Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I probably can't add much to the other reviews, but did want to contribute a five-star rating for this excellent book. I liked several things about this book: a) the author does a good job of challenging assumptions about what we "know" about Rome, usually pointing to a lack of evidence (or at least unbiased evidence) for this position or that (eg, how bad were Caligula, Nero, et al in fact?). b) I found the chapters about the formation and early years of Rome particularly interesting. c) the author makes several interesting points about how many Roman expressions and/or attitudes remain with us today. While not intended as criticism, the following comments might be helpful to other potential readers when deciding whether this book is for them: 1) As mentioned elsewhere, the book ends about 200 AD, well before the end of the empire. 2) The author relies heavily on letters, etc. by Cicero and Pliny the Younger. While this is not surprising given the relative volume of their correspondence (compared to other known sources), readers who are very familiar with these writers might get less out of the book. 3) While the author returns several times to the topic of the unknown history of women, the poor, etc., ultimately I found little of interest on these topics in the book, probably because lack of source materials means there is little to say. 4) Generally there is little discussion of military topics. In any event, a very interesting and well-written piece of work about Rome.