Juvenal

That's Prof. Kenneth Harl, great speaker on Roman history. I've got his "The Teaching Company's" Roman lectures, good stuff if you ever get a chance. I took Harl's course too on Rome and the Barbarians. Excellent! You may also want to try Garrett Fagan's History of Ancient Rome and J. Rufus Frears "Famous Romans" -- both from The Teaching Company. I just started their Philosophy of Greco-Roman Moralists by Luke Timothy Johnson. That one is interesting as well. It's a terrific company. I recommend their lectures for good "commuting to work" listening.

Thanks, I'll check out Imperium Romanarum. I understand what you mean by not trusting historical fiction. I only recommend it as a diversion from the headier works that you need to plow through. "Pride of Carthage" is ficiton by the way, but well written

I got this game last Christmas and it ruined my life. OK, I'm being overdramatic. I played it virutally around the clock for three months until I conquered the world as the Julii, Brutii, Scipii, Carthaginians and Egyptians. It also gave me a rudimentary knowledge of ancient geography -- so when I'd watch a show on the History Channel and they'd mention a place like Susa, I'd say, "Conquered it."

When I started out, I read Seneca, Suetonius, Caesar -- as much first hand material as I could. Don't know if that was a good idea because I found it difficult to plug through and even harder to retain. Since then, I've beefed up on my knowledge of Roman history -- mostly by listening to audio courses from the terrific Teaching Company (www.teach12.com). These are in-depth college level courses that make Roman history live for you. Now that I feel I have a firmer foundation, I want to go back to the original sources. However, to answer your question about recommended reading: "Pride of Carthage" by David Anthony Durham. It chronicles Hannibal and his brothers and makes all the characters flesh and blood people. Another one I enjoyed was "Imperial Governor" by George Shipway. It's billed as a novel of Boudicca's revolt in Britain, but it's more the story of Sueotonius Paulinus and how as Governor of Britian, he kept it under Roman control.