This book has been languishing on my to-read pile for nearly two years, and when I saw it mentioned in Among Others, I was reminded of it and plunged into it. I'm a bit of a history nerd, but I never got too much into Roman history beyond the basics: Nine years of learning Latin left me scarred, and it just felt a bit icky because I mostly see military history fans being into it. Pre-imperial Rome is fun though, and then later East Rome, too, because who can resist a good collapse?