Description

In 264 BC, a Roman army was poised to cross from southern Italy into Sicily. They couldn t know that this crossing would be Rome s first step on its journey from local republic to vast and powerful empire.

At the beginning of the three dramatic centuries that make up this book s narrative, Rome had no emperor and limited global influence; by the book s end, Hadrian was set to pass into history as one of the greatest emperors, whose territories stretched from England to Turkey.

In David Potter s masterful history of this period, we trace the process of cultural, political and civic transformation which led to the creation of a monarchy and the acquisition of territory, via wars with Hannibal, the destruction of Carthage, Augustan Empire-building and Hadrian s famous wall, all of which contributed to the most successful multi-cultural state in the history of Europe. This is a lively, scholarly approach to an essential era.