Ancient Rome Explained

King Arthur and his knights, and the huge mounted armies of the Middle Ages were descendants of cavalry forces developed in the late Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine made horsemen, not infantry, the basic force of the Roman army because they were more mobile and better able to react quickly to trouble on the vast frontiers.

The average Roman got most of his work done before midday and had his first solid meal in the late afternoon (breakfast and lunch were tiny snacks). These dinners lasted a long time, for hours, as it was the main social occasion, where family members met, exchanged the days news and entertained friends.

Before Emperor Hadrian made wearing a beard fashionable, Roman men tended to be clean shaven. But shaving was not as quick and easy as it is today. No oil or soap was used to soften the bristles, only water, and razors didn't exist, only hand-sharpened blades. So it was very painful and therefore left up to the experts. This meant a Roman man had to see a barber every day, and still he often got cut.

These are samples of the kind of information you'll find in the excellent and informative book, "These Were The Romans," by G.I.F. Tingay & J. Badcock. If you read only one book on ancient Rome, this should be it. "These Were The Romans" provides a very concise, yet broad, overview of the people and the period.

I've been doing a lot of research on ancient Rome for a book I'm writing and have found this to be a fascinating and invaluable resource. It's the best one-volume text on the subject I've found.

Although it's designed as a course book for students, "These Were The Romans" is surprisingly accessible and engaging. It covers the history of Rome, from its founding to the end of the Western Empire, in about 40 pages. Needless to say, this is not a very detailed account, but it hits the most important points and is a good summary.

What I love about the book is that it explains how the Romans dressed, ate, worked, worshiped, played, entertained themselves and lived day to day. You get a real feel of what it must have been like to be alive during that time.

Other chapters cover the literature and writers of the period, the Roman military, how one climbed the political ladder, road building and other feats of Roman engineering and city versus country living.

If you loved HBO's "Rome" series, Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" novels or are interested in the era for other reasons, this is for you. I believe beginners and ancient history buffs alike will find "There Were The Romans" to be well worth reading.

NOTE: A second edition is now available which I hear is even better than the first.

(Hulton Educational Publications Ltd., 1985, 193 pages)