F.F. Zelinsky is an outstanding Russian scientist and popularizer of the classical heritage, professor in St. Petersburg (1887-1920). in Warsaw (1921-1935), member of many Academies of Sciences (Bavarian, British, Paris, etc.), honorary doctor of Oxford, Athens, author of more than 800 works in Russian, Polish and German, including multi-volume cycles “The Ancient World” and “Religions of the Ancient World.” In this work, the author for the first time includes biblical legends in a chronological narrative along with historical and literary sources. According to the author, “religion is the heart of culture,” and therefore the history of Christianity cannot be excluded from the general history of antiquity. The author not only draws on carefully researched sources and numerous hypotheses about the emergence of Rome, but also tries to understand “what the Romans themselves knew and thought about their past, what they said about it, how they assessed and how they understood it.” It is from this angle that F. F. Zelinsky uses the works of famous historians - Libya. Tacita, Suetonius. Plutarch. The moral scientist follows Tacitus - studies all possible materials - without anger or partiality, in order to select from all the factors that make up antiquity those that "can become the seed for the fertilization of the modern mind." Liveliness, spontaneity of presentation, communicative nature of the narrative, approach to the modern reader, an invitation to participate in these events and their understanding - these features make the book interesting not only for a narrow circle of specialists, but also for all readers. The book is beautifully illustrated.