Introduces the history, culture, and people of ancient Rome and examines its many contributions to the development of Western society.

Cast of characters -- Map of the ancient Roman world -- Wives, wolves, and wild boys: the founding of Rome -- Migration, mystery, and mastery: who were the Etruscans? -- Morality, tyranny, heores, and kings: the beginnings of the Republic -- The rebellion of the poor: class conflict and the twelve tables -- Fathers, gods, and goddesses: religion in Ancient Rome -- Hannibal, Rome's worst enemy: the battle for the Mediterranean -- A Roman through and through: Cato and Greek culture -- Spartacus the rebel: slavery in Ancient Rome -- Two revolutionary brothers: the Gracchi and the decline of the Republic -- Words versus swords: Cicero and the crisis of the Republic -- "I came, I saw, I conquered": Julius Caesar and the Roman triumph -- Power-mad or madly in love? Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt -- The Emperor's new names: The reign of Augustus -- Misery, mistrust, madness, and murder: the successors of Augustus -- Childhood and marriage, mothers and matriarchs: women and children -- A city tells its tale: Pompeii and the Roman house -- All the Emperor's men: Trajan and the army -- Pleasing the rowdy Romans: gladiators and circuses -- How to get rich in Rome: business and trade -- The restless builder: the Emperor Hadrian -- Magic and the cults of the Near East: new religious ideas -- Taxes and tactics in the provinces: administering the Empire -- One God or many? The Jews of the Roman Empire -- Rome's power slips away: the barbarians -- The Empire, divided and defeated: the fall of Rome -- Epilogue: the legacies of ancient Rome -- Timeline -- Further reading -- Websites -- Index -- Text credits.