SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
Mary Beard
Renowned Cambridge classicist Mary Beard explores how Rome grew from an obscure muddy Italian village to become the preeminent global superpower, examining everyday citizens, slavery, and imperial power.

by Herodotus (-440)
Written in 440 BC, this is the foundational work of Western historical inquiry. Herodotus chronicles the rise of the Persian Empire and the epic clash between Eastern autocracy and Greek democracy.
Mary Beard
Renowned Cambridge classicist Mary Beard explores how Rome grew from an obscure muddy Italian village to become the preeminent global superpower, examining everyday citizens, slavery, and imperial power.
Eric H. Cline
In 1177 B.C., marauding Sea Peoples and a cascade of earthquakes, droughts, and trade breakdowns caused the advanced, interconnected civilizations of the Late Bronze Age to violently collapse into a dark age.
Joann Fletcher
Egyptologist Joann Fletcher reconstructs three millennia of Egyptian civilization, from early mudbrick mastabas and golden pharaohs to monumental pyramids, temple cults, and Cleopatra’s tragic end.
Thucydides, Robert B. Strassler
Thucydides chronicles the devastating twenty-seven-year civil war between democratic Athens and oligarchic Sparta that ended the Golden Age of Greece, creating the foundation of political realism.