As mentioned in another thread, I am currently greatly enjoying the HBO series Rome through Netflix. I realized quite soon in my viewing that my historical knowledge of ancient Rome is spotty at best. Can anyone recommend a good book for me to read that really tells the story of ancient Rome, at least from Julius Caesar through the reign of Augustus? Thanks in advance.
It’s by no means comprehensive, but as an introduction to the period, “The Twelve Caesars” by Suetonius can’t be beat. As the wiki article mentions,
Like racy , gossiping, dramatic and amusing is a bad thing in history!
Available as a Penguin
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbons. An oldie but goody.
Gah. I keep wanting to reply to this thread, but all my best books are in norwegian. Lets see…
“The History and Conquests of Ancient Rome” by Nigel Rodgers and “History of Ancient Rome” by Nathaniel Harris are both quick and easy books, with plenty of beautifull illustrations, timelines and other good stuff. My go-to works for when I need to know "Who was that again? or “When did that happen?”.
If want the roughly the time period of the series you can go with Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland.
That book does not cover the time period the OP is asking about. Gibbon starts just after Aurelius.
I assumed this book deals with the time period much later than the Julius and Augustus Caesar time frame. Am I incorrect?
The Amazon description sounds exactly like what I am looking for. Although I am disappointed that there seems to be no mention of Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo. 
They are real people. Pullo is mentioned in De Bello Gallico and Commentarii de Bello Civili by Julius Caesar. Vorenus in only mentioned in De Bello Gallico.
I just ordered Rubicon by Tom Holland. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Please note the characters not really based on the real individuals.
For good historical fiction, there’s the SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts and the Ceasar series by McCullogh. (sp?) Both have extensive reference sections.
I am currently rereading the Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough. She did 13 years of research before she started writing, and where she takes some artistic license, she explains in the afterword her logic and why she did it.
+1 - you’ll find a lot of Doper fans of this series, including me. Great history lessons, hidden within a well-told story and fascinating characters.
I picked up the books several years ago because I was such a huge fan of The Thorn Birds. I figured it was just an epic fiction series set in Ancient Rome. I’d heard of Caesar, of course, but Sulla, Marius, Scaurus, Metellus? Nope.
Then, for fun, I started Googling the names…and you could have knocked me over with a feather when I realized they were real people! It was like meeting a celebrity in person!
The only thing is, you can’t stop reading them, or else all the Roman names start running together…especially since boys took their fathers’ names and the girls were all named the same, with nicknames to differentiate one from the other (Julia Major, Julia Minor, Julia Tertia, etc, might be known as Julia, Jullila, and Tertulla.)
This was a scrumptious read even if you’re not trying to educate yourself about Rome.
And when you’re done, go read Persian Fire, which is even better. I happened upon it at the library the week before I went to see 300, and it lent the movie a marvelous resonance.
Decent little survey history of the early Empire:
ALso, for fun while you are watching 'Rome" and Reading “The Masters of Rome”, pick up some of the books by Stephen Saylor - great murder mysteries set at the same time period.
Also, I must recommend “I, Claudius”.
Oh, and if someone tries to get you to watch “Caligula”, run.