Best books on Rome’s history are originals, in my oppinion. Extraordinary number of writings survived.

Understanding Rome requires a lof of effort from a modern person. So many aspects of human society have changed, yet Roman society was as complicated as American society today in many respects.

The physical destruction of Rome as a city is one of the biggest tragedies in human history. If only we could see Rome in all it’s magnificence...

Ancient writings of Roman titants are almost the only whitenesses that remain.

If you've never listened to the History of Rome podcast you'd enjoy it a whole lot. He also makes a lot of book recommendations through the course of the podcast.