Populus: Living and Dying in Ancient Rome

De la Bédoyère (Pharaohs of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of Tutankhamun’s Dynasty) recounts daily life in ancient Rome. It spans the 300 years from the turbulent decline of the Republic through the end of the Severan dynasty in 218 CE. Thematically organized chapters—supported by extensive ancient sources and descriptions of epigraphic remains and archaeological finds—detail how Romans lived, loved, labored, ate, governed, worshipped, and died. The book’s individual stories are quite gripping and reveal the ways Romans were both uncannily similar to and extremely different from generations after them. While the book’s stated focus is the average person, the sources skew heavily toward elites, which may lessen the book’s power for some readers. What enhances this resource, however, is the book’s backmatter: its glossary, bibliography, notes on sources, and references for further reading.