How do we fit the Roman Empire into world history? Too often the empire has simply been conceived of in terms of the West. But Rome was too big to be squeezed into a purely European model; her empire bestrode three continents. Peter Fibiger Bang develops a radical new world history framework for the Roman Empire, presenting it as part of an Afro-Eurasian arena of grand empires that dominated the shape of history before the forces of globalization and industrialization made the world centre on Europe from the eighteenth century onwards. It was a world before East and West. The book traces surprising cultural connections and societal similarities between Rome and the other vast empires of Afro-Eurasia. Whether we look at war-making, slavery, empire formation, literary culture or intercontinental trade and rebellion, Rome is best approached in its Afro-Eurasian context.

‘This a highly academic work that assumes the reader has a general familiarity with world history. It would be too difficult a read for most undergraduates, but might be an excellent choice for a graduate-level survey course.'

Mike Markowitz Source: The New York Military Affairs Symposium

‘After locating Rome in precolonial world history, Bang successively treats the connection of state formation and slavery to war and ecology, the characteristics of universal empires, the role of courtly literature and monotheism to elite formation and imperial unification, the connection of elite consumption of exotica and trade, and subaltern resistance. A discussion of the benefits of comparative history for Roman studies and a historiographical essay conclude the book. This is critical reading for all advanced students and Roman and world historians … Essential.’

S. M. Burstein Source: Choice