Reader recommendation: Empire

Monitor readers share their favorite book picks.

Empire is Steven Saylor’s sequel to “Roma” and spans five generations of the Pinarius family from the reign of Augustus to the height of the Roman Empire under Hadrian. Among other events the Pinarii witness include the madness of Caligula and Nero, the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, the opening games at the Colosseum, and the intrigue and expansion of the Roman world.