Jo-Ann Shelton's As the Romans Did is a fantastic resource for learning about the culture and society of Ancient Rome, but it's geared toward students, quotes fairly extensively from primary sources, and as a result can come off a bit textbooky.

It's accessible, however, and it's a very good catch-all for when you want to learn about various aspects of Roman life.


A more traditional history is Paul Zoch's Ancient Rome: An Introductory History. Despite the uninspired title, the book is a solid and accessible read, although fairly cursory; it spans the time between the traditional founding of Rome (753 BC) and the reign of Marcus Aurelius (180 AD) in a little under 300 pages. I'd probably recommend this one for you if you are looking for a general synopsis.