Steven Saylor undertook a mighty challenge in this book: encapsulating 1,000 years of Roman history into 550 pages.

In many ways Roma reminded me of an exceptionally well-produced eleven-segment television mini-series. Each of eleven chapters was devoted to a specific period in Rome's social, religious, or political development and each was capable of standing alone. Family history provided the continuity between the chapters which occasionally skipped hundreds of years, and other times just a generation or two.

The part of the book I enjoyed the most was the glimpse into the ancient Roman's religious beliefs and their dedication to their gods and reverence for their ancestors. The aspect of the book that surprised me the most was learning that war totally dominated life in ancient Rome. For generations.

I suspect that readers who have a sophisticated understanding of ancient history may find some aspects of this book too remedial but I didn't fall into that category and enjoyed learning as I read. I wasn't captivated, but I was most definitely interested in Roma and its prominent families.