The Roman Empire is the greatest and most powerful state that the Western world has ever known. During the years of its greatness, Rome controlled almost all of Europe, North Africa and most of the Middle East. In the conquered lands, the Romans built roads and cities, spread their language, culture and system of government. In 476 BC. The Western Roman Empire collapsed, but the achievements of this civilization still influence our lives to this day. In the proposed book, first published in 1915, entitled “A Reading Book on Ancient History. Part III. Rome - an Empire”, tells about the everyday, private and public life of the Roman Empire. Among the participants in this unusual project were the future luminaries of Soviet historical science - N.A. Kuhn, V.N. Pertsev, S.I. Radzig, A.A. Fortunatov, A.M. Vasyutinsky, A.K. Dzhivelegov, K.V. Sivkov and others.