Customer Reviews

Ancient Rome: A New History

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I'll aim for brevity here: I know there are plenty of other people out there willing to burden a 500+ word review, but not me.

First, the background. I'm a college student, I purchased this book because it was the primary textbook for a class on Ancient Rome. It was a summer class (4 weeks) and YES, believe it or not I do consider that relevant.

This Potter book is a crash course in Ancient Rome. That description is a bit of a double-edged sword. There's a lot of material here, but very little depth. As a man fascinated with the history of the ancient world, I found the book sorely lacking in detail and analysis. Potter's book is what it is--a very general overview of the "entirety" of Roman history. It's something of an introductory tour of Roman history that, to the unfamiliar, is quite serviceable, but for those acquainted with the subject it is somewhat lacking.

If you're unfamiliar with Roman history, this is a worthwhile read. If you are more like me, however, and know which bank of the Rubicon is which, this is a textbook to avoid.

Item arrived in better condition than I thought and was shipped in a timely manner.