Daily Rome

From “one of America’s smartest and most charming writers” (NPR), an archaeological romp through the entire history of humankind—and through all five senses—from tropical Polynesian islands to forbidding arctic ice floes, and everywhere in between. Whether it’s the mighty pyramids of...

Stranded in ancient Rome? No phone, no antibiotics, no clue. Don’t panic. This is your snarky, meticulously researched handbook to surviving and thriving in the world’s greatest empire. Inside this ultimate roman empire book, you’ll master street smarts to navigate gladiator mobs, tavern scams, and chariot traffic like a true Roman. Learn to blend-in with toga etiquette, dining dos and don’ts (yes, the garum really smells), and why calling a senator “dude” is a terrible idea. Outsmart ancient health threats with low-tech first aid and hygiene hacks, dodge debt slavery and ...

Rome’s Greatest Generals: From Republic to Empire brings together three sweeping biographies of the men who shaped Rome’s destiny across nearly seven centuries. From the battlefields of the Punic Wars to the height of imperial expansion and the empire’s final struggle for survival, these generals did more than win wars; they defined what Roman power meant. Scipio Africanus: Rome’s first true military genius, the man who dared to challenge Hannibal and saved the Republic from annihilation.

Ancient Rome gave the world magnificent roads, powerful laws, soaring aqueducts—and emperors who argued with the sea, gladiators who became celebrities, sacred chickens employed as military advisers, and public toilets where privacy apparently went to die. In Strange But True: The Weird History of Ancient Rome, the polished marble is pushed aside to reveal the noisy, crowded, funny, brutal, and frequently ridiculous civilization underneath. Meet abandoned twins raised by a she-wolf, rulers who turned government into personal theater, chariot racers who earned fortunes, doctors who ...

Rhiannon Garth-Jones explores Rome's enduring legacy through three core themes: religion, empire, and culture. Each chapter examines how Rome’s history, governance, and mythology have been reimagined throughout centuries, and how these interpretations continue to shape our modern world. Rome...

Rome stood on the brink of annihilation. Hannibal, the Carthaginian mastermind, had marched across the Alps, shattered Roman armies, and left the Republic reeling from defeat. When all seemed lost, one young general rose to the challenge: Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus; and changed the course of history forever.

This book is written for educated general readers, history enthusiasts, travelers, and students who are fascinated by ancient Rome but may feel overwhelmed by academic histories or fragmented archaeological accounts. Many readers know Pompeii only as a city destroyed by a volcano, yet struggle to understand what daily life was truly like, why the city mattered, and how archaeologists reconstruct its story from ruins and ash. This book bridges that gap by transforming evidence into a vivid, human narrative. History Of Pompeii: A City Frozen in Time invites you to walk the streets of a living...

Rome’s Greatest General Who Never Ruled tells the story of a man who exercised immense power without claiming sovereignty. Whose loyalty, restraint, and competence made the Augustan age possible. Drawing on ancient sources and modern scholarship, this biography reveals how Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa’s victories, engineering genius, and administrative skill shaped the Roman Empire far more deeply than many who wore the imperial title.

From the beginning, Rome was a hotbed of power, overweening ambition, desire, political genius, and corruption. Hughes details the turbulent years that saw the formation of empire and the establishment of the sociopolitical system, along the way providing colorful portraits of all the major figures, both political and cultural. For almost a thousand years, Rome would remain the most politically important, richest, and largest city in the Western world. 

“This magnificent love letter to Rome” (Stephen Greenblatt) tells the story of the Eternal City through pivotal moments that defined its history—from the early Roman Republic through the Renaissance and the Reformation to the German occupation in World War Two—“an erudite history that...

What if the secrets of the ancient world still shaped every step you take today? Few people realize how much of modern life—our work, our families, our rituals, even our fun—was first lived on the forgotten streets of Rome, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. Beneath the ruins lies a story not of kings and conquests, but of ordinary people whose lives still echo in ours. In Shadows of the Ancient World, historian Eleanor Whitcombe takes you inside the marketplaces, kitchens, homes, and festivals that defined ancient civilization. You’ll discover how bakers, farmers, scribes, mothers, and children...

He did not arrive in Pompeii. He was sent there by the mysterious House of Mirrors. In the body of a woman named Fausta, with no past he can reach and no future he can change, Elliot is forced into a life governed by routine, labor, and the expectations of others. The world is close, physical, inescapable. Hunger, heat, touch, everything is immediate. Over time, resistance fades. What was strange becomes familiar. What was his becomes distant. Only one certainty remains. One piece of knowledge that only he has. The mountain above the city will one day bury everything. And when that day ...

The Roman Empire lasted a solid 500 years—an impressive number by any standard. The decline and final collapse of the Roman Empire took longer than most other empires even existed. Any historian trying to unearth the grand strategy of the Roman Empire must, therefore, always remain cognizant of the time scale. Over the centuries, the Empire's underlying economy, political arrangements, military affairs, and the myriad of external threats it faced were in constant flux, making adaptability to changing circumstances as important to Roman strategists as it is to strategists of the modern era.

WHY READ THIS BOOK? The spirituality of St. Philip Neri was not directed towards intellectual pursuits (e.g., writing theology); but rather, it was animated in a working theology; that is, one which is lived out according to the Teachings of Christ onto the salvation of souls. As a result, he manifested (and thus inculcated) humility, compassion, and service into his disciples as expressions of the Divinity. Moreover, he showed us that theology is not merely an intellectual pursuit, but rather, a sacred activity focused on the bringing of Christ to others. With regards to his writings, the ...

History remembers emperors, generals, and gods. But it quietly forgets the people who actually kept the world running. Behind every pyramid, palace, and empire was an entire class of workers doing the jobs no one else wanted—the dirty, dangerous, and deeply human work that made civilization possible. Human sponges cleaning Roman toilets. Children crawling through mines in suffocating darkness. Perfume makers stirring vats of animal fat and crushed flowers. Professional mourners hired to cry at funerals. This wasn’t the glamorous past. This was the real one. Dirty Jobs of the Ancient ...

The day a Roman city died — and the seventeen centuries that gave it back to us. On the morning of an autumn day in 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius did something it had not done in living memory. A column of ash and pumice climbed twenty miles into the sky above the Bay of Naples. By the next morning, two cities, several towns, and dozens of luxury villas had ceased to exist. Pompeii — a market town of around twelve thousand people, ten miles south of modern Naples — was buried beneath superheated volcanic surges that sealed everything they touched at the moment of death. That burial is the ...

'Highly recommend for anybody who loves Roman history, written by one of its true masters' PETER GIBBONS 'Epic in scope and intimate in historical detail' MATTHEW HARFFY 'Authentic, fast-paced and immersive' CHRISTIAN CAMERON 'A masterpiece of late Rome' S.J.A. TURNEY 'Historical settings and...

Experience the pulse of the eternal city as never before in A Day in the Life: A Detailed Guide to the Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Ancient Rome. This long, detailed, and politically neutral exploration invites readers to step back in time to the height of the Roman Empire, where the morning air is thick with fresh woodsmoke and the rhythmic rumble of heavy stone wheels. This is not just a study of cold marble; it is a vivid Roman history journey through the sensory realities of an ancient metropolis of one million people. From the golden sunrise over the Forum to the vibrant graffiti ...

Leave marble palaces behind and dive into the gritty, sensory reality of daily urban living in ancient Roman history. Perfect for your daily commute, this immersive social history transports you directly into the smoky, crowded tenement blocks where the vast majority of citizens actually lived...

THE 'ELECTRIFYING' UNTOLD STORY OF SLAVERY IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE BY THE AUTHOR OF A FATAL THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. 'Excellent . . . a thoughtful and refreshing, intimate and disturbing insight into the workings of the Roman Empire' - Sunday Times 'The most important book you'll ever...