Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This classic book brings to life imperial Rome as it was during the second century A.D., the time of Trajan and Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, and Commodus. It was a period marked by lavish displays of wealth, a dazzling cultural mix, and the advent of Christianity. The splendor and squalor of the city, the spectacles, and the day's routines are reconstructed from an immense fund of archaeological evidence and from vivid descriptions by ancient poets, satirists, letter-writers, and novelists--from Petronius to Pliny the Younger. In a new Introduction, the eminent classicist Mary Beard appraises the book's enduring--and sometimes surprising--influence and its value for general readers and students. She also provides an up-to-date bibliographic essay.

Those born under the rule of the Emperor Claudius in the middle of the first century AD who lived through the reign of Nero, Trajan and Hadrian, witnessed the flowering of a mighty empire at the height of its prosperity and power. In this extraordinarily detailed portrait of life in ancient Rome, Jerome Carcopino begins by painting a vivid backcloth on which the social, political, cultural and religious aspects of the community are drawn. Part two enlarges on the details of everyday life, following the typical routine of a normal day from dawn (with the clatter of slaves and traffic) to dinner and the talk that continued long into the night. This classic study, which includes bibliography and notes by Professor Rowell, describes the streets, houses and multi-storeyed apartments of the city of over a million inhabitants; the social classes from senators to slaves; the Roman family and the position of women, causing The Times Literary Supplement to hail it as a 'thorough, lively and readable book'.