Book of the Day: The Romans: From Village to Empire, by Daniel J. Gargola, Richard J. A. Talbert, and Mary Taliaferro Boatwright. Publisher: Oxford University Press.

The rise and fall of the Roman empire has fascinated not just historians but others as well for hundreds of years. Why did a small village on the Italian peninsula grow to dominate not only the region, but even much of western world? Once on top, why did that same empire then collapse and disappear except for ruined buildings and roads as a reminder of who might have once been there?

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