Rome crossed a threshold with the reign of Emperor Augustus: The realm of the Republic, which had subjected the entire Mediterranean basin in an unprecedented campaign of conquest over a quarter of a millennium, transformed into an Empire, a realm that truly deserved that name and with which the majority of the people living in it identified on a personal level. Under the emperors who followed Augustus, the intertwining history of the ancient world approached its peak: people, goods, and ideas were more mobile than ever before. What was life like under Rome's Caesars? And what forces held the Empire together, which was heading towards its first, nearly fatal test in the 3rd century AD? Michael Sommer's introduction to the history, society, and culture of the Roman imperial era spans chronologically from Augustus onward.