Specter1075

Hello all! I want to first say that I apologize for asking the type of question that most likely gets asked by many people new to these boards. I have spent the last few hours reading and searching, and feel I should now ask my question. I have been bitten by the Roman History bug. I have, over the last few months, read M. Cary's History of Rome Down to the Reign of Constantine, Mommsen's History of Rome, Caesar's Gallic, Civil, and Alexandrian/Spanish/African Wars, and am now finishing up Syme's Roman Revolution. This said, I have been reading quite about about the Republican period, and want to move along to the Empire. I know that Mommsen and Syme's works are considered especially important in the study of Roman History. I also have Gibbon on my list, but my understanding is that his work starts around 98CE, which skips over the early part of the Empire. I was wondering first, if there any indispensible histories of the first three hundred years of the Empire that are of the same prestige that one sees in Mommsen or Gibbon? If not, I am wondering what works other members here find indespensible for this period of history. I have heard that Anthony Everitt's works on Augustus and Hadrian are good, and have them on my list. It is my hope that before digging into more focused works such as these, that I may read histories that cover larger segments of time during the Empire. Any direction would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!