Ancient Rome was one of the greatest states in the history of mankind. Its cultural heritage was subsequently used by both the countries of Europe and the East. Therefore, an educated person needs to know the history of this civilization.
You can learn basic information about Roman history from books of contemporaries of events - ancient authors. Historiography in the form familiar to modern man appeared in Greece. and this tradition was inherited by Rome. The history of the state, especially its republican stage and the early empire, is fully described in the work of Titus Livius, "The History of Rome from the Foundation of the City." It should be borne in mind that the early period of the country's history is presented in this book in a mythological form.
A later, imperial period, captures the book of Guy Suetonius Tranquille, "The Life of the Twelve Caesars." It concerns the life and rule of the twelve first Roman emperors, beginning with Gaius Julius Caesar and ending with Domitian. In this study, the author used state archives, which increases the reliability of his information. In addition to political history, you can find in this work a lot of information about what the Roman emperors and their environment were, what were the customs of the highest nobility of that time.
Of interest are the works of the famous Roman historian Tacitus. His "History" and "Annals" were summarized available at the beginning of the II century BC. e. historical knowledge of the Romans.
A lot of information about the history and culture of Rome can give artwork. The Golden Donkey of Apuleius and the Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter provide invaluable information on the life of wide sections of Roman society, including ordinary citizens and slaves.
The history of ancient Rome was studied by numerous authors of later eras. One of the first studies carried out taking into account the requirements of modern historical science was the work of Theodor Mommsen's “History of Rome”. Since this book was written in the 19th century, a number of information given in it is considered obsolete by modern historians. Nevertheless, it is of considerable interest not only for specialists, but for amateurs - it is written in a good literary language.
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