Product Description

It is easy to forget how much daily life is influenced by the contributions of the Romans. Satire, tax shelters, roads, sports stadia, health clubs and perhaps even the reason you have the ground under your feet all began with the Romans. But how much do you really know about the origins and the history of the Roman Empire?

This Complete Idiot's title covers every element: describing how the Romans conquered the world; what life in ancient Rome was like as a gladiator, a slave or a woman; how Roman society, politics and architecture still influence us today; who the famous - and infamous - Roman emporers were.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64164 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-16
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.34 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 1 pages

From the Back Cover

CIG to the Roman Empire 0028641515

It's easy to romanticize or demonize ancient cultures, but the more you know, the more complicated things become. While the Romans were insightful, ambitious, pragmatic, and influential people, they could also be cruel, rigid, bloodthirsty, stifling, overly garish and yet a bit drab. But no other civilization has left such an imprint on the laws, lives, borders, religion, literature, politics, art, architecture, and popular imagination of the West. The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to the Roman Empire discusses the framework of ideals, infrastructure, politics, military tactics, economics, communications, and education that girded together the West.

About the Author

Eric Nelson is an Assistant Professor of Classics at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, where he has been writing, speaking, and teaching about the impact and relevance of the ancient world to a variety of audiences for the past 11 years.