My wife wants a good book to read (not a travel guide) in advance of an upcoming visit to Rome - one that will hold her interest like a good novel, though I suppose it isn't absolutely necessary that it be fiction, and one that will help her sort out the tangle of names and eras and dates, etc. that end up being mostly just a fog for many people (including me, to a large extent).

I know a single book won't eliminate the "who's that" factor (I wonder what level of scholarship is required to visit Rome and never encounter that), but something to get beyond "Augustus and Julius...I've heard of them...were they brothers?" And yes, of course, there's much important Roman history beyond the empire. That needs sorting out as well, though I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect help for more than a single era from any one book.

So with those objectives in mind, what would you recommend?

First of all, I don't have the name of a good book that answers that description. But I don't think that a "who's who" and all the dates are that necessary. I would sort of approach it as two Romes....ancient and modern. There should be lots of fiction on ancient or just a brief summary of what the Roman Empire was about. Then after Constantine, Rome declined and didn't get it's act together again until the early Middle Ages, the beginning of modern Rome. In order to fully enjoy the city, you must combine a smattering of history with the history of it's art and architecture. The art you see will in many instances be linked to the governance of Rome, whether an emperor or a pope. If interested, look for works on the Renaissance and Baroque periods for a better understanding of modern Rome. Hope this helps.