Customer Reviews

Ancient Rome: The Archaeology of the Eternal City (Monograph, 54)

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I went to Rome last March and took this book with me. Although it is not designed as a guidebook (it is heavy on foot-notes, further references etc) it encouraged me to go and visit some of the lesser known sites of Rome where archaeologists have recently been working. I loved the chapter on food supply especially and went to see Monte Testaccio, a pile of broken pots discarded from the boats that carried wine up the Tiber. It's extraordinary - as high as a natural hill - and the book gave full details of the internal structure, the types of vessel that made up the pile, and some of the statistics for how much alcohol Rome consumed. There are some other great chapters too and the authors are well-known experts: Kathleen Coleman, who wrote the chapter on sports and pastimes, was the technical advisor for the Russell Crowe movie Gladiator. Anyway, all in all, a really fascinating read and bang up-to-date on the continuing work archaeologists are doing in Rome to expose daily life, behind the glitzy imperial facade.