How did a small settlement beside the River Tiber become the most powerful empire the Mediterranean world had ever known—and why did that empire eventually fall?

The Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome is a sweeping, richly illustrated journey through more than a thousand years of ambition, conquest, political rivalry and cultural transformation.

Beginning with Rome’s legendary kings and uncertain origins, this book follows the creation of the Republic, the conquest of Italy, the Punic Wars against Carthage, the destruction of the republican system and the rise of imperial rule under Augustus. It explores the reigns of Rome’s most influential emperors, from Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero to Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Constantine and the final rulers of the Western Empire.

Across 400 illustrated pages, discover:

• How Rome’s legions conquered and defended an enormous empire
• The victories and defeats that changed the course of Roman history
• How emperors gained, exercised and lost power
• How Roman money, taxation, trade and slavery functioned
• How roads, aqueducts, sewers, baths and cities were constructed
• What happened inside the Colosseum and other public arenas
• How ordinary citizens, soldiers, women, enslaved people and provincial communities lived
• How Carthaginians, Greeks, Persians, Jews, Germanic peoples and other societies viewed Roman power
• How Christianity transformed the empire
• Why Roman government collapsed in the West while the Eastern Empire survived

Featuring historical artwork, archaeological discoveries, maps, monuments, coins, portraits and original explanatory diagrams, this book reveals Rome as more than a succession of famous emperors and battles. It examines the institutions, technologies, beliefs and human experiences that allowed Roman power to endure for centuries.

Rome did not rise without defeat, and it did not disappear in a single moment. Its fall was a long and uneven transformation whose consequences continue to shape law, language, religion, government and culture today.

If you want to understand not only what Rome conquered, but how its empire worked, why it became so powerful and what ultimately caused the Western Empire to collapse, begin this extraordinary journey into the Roman world today.