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Ancient Rome in Fifty Monuments

Paul Roberts

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A sweeping new history of the city of Rome, told through its emperors and the monuments they built to make their mark on one of the great capitals of the classical world

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Overview

‘What is worse than Nero? What is better than Nero’s Baths?’ – so wrote the poet Martial in the first century AD, demonstrating the power that buildings have on public consciousness. In ancient Rome, who built a monument and why mattered as much as its physical structure. Over centuries and under many different emperors, a small village in Italy was transformed into the crowning glory of an empire. Seeking out the personalities behind the great building projects is key to understanding them.

With this firmly in mind, Paul Roberts takes the reader on a tour of ancient Rome, vividly evoking the sights and sounds of the city: from the roar of the crowds at the Circus Maximus and the Colosseum, to the dazzling gleam of the marble- and mosaic-covered baths of Caracalla and Diocletian. He tells this story emperor by emperor, drawing out the political, social and cultural backdrop to the monuments and ultimately the very human motivations that gave rise to their construction – and destruction. These fascinating buildings are further brought to life with reconstructions that show how the ancients themselves would have experienced them.

When and why were these monuments built? What did they add to the lives of the people who used them? What impact did they have on the shape of the city? Roberts expertly weaves together the latest archaeological research with social and cultural history, to tell the story of the Eternal City, always in some way rising, falling and being rebuilt.

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Reviews

'Gorgeous'
Natalie Haynes

'Lavish ... the huge colour images cumulatively have a mesmerizing effect. Indeed, it has the feel of strolling through a blockbuster exhibition. Monuments serve as springboards to concise discussions of broader aspects of Roman urban life'
TLS

'Informative and enlightening'
The Irish Catholic

'A sweeping tour of a living, changing, growing and shrinking city. A visual and immersive history ... An engaging read that will appeal to those with an established interest, but which will also be accessible to those who are starting to explore this subject'
All About History

'Roberts’s romp through ancient and contemporary Rome is a cracker ... With its maps and assurance that all 50 sites are visitable without applying to the Pope or an emperor for special access, the book is well worth employing to plot an epic city break'
Maev Kennedy, The Art Newspaper

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Product Information

Book Details

Format: Hardback

Size: 24.6 x 18.6 cm

Extent: 256 pp

Illustrations: 185

Publication date: 18 April 2024

ISBN: 9780500025680

Contents List

INTRODUCTION: The Monuments That Made Rome

PART I. Beginnings and Regime Change
THE KINGDOM OF ROME
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus
Cloaca Maxima

THE REPUBLIC
Largo Argentina
Temple of Hercules Victor
Tiber Island
Pons Cestius and Pons Fabricius
Republican City Walls

JULIUS CAESAR
Forum of Caesar and its Temple of Venus Genetrix
Curia
Rostra

PART II. From Brick To Marble
AUGUSTUS
Basilica Julia
Temple of Concordia Augusta
Temple of Divus Iulius
Forum of Augustus and its Temple of Mars Ultor
Porticus of Octavia
Theatre of Marcellus
Temple of Apollo Medicus Sosianus
Mausoleum of Augustus
Ara Pacis Augustae
Pyramid of Gaius Cestius

CLAUDIUS
Porta Maggiore

NERO
Domus Aurea (Golden House) and the Colossus of Nero

PART III. New Builders
VESPASIAN
Forum of Vespasian
Colosseum

TITUS
Arch of Titus

DOMITIAN
House of the Vestals
Stadium of Domitian
Forum of Nerva
Palace of Domitian

PART IV. Rome in Glory
TRAJAN
Forum of Trajan
Circus Maximus

HADRIAN
Tenement Building
Temple of Venus and Roma
Pantheon
Mausoleum of Hadrian and Pons Aelius

ANTONINUS PIUS
Temple of the Deified Hadrian

MARCUS AURELIUS
Equestrian Statue of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius

COMMODUS
Column of Marcus Aurelius (the Antonine Column)

SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
Temple of Vesta
Arch of the Bankers (Arco degli Argentarii)

PART V. An Uncertain City
CARACALLA
Baths of Caracalla

AURELIAN
Walls

DIOCLETIAN
Baths of Diocletian

MAXENTIUS
Basilica of Maxentius

PART VI. From Old to New
CONSTANTINE
Arch of Constantine
San Giovanni in Laterano and San Giovanni Obelisk

LATE PAGAN
Temple of Saturn
Portico of the Harmonious Gods

CHRISTIAN
Santa Maria Maggiore

PHOCAS
Column of Phocas

EPILOGUE: Aftermath

About the Author

Dr Paul Roberts was Sackler Keeper of the Department of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford. He has curated numerous popular exhibitions, including ‘Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum’ at the British Museum in 2013 and ‘Last Supper in Pompeii’ at the Ashmolean in 2019–20. He wrote the accompanying exhibition catalogues to both. A trained archaeologist, Paul has been involved in various fieldwork projects across Italy and Greece.