A Year in Ancient Rome: 365 Days of Roman History, One Coin at a Time - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

Pick any date. Rome was already there.

On the Ides of March, Caesar's killers struck a coin to celebrate the murder. On 24 August, Vesuvius buried Pompeii, and three centuries later the Goths walked into Rome on the very same date. On the Saturnalia, Romans swapped gifts, gambled in the open and let their slaves speak freely.

A Year in Ancient Rome turns Roman history into a daily habit: one page for each day of the year, plus a bonus page for the leap day. Each page centers on a real Roman coin, photographed from a museum collection, and the story it tells.

What you will find inside

• 366 short, self-contained stories, each readable in about two minutes, from the founding legends to the last emperor of the West
• 366 coin photographs with clear captions: who struck the coin, when, and what it shows
• Myths put to the test: did Nero fiddle while Rome burned? Did gladiators die by a thumbs-down? Did Cleopatra dissolve a pearl in vinegar? Were vomitoriums really for vomiting?
• The voices of the Romans themselves, from Tacitus, Suetonius, Cassius Dio, Pliny and Ammianus, quoted briefly and credited
• Emperors, battles and everyday life: Augustus and Marcus Aurelius, Cannae and Adrianople, bread prices, bathhouses, dice and dinner parties
• A guide to reading Roman coins, plus a map, a timeline, a list of emperors from Augustus to Romulus Augustulus, a glossary and an index of every coin

Each page has been checked against the ancient sources. Where the evidence is thin, the book says so.

Written for curious readers, not specialists. Ideal for anyone who thinks about the Roman Empire more often than they admit, for coin collectors who want the history behind the metal, and as a gift that lasts all year.

Start with today's date.

Then look up your birthday and find out which emperor was having a very bad day.

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