The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome

A fascinating, close-up picture of what daily life was like for the inhabitants of the two most celebrated cities of the Western Classical Age. Private houses, public spaces, city streets, shops, restaurants, Greek temples, Roman baths, clothing, hairdos, utensils, customs, beliefs, manners, and mores are among the many areas that Connolly covers... The text is lucid, succinct, easy-to-follow, and the hundreds of illustrations--photographs, maps, drawings, and diagrams--are attractive and very much to the point. --The Christian Science Monitor

Connolly and Dodge have done a remarkable job resurrecting the golden years of classical Athens and ancient Rome.... The elaborate maps and lavish illustrations that grace every page most vividly communicate the tenor and the texture of classical antiquity.... A superior historical, sociological, and architectural survey. --Booklist

For anyone assigned a report on the design, construction, and use of the Parthenon or the Roman Colosseum, it would be hard to find a better source than this one. The full-page color drawings are stunning and include a wealth of detail not often found in other sources. --School Library Journal

Peter Connolly's eminent reputation as an archaelogical illustrator can only be enhanced by this superb book. Using remarkable simulations of city-scapes, modelled maps, imaginative and convincing reconstructions of objects, together with vase paintings, friezes and statues in clear photographs, he has made two great civilizations come alive on the page... If you want to know exactly what it looked like when Socrates attended the famous Symposium with Agathon and Aristophanes, or what Suetonius saw when he described Nero's Golden House, this is the book to tell you. --Times Educational Supplement

Focuses on the development and growth of each city, with superb, colorful illustrations that help the reader visualize all aspects of life and building construction. -- Dig!