In this amazing value new edition, Rome: Splendours of an Ancient Civilization, is now issued in hardback in a slightly smaller format. The book celebrates the diversity and extraordinary riches of this great culture in some of the finest photographs ever taken of Roman monuments, art treasures, cities and landscapes.

Throughout this lavish volume are breathtaking iilustrations of frescoes and mosaics, statues, metalwork and jewelry. Specially taken aerial photographs provide original perspectives on familiar structures, highlighting often unseen or inaccessible details. Large-scale colour reconstructions and clever cut-away sections restore cities and such buildings as the Colosseum, the Pantheon and Diocletian’s Palace at Split to their former glory.

Rome’s history, from its legendary founding to the fall of the Empire, is thoroughly explored in an authoritative and detailed text. The authors also examine everyday life, from housing and clothing to entertainments in the circus and amphitheatre. Finally, the reader is taken on a tour of the major sites and conquests of the Empire, from Hadrian’s Wall on the northern frontier to the caravan towns of the Near East and the marble cities of North Africa.

Numerous site plans, maps and a chronological table complete this magnificent survey of the astounding achievements of one of the greatest and most influential of all civilizations. s.