So informative! .

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

An excellent book covering Roman myths and pas history,I thoroughly recommend this book to everyone who likes Roman history.

I think the concept of bringing they myths of Rome closer to our days by using less grandiose or archaic language and more common place, up to date terms is a great idea and certainly good for younger audiences put off by struggling through older, direct translations of these stories. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for background in these myths and hoping to find a book that can help them to connect more closely to the material. The writing style will definitely be "spot on" among readers accustomed to British English.

It was an entertaining and compelling read. Even if I learned about the Roman legends since I was a child I appreciated the different take and learned something new.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The foundations of early Rome are shrouded in legends & myths that give an explanation of how Rome came to be. It's more the spirit of things rather than the absolute truth &, as the author states, the Romans didn't shy away from the less palatable side of their history. This book takes the reader from the travels & troubles of Aeneas all the way through the Republic to the death of Julius Caesar. It's a humorous look, with modern vernacular, alongside some, shall we say, 'interesting' drawings. A more adult version of Horrible Histories if you will.

I'm endlessly fascinated with the Romans, it's my favourite time period of history. I've read & studied about them quite a bit so, although I didn't actually learn anything I didn't already know, it was an entertaining read. The author explains things in an easy to grasp way without losing the meaning behind the myths. I would recommend it for anyone who isn't au fait with Roman history & doesn't want to start by reading anything too heavy. I would also say it's not one for children as there's a lot of sexual assault & violence in the early Roman stories.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Pen & Sword History, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

A fascinating account of how Romans viewed themselves and their country through the lens of the legends they crafted during their very long existence where they went from village to world superpower. Unlike the Greeks, that gave the gods preferential roles in their mythology, Rome was more people-centric in theirs, crafting legends around "men and women who were instrumental in giving their city its distinctive character in the first centuries of its existence," as Garland says.

In the course of 22 separate chapters, Robert Garland elaborates on these legends, how they came to be, why they existed, and how they shaped Roman worldview. Starting with Aeneas from the nebulous founding times until the Ides of March that ushered the formal end of the Republic, he includes all the important legends without discriminating between the historical ones, the semi-historical ones, and the wholly invented ones, focusing instead of the Romans' conception of them and their role in explaining their society in all its facets. As he contends, their legends are important to them, and to us as history readers and learners, because they preserve their memories in some shape and also remind of who they think they are as a people.

And Garland retells these legends in a readable and amenable, conversationally and adapted to modern linguistic expressions, even downright humorous at times ("Let's not make any bones about it. Rome's ancestors, the Trojans, were losers." Ha! Have to give it to a superpower with a origins story that's not exactly flattering), which will be appreciated by those in the readership that aren't not well-versed in Roman history and mythology. Even children could read this book, so long as they aren't too young because Rome wasn't exactly Mr Rogers-friendly when they got in the mood to tell all and sundry stories about themselves. This is the city that took its name from a man that was a product of rape, after all, so decidedly not for all audiences unless heavily sanitised, which this book isn't.

Being familiar with all the legends included here, I read this for the commentary and new ideas the author might bring to the table, which is why I was somewhat disappointed there wasn't as much scholarly commentary as expected. I was expecting something along the lines of, for example, a commentary closing the retelling of each legend. You retell Aeneas' story, and by the end of the chapter, you tell us what the average Roman made of it. Something like that. I suppose Garland already told us what Romans made of it and other legends in the preface, but still, a commentary chapter by chapter would've been much better than laying it out succinctly in the introductory preface. There's more commentary in the less semi-historical and later legends, interspersed through the dedicated chapters, in a tone intended for the general reader, which I found more intriguing. I really appreciate Garland's efforts to get the general reader interested in Roman legends alongside its history, as most know Greek myths and legends only and believe Roman ones are merely refurbished appropriations of the former, which isn't entirely true.

And above all, I appreciated that the book helped articulate my love for Rome's history. I have several friends whose understanding of history is coloured by modern worldviews, so it can be complicated to put into words why Rome is my primary historical interest when all they can see is the slavery, imperialism, sexism, racism, and all the -isms that have plagued Rome (and other cultures) for all their history. In Garland's words:

"The Romans understand all too well that being an imperial power carries a heavy price tag, not only for the conquered but also for the conqueror, and they do not seek to disguise that fact from themselves. Rome’s foundation isn’t an uplifting tale of human progress. Social and political change is slow and halting. Almost all the characters we will encounter are seriously flawed; some are despicable. Terrible crimes, including rape, attempted infanticide and fratricide, play their part in the story. The fact, however, that these legends record unsparingly the dark side of Rome’s destiny is what makes them so memorable and so insightful. What the Romans are saying to themselves and to us, their cultural descendants, is, unflinchingly, ‘This is the unvarnished truth. This is who we are.’"

Quite a well-put, pithy and accurate assessment, in my opinion. There's something so heroic in the unheroic and flawed, and their legends reflect this humanness, baring their mistakes and relaying their triumphs.