If you've ever wanted a crash course in how one city of ambitious weirdos took over the known world, this is a great place to start. The Shortest History of Ancient Rome is quick, engaging, and surprisingly effective at connecting the dots across a thousand years of power struggles, political pivots, and public spectacles.

Ross King keeps things moving at a tight pace. He covers the major phases—Kingdom, Republic, Empire—with clarity and just enough commentary to make you think twice about how much of our modern systems still echo ancient Rome. It reads like a conversation with your smartest friend, the one who casually ruins you with a single sentence about how history repeats itself in high-definition.

I gave it four stars because while it’s efficient and well-written, there were moments where I wanted more depth. The book sometimes skims past the messy complexity in favor of momentum. But as a starting point or refresher, it works beautifully.

Perfect for history nerds, recovering Latin students, or anyone trying to make sense of modern collapse through the lens of ancient empire.

I recently read a historical fiction based on Rhea Silvia and the legend of the twins who founded the city of Rome, and it inspired more interest in the story and the actual origins of Rome and the empire it became. I've purchased other "Shortest History" books for my high school age son who is fascinated by different countries and their histories, so I was excited to find one for Ancient Rome. The author does a great job of providing a condensed history without skipping over important events or the kinds of details that actually make history interesting, and incorporating the occasional tongue-in-cheek humor to keep readers engaged. I was most intrigued by the chapter covering the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii. I appreciated that the book included some illustrations of artwork, statues, and maps. Highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Ancient Roman history but who might not be ready to do extensive research on their own.

Its a good, basic coverage of the history of ancient Rome. Definitely not "the shortest" - just an average length for a history book. Nothing groundbreaking but a good all over introduction to the subject.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book at 23% or 53pgs. It just wasn’t what I was looking for based on how it was advertised.