Pliny sketches a theory of advancing moral decline and extravagance, in the course of which he gives a detailed account of six centuries of classical art and a fascinating sketch of the world of the rich Roman collector. Isager's is the first full treatment of this subject for over a hundred years.

Pliny sketches a theory of advancing moral decline and extravagance, in the course of which he gives a detailed account of six centuries of classical art and a fascinating sketch of the world of the rich Roman collector. Isager's is the first full treatment of this subject for over a hundred years.

The Greek city of Nikopolis was founded by Octavian (later known as the Emperor Augustus) after his victory in the naval battle of nearby Actium in 31 BC. The city was a result of a so-called synoecism, i.e., the inhabitants of numerous Greek cities in the region (Epirus, Acharnania and Aetolia) were forced to leave their former dwellings and establish themselves in the newly built city, which became the capital of the coastal region. Since 1987 a joint Greek-American archaeological and geological Nikopolis project has registered, conserved and restored monuments inside and outside the city and conducted a survey of Southern Epirus aiming at understanding the changing relationship between humans and landscape. The main issue has been the impact of the new metropolis in the region and to what extent the towns included in the synoecism were actually left uninhabited.

P.O. Brondsted (1780-1842) was the father of classical archaeology in Denmark, and his writings won great acclaim all over Europe. He travelled in Greece from 1810 to 1813 examining the ancient cities of the island of Kea and the sculptures of the Parthenon, and participating in excavations on the island of Aegina as well as in Bassie. In addition to his love for classical Greece, he had a great interest in the Greece of his own time, and in the Greek struggle for independence. These interviews with Ali Pasha show Brondsted's interest and fascination in the man. The meeting is recounted, and Ali Pasha is shown to be a powerful and controversial despot, with political connections all over Europe.