falkor

London's tourists are not allowed to take photographs of Londinium's Amphitheatre remains in the basement of the Guildhall; explain that one! (and they charge for entry) The world is corrupt, yet people happily obey petty rules when they are really being conned left, right and centre.

Sure, but it is the most logical way of writing a history book. I mean, we have books on Roman London written just like my desired format outlined above. I gaurantee there must also be a similar book on Rome, even if it has less site plans with, instead, emphasis on smaller scale plans of the evolving city. Perhaps Maladict will know of such a book?

I checked both those books today. They look comprehensive and well illustrated (although they never had the Temple Of Isis), but they are presented in, like, a dictionary fashion. In other words, they are like a tourist's guide to Rome aimed at the historian. I am after a book with the same info, albeit presented in chronological order with a series of changing plans of the entire city (not plans of specific areas with different period buildings overlaid). Let me try and explain it logically based on what I would expect for different chapters: Recommended Books - format Chapter 1 - intro Here's a map of all the buildings covered in the book. Chapter 2 - Palatine Hill area How the Forum area changed throughout the ages Chapter 6 - Colosseum Valley Colosseum with Nero's Palace and Trajan's baths overlaid. Wanted book format Chapter 1 - Rome origins As you can see from the first map, settlement is mainly apparent in the Palatine Hill area, where Rome originated. There was no masonry buildings at this time, and no boundaries. Chapter 6 - after Nero's fire Nero's Palace built with lake + new buildings added to forum. Chapter 7 - after Nero's reign Colosseum replaced Nero's Palace. Some buildings of the forum were demolished; others rebuilt. Obviously, I just made most of that up, but you can now get a better idea of what I am looking for--not a tourist guide but a proper evolutionary history.

Thanks for your recommendations, guys! I'll be following this up pretty quickly...

I'm looking for a good, possibly achaeology based, book on the ancient city of Rome--highly illustrated--describing and showing how Rome rose from the hills, to when it contained Nero's Palace and the giant lake, followed by the era that is represented by Google Earth etc. I expect the book to contain information on the many ancient monuments in Rome--surviving and demolished--with building dates. Does such a book exist?

Good question. I would guess before, but that's only a guess.

It's a good question if wondering where to go in the City Of Rome itself... places off the beaten track, like Santa Sabina etc. I once asked the same question in that regard.

Dominic Perring, author of Roman London. His book has never been equalled since...

I've got photocopies from a few specialist journals of Bath if anyone is still interested...

Rochester--because its a real enigma, and nobody knows anything about it due to lack of excavations. Its rumoured to have no street grid--in the Palestinian style! Maybe the Romano-British got around town by climbing ladders and walking across roof-tops? Also, if you check the town walls, along some stretches you may get 10 layers of medieval bricks above and below 2 layers of Roman bricks. Roman info is truly scarce and something needs to be done about it.

Rome = messy! I prefer Pompeii and other Roman towns with a uniform street grid.

I was well pissed off when I arrived at Nero's Golden House in April and they wouldn't let me in :(

I am looking for a good all round book on Ancient Greece in the same way that "Chronicle of The Roman Republic/Emperors" are good books for introducing the Roman Empire. Based on the Roman example, I expect a Greek counterpart to meet the following criteria: *Highly illustrated with maps and photos of artifacts. *Chronology: told with more emphasis on order of events and rulers (less on themes and aspects of Greek life). *MUST INCLUDE THE MINOANS IN THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS. Also looking for any documentaries that give the same overview on Ancient Greece, including the Minoans.

Journey To Pompeii may have finally arrived today (just waiting for my neighbour to return home).

Perhaps the flooring goes something like this, though in this example (Darenth Villa), they used the blox-flue tiles as pillars (must have over ordered on them):