by Mike Duncan
First published 2016
Rome began as a small kingdom in central Italy and became the Mediterranean's dominant force. Mike Duncan examines this transformation through his popular podcast transcripts, now collected in book form. Duncan covers Rome's founding through the Republic's collapse, spanning episodes 1-46 of his series. The narrative follows Rome's expansion from local influence to regional dominance to global control. Romans defeated their major foreign enemies but then turned destructive civil wars against themselves. Duncan shows how a tiny Italian settlement grew to control territory from the Atlantic Ocean to Syria, from the Sahara Desert to Scotland. The book ends with the Roman Republic's breakdown, setting up the imperial period. Duncan argues that Rome represents Western civilization's greatest political accomplishment, with influences that still shape today's world.
Genres: history, political-science, non-fiction, ancient-history
Vibes: epic, informative, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-narrative
Setting: Rome, Mediterranean, Italy, Syria, Sahara Desert, Scotland
Period: Republic, Imperial Period
480 pages · Paperback · Herodotus Press