A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome

The roar of frenzied spectators inside the Coliseum during abattle between gladiators. A crowd of onlookers gathered around aslave driver. The wondrous plenty of banquets where flamingos areroasted whole and wine flows like rivers. The silence of the bathsand the boisterous taverns . . . Many books have dealt with thehistory of ancient Rome, but none has been able to bring itsreaders so near to daily life in the Imperial capital.This extraordinary voyage of exploration, guided by Alberto Angelawith the charm of a born story- teller, lasts twenty- four hours,beginning at dawn on an ordinary day in the year 115 A.D., withImperial Rome at the height of its power. The reader wakes in arich patrician home and discovers frescoes, opulent furnishings andrichly appointed boudoirs. Strolling though the splendors of theRoman Forum, one overhears both erudite opinions from learnedorators and local ribaldry floating out from the public latrines.One meets the intense gazes of Roman matriarchs strolling thestreets, looks on as a banquet is prepared, and is afforded a peekinto the sexual habits and fetishes of Roman patricians and plebs.For all those who have ever dreamed of traveling back in time,Alberto Angela's narrative style will come as a welcome change todry historical tomes. Rich in atmosphere and historicalinformation, A Day in Ancient Rome is a voyage into a worldboth distant to us in time and surprisingly near in its habits,mores, and passions.