Excellently written, Mike Duncan does a thorough job at communicating the years and decades of Roman history prior to the rise of figures like Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar. Besides covering major events, wars, and social tensions, this book highlights how these events frequently led to constitutional crises, and how these crises frequently resulted in violations of established laws and precedents, Additionally, Duncan frequently mentions and highlights how these events influenced later events and built upon each other. Highly recommend the book.