Here is the excitement and splendour of the Eternal City - from the rise of the Republic to the establisment of the greatest empire the world has ever seen. You sill see how the governors, architects and merchants who followed the conquering Imperial Eagle remade the world in Rome's image. You will discover how Rome in turn became the most cosmopolitain of cities, linked to its empire by a common bond of government and a great network of 300 highways.
You will see the Forum where Cicero spoke and Julius Caesar was murdered... the sumptuous villa of the Emperor Hadrian... and a re-creation of the Roman battle plan in the victorious siege of Avaricum. Remarkable full-colour photographs provide a unique portrait of life in ill-fated Pompeii before it vanished under volcanic ash.
You will find that Romans complained about the housing shortage, traffic, polluted air, and the high cost of living in the days of Augustus. You will learn how cruel spectacles were staged to divert the unemployed who might otherwise have turned against the state. You will discover why Christian burial places had to meet strict Roman building code specifications.
You will learn why the influence of Imperial Rome, whether seen in today's courtroom procedure or the facade of a church, in the style of a poem of the structure of a state, remains as a vital force, shaping the ideas and material works of modern man.