Rome and Her Empire

Contemporary Review, May, 2004

Rome and Her Empire. David Shotter. Longman. [pounds sterling]19.99. x + 453 pages. ISBN 0-582-32816-0. As interest in the Classics declines, so interest in the Roman Empire increases, in part due to popular fascination with archaeology. Likewise, more people realise that empires do not collapse overnight but that the civilisation that underlies the collapsing governmental order carries on: Rome is more relevant than one may have thought.

This book is meant 'as an introductory taste of the history of Rome and her empire' for people who find various aspects of that history interesting. The author follows a basically chronological approach and sets out to explain how and why the major developments took place: the rise of Rome as a city; the conquest of the Italian peninsula; the growth of an empire; the changes in government and religion; and, finally, the 'decline' of the empire, i.e. in the West. Constantinople is not part of the picture.