Dear reader(s), you know me. I loves me some classical history. Granted, most of what I've read in this genre is ancient Egyptian, so I felt I needed a good one-volume which covers Greece and Rome. This one I got at the library, looked through and thought it was good, so got it cheap on Audible.
Spoilers follow:
Ancient Greece and Rome are both dead.
Spoiler fin.
It really is a very in-depth study. Can't really specify what I liked best about it. The descriptions of the blood sports were horrible, and the hypocrisy of the Romans not liking sport due to its connection to Greece where they practiced in the nude, yet Romans created more and more cruel blood sports, like hanging victims barely within reach of hungry wild animals so that they were eaten slowly but surely. Or putting giraffes in the arena with really hungry lions. Or tying two wild animals together and letting them kill each other.
Had no idea some of those emperors would build artificial lakes and re-enact famous sea battles, only the actors actually fought to the death. Horrible.
Of course there is more, and what I liked about this book versus some others I'd gotten out of the library (and not bought thank the gods) was the matter-of-fact way the author dealt with the homosexuality of those times. Wasn't a big deal, basically. He didn't try to make the entire history revolve around this or that Caesar's love for his boy-toy. It just happened. And in a society where women were sheltered and hidden, and rape was treated harshly, hard to not expect young, hormone-high youth to mess around. Bottom line, thank you RLF for not making it the central tenet of your book.
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