Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome

Gr 9 Up—Every feature in this reliable, thorough resource is designed to facilitate use. Those new to the study of the civilization will benefit from the opening historical and geographical overviews, which provide significant context. These are followed by alphabetically arranged entries covering people, places, the military, events, and ideas. Entry headings are in bold and cross-references appear in all capital letters, facilitating access. Considerable chronological expansion is the most significant change from earlier editions. Whereas those earlier works cover the period from Julius Caesar and the Gallic Wars (59–51 B.C.E.) to the fall of the empire in the West (476 C.E), this volume goes back almost 700 years to the founding of Rome. On the downside, there is no pronunciation guide and the black-and-white illustrations are infrequent and lackluster. Still, the pros outweigh the cons, making this a valuable addition to high school and public library reference shelves.—Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Library, Fairview, NC