Secrets of the Romans' spectacular success

How did a muddy settlement on the banks of the river Tiber grow into the greatest empire the world had seen? Who was more diabolical, Caligula or Nero? And was there really such a thing as Pax Romana? Edward Watts has just written an epic two thousand year history of the Romans, and here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, he answers some of the most intriguing questions about this extraordinary people. 2,000 years is a very long time.

How do you go about squeezing two millennia into a single book? And did you approach this project with a a certain amount of trepidation? I think there's a couple ways to answer that question. The first question to answer is yes, 2,000 years is an extremely long period of time. And I had written a book during the pandemic that looked at ideas of decline across Roman history.

So I covered a chunk of this 2,000 year span and then kept going through the 21st century. And so I thought this book was doable. When I sat down and actually realized that you're telling the story of an entire nation and its entire political system, it's bigger than the history of an idea, first of all. And then second of all, As I got into it, I realized that the the big challenge we have is, you know, there are people living through this experience.

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