The Romans

A 2,000-Year History

Edward J. Watts

$75

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Basic Books
09 October 2025

European history; Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Social & cultural history

'At last, a history of the Roman state as it has always been crying out to be told, and never has been!' RODERICK BEATON

The greatest empire in Western history - told as never been told before.

Rome is often remembered for its spectacular collapse. But for over two thousand years - through civil wars, plagues, invasions, and religious upheaval - the Roman state survived, adapted, and reinvented itself. From a muddy settlement on the banks of the Tiber to the glittering court of Constantinople, this is the untold story of a civilisation that endured.

In The Romans, acclaimed historian Edward J. Watts tells the first truly complete history of Rome in all its epic sweep: the Punic Wars, the fall of the republic, the coming of Christianity, Alaric's sack of Rome, the rise of Islam and the onslaught of the Crusaders who would bring about the empire's end. This is the Rome of Augustus, Marcus Aurelius, and Constantine. But it is also the Rome of Charlemagne, Justinian, and Manuel Comnenus, and countless diverse men and women who shaped the empire: African emperors, Byzantine intellectuals and ordinary citizens whose loyalty together made it the most resilient state the world has ever seen.

An expansive, eye-opening portrait, this is the definitive history of Rome and its citizens.

By: Edward J. Watts
Imprint: Basic Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 160mm, Spine: 54mm
Weight: 956g
ISBN: 9781529383560
ISBN 10: 1529383560
Pages: 736
Publication Date: 09 October 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Edward J. Watts holds the Alkiviadis Vassiliadis Endowed Chair and is professor of history at the University of California, San Diego. The author and editor of several prize-winning books, including Mortal Republic, he lives in Carlsbad, California.

Reviews for The Romans: A 2,000-Year History

At last, a history of the Roman state as it has always been crying out to be told, and never has been! Not even Edward Gibbon, more than 200 years ago, covered the full 2,000-year span, as Edward J. Watts does here. And at last we learn the truth: that Rome's 'decline and fall' was brought about not by barbarian invaders from the east in the 5th and 6th centuries but by crusading Europeans from the Christian west in 1204. Watts tells this story with verve and aplomb, and a wealth of finely observed detail drawn from Roman historians' own accounts of their past. -- Roderick Beaton, author of Europe: A New History The great achievement of this book is its scale. The coverage is vast and yet Watts deftly brings two thousand of Roman history under one powerful arc of analysis. What it meant to be Roman was always in flux, but what made the Roman state so successful - its unique combination of resilience and adaptability - remained intact throughout -- Jerry Toner