Ancient Rome

by Michael Anderson (Editor)

Amidst constant warfare and surges of cultural achievement, ancient Rome luxuriated in the splendors of its conquests and the glory of its Empire. Under the powerful direction of such leaders as Julius Caesar and Augustus, Rome secured its legacy as a foundation for much of the modern Western world. This provocative volume examines the many advances in governance, law, and engineering attributed to the Roman Empire as well as the individuals who shaped its military and cultural trajectory.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

88 pages, Library Binding

First published May 1, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Ghali Oudghiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book, Ancient Rome, was written by a talent writer named Michael Anderson. As the title of the book shows, it is about the ancient times during Rome. The book starts off by talking about the early times of Rome, The early Republic of Rome, World domination for the Romans, and last but not least the Roman achievements. During the time of the Greek empire reaching glory, the Romans were slowly gaining power. They fought in many wars gaining power, and by the time, emperor Augustus took over, the Romans unified the known world under the Roman rule. The founders of the city, Rome, were Romulus and Remus who were said to be the sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia. As time went by, the Romans' population was increasing too fast, and the soil for farming is becoming poorer because of the methods the farmers uses. Rome used to be a small city-state, but the power it's gaining is increasing which led to them being able to conquer Italy. With the help of Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar, they extended the empire over Syria, Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Gaul. At that time, Rome's only enemy remaining was the Phoenician colony of Carthage. These were called the Punic Wars. There were three of them in total. The Roman's had many achievements, including their architecture, engineering, literature, and last but not least art. This is the summary of the book Ancient Rome.

The three questions ,out of many, that the reader needs answers to are "How do you know that this book is nonfiction?", "Which photograph is your favorite?", "Do you think your friend will be interested in reading this book?". First, the book is nonfiction because it shows something that happened in real life and wasn't made up. The book talks about the Roman empire which was an empire that gained world domination a couple millenniums ago meaning that it talks about a real event. Next, most readers favorite photograph in the book is the photograph of the Second Punic War. This is most of the readers' favorite photograph because it shows a visual of what happened during the war with Hannibal and his forces against the Roman's large army. Lastly, the readers' friends would enjoy reading this book because of the certain characteristics that it has similar to other books. This book has many pictures which mean that it shows many visuals of a certain person, event, and much more. The book is also very informational, with a lot of detail explaining what the certain topic is. Those are the three of the questions that the readers can answer from the book.

There are many interesting and there are also some boring parts during the book, here is the reader's opinion. First, the most interesting part of this book is the World Domination, specifically the three Punic Wars. This is an interesting part because it was Rome's last rival in the western Mediterranean sea. The rival was the Phoenician colony of Carthage. The least interesting part is The Kings of Early Rome. Even though it talks about the kings of early Rome, it only talks about the two founder, Romulus and Remus, throughout the whole of the Kings of Early Rome. The readers would read another book by the author. They would read another book because most of the book are very informational and also very interesting. People would recommend this book to history lovers and students learning about Rome in class. History lovers would learn even more about the times in Ancient Rome and it could also be fun for them to read. For the students, it could not be too fun for them but it will help them in class to become a much better student in his/her class. Those are the many readers' opinions about the book Ancient Rome.

[Carly Sussman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ancient Rome, edited by Michael Anderson, is a non-fiction book about the wondrous history of ancient Rome. There is no protagonist, main conflict, or antagonist in this book, though the story follows the Roman empire and all of its rises to power and downfalls.

My favorite aspect of this book is the historic achievements of Rome. I find Rome's history and legacies very interesting and impressive to learn about. This empire engineered roads and bridges, built strong and powerful armies, wrote amazing pieces of literature, and created great artwork.

If you enjoyed You Wouldn't Want to be a Roman Gladiator, then you will enjoy Ancient Rome. Readers will also enjoy this book if they like reading about ancient historic events and history of Rome.