How did an obscure village in central Italy become the first global superpower?
SPQR is the abbreviation of Senatus PopulusQue Romanus, "the Senate and People of Rome". This is their story.

Ancient Rome concerns us: we still judge our own societies against this history of kings, senators, and fourteen emperors, of conquest and peace, of order and excess, while Roman debates about nations, empire, citizenship, terrorism, and individual rights influence the way we think about political organization and political freedom today.

Spanning a thousand years of Roman history, Mary Beard sheds new light on Roman culture, from running water to democracy, from the Gallic Wars to the Pax Romana, from slavery to migration, and from the great leap forward to the transformations of Augustus.