(Every Monday in December, we're asking a local bookseller which books they'd like to receive for a holiday gift. Our third bookseller is Jason Vanhee who works at University Book Store. Jason chose SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard and Dynasty: the Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar, by Tom Holland.)

I work at University Book Store, but I’d been away for a few years and I just came back, so I didn’t see these in hardcover. I am a super-fan of Roman history and I’m really incredibly excited to get one or both of these as gifts. SPQR has been doing gangbusters — we had her for an event; I’m so sad I didn’t get to go, but I was working. I really can't wait to read some new [laughs] — “new” — Roman history.