The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Rome

by Nancy H. Ramage, Andrew Ramage

This amply illustrated book offers a concise, lively, and authoritative overview of the history of ancient Rome, from its earliest foundations to its legacy in the modern Western world. Information is provided accessibly with feature sidebars and easy-to-use reference pages at the end. Each chapter has its own substantial annotated bibliography in addition to a comprehensive general list of recommended printed and web resources, and further reference tools include a list of international museum collections, chronologies and a general index. This book will appeal to a wide range of general readers, museum visitors, undergraduate students and life-long learners.

Contents:
Introduction: Who were the Romans?
1 Roman government and citizenship
2 The army
3 Infrastructure (economic and physical)
4 Coinage and commerce
5 Spectacle and entertainment
6 Religions, near and far
7 The household (domestic life)
8 Death and the afterlife
Conclusion: The legacy of Rome (the concept of empire)
Annotated chapter bibliographies and a general bibliography including both printed and web resources Annotated list of important museum collections

Published by The British Museum Press

Nancy H. Ramage is Charles A. Dana Professor of the Humanities and Arts in the Department of Art History at Ithaca College, and Andrew Ramage is a professor in the Department of the History of Art at Cornell University. Both received their doctorates from Harvard University and have since written several books including (together) Roman Art: Romulus to Constantine. Andrew Ramage is also the co-author with Paul Craddock of King Croesus' Gold: Excavations at Sardis and the History of Gold Refining.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2008

About the author

Dr. Nancy H. Ramage is the Charles A. Dana Professor of the Humanities and Arts Emerita, Ithaca College.

Reviews

[Leah]

I dipped into this rather than reading cover to cover as we were watching Rome and Spartacus at the time and I wanted to validate things. Or argue with them!

[Kate (Looking Glass Reads)]

I read this for one of my Classics classes while at university, and it was just okay. Fine for a basic intro, I suppose, but no real depth was given. Other overviews I've read were better, and I didn't find myself referring to this text very often, but other books from past classes instead.