I've been a student of history for at least five decades now, and I've come to realise that most people's idea of history is something bordering on the mega boring. That's why I began writing these history books and offering them as an important resource to schools and teachers. From what teachers are telling me about the books, their pupils are beginning to take a greater interest in the subject and starting to learn so much more than they would do from standard text books alone.
I've been a student of history for at least five decades now, and I've come to realise that most people's idea of history is something bordering on the mega boring. That's why I began writing these history books and offering them as an important resource to schools and teachers. From what teachers are telling me about the books, their pupils are beginning to take a greater interest in the subject and starting to learn so much more than they would do from standard text books alone.
Romans-Republic to Empire to Chaos.There have been many films and TV dramas about Rome, with villains and heroes racing across the screen, but it was only when I began to look at the history properly that I discovered a rich world of culture, stability, wealth, order and innovation that took my breath away. Hollywood and some TV producers have given us a somewhat warped view of the Roman Empire, and many still see it as a culture that was bloodthirsty and cruel, yet the truth is somewhat different. Big battles and rebellions did happen, and people were killed, but these were the exception to the rule. The Roman world, in one form or another, lasted for many centuries, and most people did not suffer invasion or the terrors of an ancient bloody battlefield. Most people, like today, got on with their daily business of making ends meet, making decisions about what meals to have and whether or not their children would grow up to be fine citizens. The poor, as in every other century before and since, fought a daily struggle to survive. We must never forget, however, that Rome was a slave-based economy, though not everyone had slaves. In fact, many of those who did have slaves were enlightened enough to treat them well and eventually free them. Many ex-slaves even managed to make vast fortunes, some even helping to rule the very empire that first enslaved them. This poem has been written to give you, the reader, a chance to see what went on in the Roman world, from the years before the concept of empire even entered the Roman mind, to the time when the empire began to fracture and fall apart. This is a history of those men, and some women, who ruled and shaped the Roman world. Broken down into manageable chapters, it will enhance any study of the classical period, and will also make for a great resource for courses, projects and homework.
