SPQR: A history of Ancient Rome (2015) by Mary Beard.
Quite a readable, entertaining, and interesting book of Ancient Rome. Mary Beard narrates the story of Rome from its unknown birth a few centuries BC to Emperor Caracalla (210's AD). It is obviously impossible to describe the complexity of Rome in just a few hundred pages (I mean, just the fall of the Roman Republic would require tomes over tomes), but Beard was able to capture the essence of it in a way that is very instructive. Although an introductory book, I think that some very basic prior knowledge of Rome might help the reader.