Despite the fact that the majority of the inhabitants of the Roman Empire lived an agricultural existence and thus resided outside of urban centers, there is no denying the fact that the core of Roman civilization—its essential culture and politics—was based in cities. Even at the furthest boundaries of the Empire, Roman cities shared a remarkable and consistent similarity in terms of architecture, art, infrastructure, and organization which was modeled after the greatest city of all, Rome itself. In Gregory Aldrete's exhaustive account, readers will have the opportunity to peer into the inner workings of daily life in ancient Rome, to witness the full range of glory, cruelty, sophistication, and deprivation that characterized Roman cities, and will perhaps even gain new insight into the nature and history of urban existence in America today. Included are accounts of Rome's history, infrastructure, government, and inhabitants, as well as chapters on life and death, the dangers and pleasures of urban living, entertainment, religion, the emperors, and the economy. Additional sections explore two other important Roman cities: Ostia, an industrial port town, and Pompeii, the doomed playground of the rich. This volume is ideal for high school and college students, as well as for anyone interested in examining the realities of life in ancient Rome. A chronology of the time period, maps, illustrations, a bibliography, and an index are also included.

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.

A synthesis of recent work in archaeology and social history, drawing on physical, literary, and documentary sources.

Describes the daily life of Romans of all classes, their festivals, religious life, and family life.

In twenty-four lectures on Pompeii, eminent classicist and Professor Steven L. Tuck resurrects the long-lost lives of aristocrats, merchants, slaves, and other individuals from this imperial Roman city--made famous for its demise after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. The result is an unprecedented view of life as it was lived in this ancient culture and an opportunity to discover intriguing details that lay buried for centuries.

"One really must admire Harvey’s achievement in this sourcebook. With just 350 passages (more than half of them consisting of Latin inscriptions, from all over Rome’s empire), Harvey manages to give his readers a real sense of Roman private values and behaviors. His translations of the original texts are superb—both accurate and elegant. And he contextualizes his chosen passages with a series of remarkably economical but solidly reliable introductions. In a word, Harvey’s sourcebook strikes me as the best now available for a single-semester undergraduate course." —T. Corey Brennan, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

This voyage of exploration chronicles twenty-four hours in the life of a Roman patrician, beginning at dawn on an ordinary day in the year 115 A.D., with Imperial Rome at the height of its power.