Ancient Rome: From Romulus to Justinian

by Thomas R. Martin

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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Ancient History, Roman History, Ancient, Roman

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

Thomas Runge Martin is an American historian who is a specialist in the history of the Greco-Roman world. He currently holds the chair "Jeremiah O'Connor" in the Department of Classics at the College of the Holy Cross, where he teaches courses on the Athenian democracy, Hellenism and the Roman Empire.

His research field covers the history of ancient Greece and Rome and numismatics. He is author and co-author of several publications and articles, among which include Sovereignty and Coinage in Classical Greece (Priceton University Press, 1985), Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times (Yale University Press, 1992), The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2 vol., 2001) and Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009), all reissued.

Dr. Martin lives in Sutton, Massachusetts with his wife, Ivy Sun. He has two children, Alex and Andrea.

Source: Amazon & The History Series at Salisbury House & Gardens

Reviews

[Larry (LPosse1) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Nearly Perfect Introduction to Ancient Roman History

Ancient Rome by Thomas R. Martin is about as close as it gets to the perfect entry point for anyone curious about Rome’s vast and glorious past. Martin must be a wonderful teacher—he writes with clarity, energy, and an obvious passion for helping readers truly understand history rather than just memorize it.

The book is concise—coming in at under 325 pages—yet Martin manages to pack in enough depth and analysis that even experienced students of Roman history (yes, friends, including those of us with a full-blown Roman history addiction) will walk away having learned something new. Each chapter begins with a helpful timeline of events, and the chronological structure keeps even the most sprawling periods grounded and accessible. Martin connects the dots beautifully, highlighting the larger themes that shaped the Roman world.

An added bonus: the excellent bibliography. It’s a treasure trove for anyone planning future studies or looking to tumble even further down the Roman rabbit hole—which, let’s be honest, I seem to do on a weekly basis. GoodReads keeps asking me for more recommendations on the subject, and this book will now sit proudly on that list.

In short: Ancient Rome by Thomas R. Martin is a superb springboard for beginning your journey into Roman history—or for deepening an obsession you already have.

Jump in—the Roman world awaits!

[Elentarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin has written a comprehensive, accessible and broad introductory overview of Ancient Rome from the founding of Rome in the eighth century B.C. through Justinian's rule in the sixth century A.D. This isn't a history book that focuses on emperors or kings (they hardly get a mention unless they did something spectacularly useful or idiotic), but rather one that deals with the changing culture, society, economics, daily lives and government structure of what eventually became the Roman Empire. Included in this book are a plethora of useful maps and timelines, as well as B/W photographs. I find this book a bit short on detail, but still a very good overarching introduction to the subject.

Further reading:
~A Brief History of the Roman Empire by Stephen Kershaw [a "big man" history with each emperor getting a section]
~Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland
~Empires and Barbarians: Migration, Development and the Birth of Europe by Peter Heather
~Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire that Rescued Western Civilization by Lars Brownworth
~Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire by Judith Herrin.

[Taylor Dodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok. It was a very brief overview and didn't get into much depth. May be good for those without much knowledge of Ancient Rome, but not recommended for those with a solid foundation as there's not much new.

[Tom The Great · Rating 5 out of 5]

Świetne wprowadzenie w zasady rządzące światem starożytnego Rzymu i jego cesarzy. Nareszcie wszystko mam poukładane w głowie od kultury po kwestie polityczne, gospodarcze i ekonomiczne.

[Carol Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

My comments about Martin's summary of Ancient Greek history apply equally here:

If you are seeking a pithy overview of Roman history, this is a solid choice. Each chapter includes helpful summary timelines, quality maps, and carefully selected illustrations. I especially appreciated Martin's steady coverage of women and the common folk in Roman society.

We're planning a trip to Rome this December, and this book helped me better understand the significance of some of Rome's more famous monuments and decide on must sees. Pantheon and Trajan's monument for sure; also Tivoli, Hadrian's sprawling country retreat.

Two minor quibbles: half a sentence to Caesar's assassination? Zero mention of Hadrian's walling off the boundaries of the Empire? What else is missing that I don't know about?

[Yoly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what the title promises, this book follows the history of Ancient Rome from Romulus to Justinian.

Similar to his other book Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times, it is easy to follow and offers a lot of information.

Perfect if you want to learn about ancient Rome.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great primer from Martin.

[Vincent Li · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great general guide to rome, especially for someone who's newly exposed to the classics. Hits a lot of major points, and makes some interesting observations here and there. Some of the interpretation seems a bit speculative and feels like the author is being a bit revisionist by putting modern ideas into the past. I think that can't be avoided in history, nor should it entirely be but someone with more than a casual knowledge of roman history would definately get some of their feathers ruffled.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good of a high level overview of Ancient Rome as I could have hoped for. He does not simply tell the story of Rome but explains how Rome worked at each stage with generous detail and it contains a comprehensive suggested readings section for original sources at the end. I plan on also reading his textbook on Ancient Greece as soon as I am able, as in an instance of most delightful serendipity, I accidentally purchased it before purchasing this.

[William Merritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

great overview of the roman republic and empire, especially for someone who is interested in the topic and doesn't know where to start like me

[Javier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and the author's writing style was not only easy but also very pleasant. While the book does not go into details of history, it provides a solid base with very useful timelines, maps and further reading suggestions. I very much enjoyed that the book didn't just focus on "important" people but also common Romans and women as well. It really gave a sense of what life in the time of Rome must have been like.

[Lucrezia Gaion · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far one of the best non-fictions books I have ever read. Martin is wonderfully skilled in rendering a complicated history into a wonderful - almost fictional - story. Even if you are not a history junkie, you might enjoy this book. I highly recommend it if you want to learn more about the Roman Empire.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid and informative overview over the history of Ancient Rome. Much like with the author's similar book on Ancient Greece, listening to the audio version felt rather like sitting through a decent but not overly inspired lecture - I learned some things, but my attention kept wandering.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather interesting general overview of Rome's development into an empire, I liked it.

[Wiktoria Szweda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Było ok. Bez szału, bez dramatu. Czytało się oki, ale tbh nic nowego się nie dowiedziałam. Jak ktoś ma wiedzę tylko z podstawówki, to może być interesujące.

[Zuza · Rating 4 out of 5]

dobrze napisane, ale dość lakonicznie, raczej jako baza niż rozszerzenie wiedzy
☝️A poza tym sądzę, że Kartaginę należy zniszczyć :)

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent overview with useful bells and whistles.

[Nerine Dorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will admit that I'm not as well versed in the history of ancient Rome as I am in that of ancient Egypt, but considering that there is overlap between these two civilisations, it most certainly helps to get to know ancient Rome a bit better. Ancient Rome by Thomas R Martin is narrated by John Lescault, and gives listeners a great introduction into Roman history.

Perhaps what I find most fascinating is seeing how ancient Rome continues to influence Western civilisation even now, hundreds of years later, and it's also possible to gain an understanding of how Rome managed to dominate much of Western Europe for so many centuries.

While a deep dive is beyond the scope of the work, Martin does examine the political, religious, and military structures that created this important chapter of Western European history. What I found of particular interest was seeing especially how religion was a shaped as a way to control society, and how the emphasis shifted from the original pagan gods to the Christian religion so intrinsically linked to authoritarianism. What's particularly fascinating is also seeing how Roman military discipline most certainly contributed to the conquering of so much territory. Of course, holding onto that territory afterwards is where the difficulties came in – and it's no surprise that the empire split in its latter years.

Overall the quality of the audiobook was not uniform – not so much to detract from my enjoyment, but there were clear sections where the sound shifted ever so slightly, possibly where parts were dropped in. That being said, I'd still recommend this to anyone who's yet to explore Roman history – this has certainly offered me the bigger picture I need in order to delve into other, more focused works.

[Batu Atlamaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is nothing wrong with this book. I think it was an easy read and an excellent overview of the Roman Empire. Nonetheless, the title is slightly misleading. "From Romulus to Justinian" makes you think that the book is going to be an inclusive, in-detail resource - but it is not. It is instead is a well-organized, quick historical overview. If you have some base historical knowledge on Romans, you might find this book uninteresting and not worth to be read. On the other hand, if you have little to no knowledge and getting started, I highly recommend it; the text is easy to read and supported with lots of illustrations and maps. I think this book will help you better understand other related materials as well.

[bookish_magpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second non-fiction book about the history of Ancient Rome that I've read (the first being Mary Beard's "SPQR" and yea I'm gonna count that one!). Ancient Rome: From Romulus to Justinian does a really good job of highlighting the themes and patterns and transformations of Roman history from the founding of Rome to the Byzantine Empire. If you're looking for something with more minute detail (specific people, dates, battles, every single war, more dates, you get the idea) this isn't the book for you. Definitely more an introductory/general overview.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was one I picked up to complete a book challenge. I chose it because I knew I had to find something I was interested in if I was going to read it & finish. I did enjoy most of the book - I found it very interesting how many of the issues from Ancient Rome are still being dealt with today. If you're looking for a good book on Ancient Roman culture this is a good book that doesn't read like a textbook.

[Jarrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable summary of the history of the Roman empire from formation through Justinian (and his flea). It ties together several pieces of culturally relevant histories and liveliness happenings during the period.

[Gabi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately this book contains less information than Wikipedia and some of theories are not confirmed. Very shallow.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Świetna książka, bardzo łatwo wchodzi, dobrze opisany kawał historii i do tego w bonusie opis początków chrześcijaństwa. Polecam

[Spen Cer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very broad overview of the history of Roman Empire, but doesn’t pretend to be anything but. I thought it was a great refresher after my trip to Rome. Interesting and well researched.

[FiulinhoXD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dzisiaj zakończyłem swoją przygodę, z pierwszą prawdziwą książką o tematyce historycznej. Polecam tą książkę każdemu, kto chce zaczerpnąć wiedzy o Starożytnym Rzymie. Pamiętając o tym, że my poniekąd nadal żyjemy w świecie w dużej mierze zbudowany na rzymskimi fundamencie.

[foxfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great text for readers who otherwise lack a background on the topic. Sweeping history covering many different approaches, leaves a lot of room for the reader to find niche topics to dive deeper into.

[Aithne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Czytałam wcześniej "Starożytną Grecję" tego samego autora. Nie podobała mi się. Do "Starożytnego Rzymu" podchodziłam więc niechętnie, obawiając się, że będę mieć dokładnie takie same wrażenia. I... Chyba było w tym przypadku trochę lepiej? Chociaż to może być po prostu efekt moich bardzo niskich oczekiwań.

Mój problem z tą książką (a właściwie to z obiema, bo to samo dotyczy też książki o Grecji) można podsumować w kilku zwięzłych punktach:

1) Brak przypisów. Gdziekolwiek. W ogóle. Owszem, autor podaje pod koniec źródła, na których ponoć się opierał, ale w samym tekście nie ma nic. Nijak nie można sprawdzić, skąd wytrzasnął taką czy inną informację. No nie. Nie tego oczekuję od książki popularnonaukowej.

2) Generalny styl obu tych pozycji. Przez większość czasu czyta się to... Nawet nie jak podręcznik - raczej jak transkrypt z licealnej lekcji historii. W połączeniu ze wspomnianym już brakiem przypisów, naprawdę sprawiało to, że czułam się, jakbym słuchała średnio interesującego nauczyciela, który objaśnia mi, głupiutkiej uczennicy, jak to było naprawdę. Który nie musi nijak dowodzić tego, że ma rację, no bo przecież to nauczyciel, więc wie lepiej. Pełno tu zdań które są tak ogólnikowe, że w zasadzie nie niosą ze sobą żadnej treści. Tego typu fragmenty (a jest ich mnóstwo) czytało mi się bardzo ciężko.

3) To już nie wina autora, ale, niestety - tłumaczenie. I korekta. Błędy znaczeniowe ("w tym samym czasie" zamiast czegoś, co ewidentnie miało znaczyć "jednocześnie", nie w znaczeniu czasowym), błędy ortograficzne ("żądza" przez "rz"!!!), nieprawidłowa odmiana przez przypadki, krótko mówiąc: generalne niechlujstwo.

Całkiem fajne były za to rozdziały o przemianach religijnych. Jakby tym właśnie autor najbardziej się interesował i potrafił pisać o tym z jakąś taką... większą swadą niż o pozostałych tematach? Aż się w nie wciągnęłam. A było to w momencie, w którym byłam już tak zniechęcona, że zastanawiałam się, czy w ogóle tej książki nie porzucić...

Na koniec parę kwiatków autorstwa zarówno samego autora, jak i jego tłumacza, zaledwie z jednej sesji czytelniczej (w dodatku krótkiej, bo gorąco było i mózg mi nie do końca działał...):

"Ważne rzymskie miasta, jak Trewir czy Kolonia (...), były początkowo miastami rzymskimi" (wow, ważne rzymskie miasta były miastami rzymskimi? Kto by pomyślał!)

"Romanizacja miała mniejszy wpływ na prowincje wschodnie, które w większości zachowały swój grecki i wschodnioazjatycki charakter" (chyba zachodnioazjatycki??? Bo o Rzymianach w Azji Wschodniej jakoś nigdy dotąd nie słyszałam).

"Widzieli się raczej jako opiekunowie prawa i porządku społecznego" (chyba: opiekunów?)

"Nic nie było ważniejsze od dobrobytu i stabilności imperium niż ciągłe powiększanie populacji i utrzymywanie jej w zdrowiu" (chyba: dla dobrobytu itd.?)

"Głównym czynnikiem uwzględnianym przy wyborze stolicy zachodniego cesarstwa głównym czynnikiem była geografia" (no comments).

I na sam koniec to, o czym mówiłam w punkcie 2), czyli słowotok, z którego niewiele wynika:

"Kanon wartości, którymi kierowali się w życiu Rzymianie, nierozerwalnie łączył się z wiarą w wielu bogów, jak również odnosił się do innych ludzi, ich statusu, poważania w społeczeństwie. Ta pozycja pojedynczego człowieka w społeczności podlegała ocenom i ewoluowała - ludzie raz zyskiwali szacunek, raz go tracili, w zależności od opinii innych. Naturalnie, tego typu generalizacje nie mogą wyrazić całego spektrum i subtelności wszystkich zmian, jakim podlegało na przestrzeni lat społeczeństwo rzymskie, podobnie jak zmieniał się status kobiet, dzieci czy mężczyzn w domu i w zbiorowości. Takim spoiwem, niezbędnym do zrozumienia świata starożytnych Rzymian, jest pewien zbiór zasad, które uważali za szlachetne i ludzkie, ponieważ można je odnieść do fundamentów, na których opierało się rzymskie społeczeństwo".

I z tą myślą Was zostawiam.

[Chris Laskey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a basic overview of Roman history. Certainly serves as an introduction but the author is plain and uninspired as can be. Simply does not engage and reads like a textbook, not the worst but not all that interesting either. In particular it lacks any real defining element to the early history and only becomes infromative after the Second century BC period onwards.

[Johannes J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful, general overview of the big lines and developments of the Roman Empire from the fall of the Monarchy until Justinian. As the subject matter is substantial, details are sometimes lacking, but it is fit for purpose as an introduction to the history of Rome.