early empire would be the 'rise', I think) and seems up-to-date.