In this lively and very readable history of the Roman Empire from its establishment in 27 BC to the barbarian incursions and the fall of Rome in AD 476 Kershaw draws on a range of evidence from Juvenals Satires to recent archaeological finds. He examines extraordinary personalities such as Caligula and Nero and seismic events such as the conquest of Britain and the establishment of a New Rome at Constantinople and the split into eastern and western empires. Along the way we encounter gladiators and charioteers senators and slaves fascinating women bizarre sexual practices and grotesque acts of brutality often seen through eyes of some of the worlds greatest writers. He concludes with a brief look at how Rome lives on in the contemporary world in politics architecture art and literature.