A vivid and lavishly illustrated portrait of a lost world, this book gives a voice not just to Rome's most famous generals and rulers, such as Sulla, Caesar, Augustus and Caligula, but also to her builders and sculptors, her poets, historians, gladiators, shepherds, courtesans and slaves.
An extraordinary range of viewpoints is explored in these 100 biographies. A centurion and a plasterer's wife share pages with the orator Cicero and the scholar Pliny, while a Vestal Virgin shares a chapter with Antinous, the boy lover of Hadrian. Augustine, the church patriarch, and Constantine, Rome's first 'Christian' emperor, rub shoulders with Julian the Apostate and Vettius Agorius Praetextatus, leader of the pagans.
Roman women were the most liberated in the ancient world. They could wield massive power and influence, yet are often overlooked. Meet Servilia, Caesar's lover, Agrippina, the murderous wife of Claudius and Antonia Caenis, Vespasian's mistress. Meet also Sulpicia the teenage poet and Amazonia the sword-swinging gladiator.
Using the latest archaeological evidence as well as ancient texts, Philip Matyszak and Joanne Berry build up a picture of what it meant to be a Roman citizen. Magnificent portrait sculptures, mosaics and Renaissance paintings of Roman scenes add visual impact to the real-life stories behind the rise and fall of Rome.
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