Ancient Rome: The Archaeology of the Eternal City

By Jon Coulston

Book Overview

A major new book on the archaeology of Rome. The chapters, by an impressive list of contributors, are written to be as up-to-date and useful as possible, detailing lots of new research. There are new maps for the topography and monuments of Rome, a huge research bibliography containing 1,700 titles and the volume is richly illustrated. Essential for all Roman scholars and students. Contents: Preface: a bird's eye view ( Peter Wiseman ); Introduction ( Jon Coulston and Hazel Dodge ); Early and Archaic Rome ( Christopher Smith ); The city of Rome in the Middle Republic ( Tim Cornell ); The moral museum: Augustus and the image of Rome ( Susan Walker ); Armed and belted men: the soldiery in Imperial Rome ( Jon Coulston ); The construction industry in Imperial Rome ( Janet Delaine and G Aldrete ); The feeding of Imperial Rome: the mechanics of the food supply system ( David Mattingly ); Greater than the pyramids': the water supply of ancient Rome ( Hazel Dodge ); Entertaining Rome ( Kathleen Coleman ); Living and dying in the city of Rome: houses and tombs ( John Patterson ); Religions of Rome ( Simon Price ); Rome in the Late Empire ( Neil Christie ); Archaeology and innovation ( Hugh Petter ); Appendix: Sources for the study of ancient Rome ( Jon Coulston and Hazel Dodge ).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0947816550
• ISBN13: 9780947816551
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Oxford University School of Archaeology
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 2.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.7" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Behind the Scenes at the Imperial Capital

I went to Rome last March and took this book with me. Although it is not designed as a guidebook (it is heavy on foot-notes, further references etc) it encouraged me to go and visit some of the lesser known sites of Rome where archaeologists have recently been working. I loved the chapter on food supply especially and went to see Monte Testaccio, a pile of broken pots discarded from the boats that carried wine up the Tiber. It's extraordinary - as high as a natural hill - and the book gave full details of the internal structure, the types of vessel that made up the pile, and some of the statistics for how much alcohol Rome consumed. There are some other great chapters too and the authors are well-known experts: Kathleen Coleman, who wrote the chapter on sports and pastimes, was the technical advisor for the Russell Crowe movie Gladiator. Anyway, all in all, a really fascinating read and bang up-to-date on the continuing work archaeologists are doing in Rome to expose daily life, behind the glitzy imperial facade.