This is a short book,
about 140 pages, set in 200 AD and covering what a visitor to Rome
might see and do. Beginning with arrival nearby and travelling into
the city itself, there’s a wealth of practical advice, from where
to stay to how dinner parties work, as well as religion and shopping.
It’s an engaging
book, with interesting snippets of information and the sort of
approach to history that makes it very easy to imagine what it
would’ve been like to visit Rome, climbing its hills and descending
into its valleys. Details such as how much wine might cost, or the
widespread dislike of the Praetorian Guard, add to the immersion.
The writing style is
light-hearted, occasionally humorous, and easy to read.
I’ve read quite a lot
of Thames and Hudson books of this nature, but all my previous ones
were hardback. I must say I prefer those to the paperback. However,
if your shelf space is limited the thickness is about halved by going
for the paperback.
Weirdly, there’s a
page numbering error, for maybe a dozen pages preceding the first set
of plates. The standard numbering is fine, but the Latin numbering
(which is correct both earlier and later) starts showing the
incorrect numbers. Not a huge thing, but clearly wrong.
The plates are entirely
CGI. A spot of real world photography for still extant architecture
would’ve been nice (the Egyptian edition in this series had some
creative modern drawings, but also ancient Egyptian artwork too). The
map at the back is a double page spread, with some detail swallowed
by the spine (bit of a pet hate).
Overall, a good book,
with one or two minor things that could’ve been done a bit better,
none of which relate to the actual text itself.
Thaddeus
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