When Reading Roman History

I finished reading SPQR by Mary Beard a few months back. In this overdue post, I share things that are important to keep in mind when casual history nerds like myself read about Roman history and ancient history more generally. ## No maps or formal dating system Maps and dates are taken for granted when studying Roman history. But Romans, at least pre-empire, had no maps nor dates. They had no visual way of measuring how far their influence stretched relative to the world. Dating was not based on numbers but rather on who held cons...