If one is looking for a light read on the findings in Rome and elsewhere and what the archaeological evidence tells us of the 'eternal city,' then this probably is not the book for them - however for in-depth discussion and statistics, as well as evaluation of primary and secondary sources, then look no further. At first, I was sceptical that this collection of essays would be far too based on statistics and would, unfortunately, be an extremely challenging text to keep up with. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Coulston and Dodge have systematically divided up the essays into key areas: for example, how Rome supplied itself with food, soldiers and religion. This organisation allows the collection to be easily accessible, as it means the reader can choose from a variety of specialist topics written by different experts. Accessibility is also increased by the use of visual aids such as pictures, tables and maps. These sources are included seamlessly with the text, allowing the reader to refer to them easily with out having to skip pages and forget where they were on the page they were actually reading. The maps allow a reader who has not been to the city themselves to easily imagine the placement of certain buildings, which would be much more difficult to understand with out the sources included.
What is the absolute key aspect of this book is the variety of topics that are included, giving the reader a broad knowledge of different opinions of totally different areas of Rome. After reading the collection of essays, I felt that I could confidently speak about the different areas that are included, especially that written on religion as it is a topic that interests me - shown by previous blog posts on the foregin cults within Rome and an article review. And is this not what literary sources are meant to do? Allow the reader to gain knowledge? This book does it seamlessly, and I'm sure I will constantly refer to it throughout my time as an undergraduate.
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