I make it a point to pick up "Pen and Swords" Roman history works. The writing is always well done, and the book itself is high quality with good images. This is no different.

A fascinating and compelling account of a rich period of history. Not hugely original, but it tells these iconic tales with verve and insight.

It was a very informative and interesting book as we don't usually talk about all the Roman emperor.
I would recommend it if you are interested in Roman history.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This is an extremely interesting look at the Emperors of Rome. Very complete and covering the most important details of each. I thought of our present governments as I read this. Romes leaders were at first united in the empires well being and its citizens had its respect. As the years went by ruling classes who only looked after their enrichment seemed to become more and more prevalent. Behind this the military was always lurking and making sure the rulers didnt forget who they were supposed to represent. The many ruling families were always looking for more power and the empire became more of a struggling mix of people trying to keep new people from coming in. My favorite part of this book beside the truthful history was the coins that were pictured showing each ruler. The author provides very interesting facts along with the history. I really liked this book. Others interested in Rome or government will find this book revealing and thought provoking.

A very interesting book which is well researched and detailed covering all the Roman emperors.many unknown facts about their lives are brought to your attention I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend this book to anyone who likes Roman history particularly dealing with the emperors.A good read. Thanks.

I loved this book. It offers a great intro guide to the Roman emperors - all of them not just the first few. It has a fun easy style that is very readable.

A handy reference guide to ALL the Roman emperors, from beginning to end.

Each emperor gets about a page, summing up his reign. For some this is massively condensing hundreds of pages worth of material - but for some of the more obscure others its impressive Bartolini was able to fill an entire page worth of info.

Its academic but not too dry, and a quick way to get a high-level overview of the emperors of Rome.

One look at the bibliography will tell you everything you need to know going into reading this. Bartolini cites almost entirely 20th century sources (although I hope he read some of the Latin originals), and the traditionalism of his viewpoint really shows - a revolutionary account of the emperors this is not. As a tabletop reference, especially for those interested in the military, this is excellent. He does a pretty good job of not oversimplifying complex sequences of events, and he gives even the most boring emperors a full accounting. He uses basic syntax, but with some complex words - in all, relatively accessible. I had the most problems with the names he uses, as he seems to bounce back and forth between birth names, nicknames, and names adopted later without making it clear (ex. using Caius instead of Gaius without explaining the context, never saying that Elagabalus went by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus during his reign).