Pagan Holiday: On the Trail of Ancient Roman Tourists

by Tony Perrottet

The ancient Romans were responsible for many remarkable achievements—Roman numerals, straight roads—but one of their lesser-known contributions was the creation of the tourist industry. The first people in history to enjoy safe and easy travel, Romans embarked on the original Grand Tour, journeying from the lost city of Troy to the Acropolis, from the Colossus at Rhodes to Egypt, for the obligatory Nile cruise to the very edge of the empire. And, as Tony Perrottet discovers, the popularity of this route has only increased with time.

Intrigued by the possibility of re-creating the tour, Perrottet, accompanied by his pregnant girlfriend, sets off to discover life as an ancient Roman. The result is this lively blend of fascinating historical anecdotes and hilarious personal encounters, interspersed with irreverent and often eerily prescient quotes from the ancients—a vivid portrait of the Roman Empire in all its complexity and wonder.

Genres: Travel, History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Italy, Historical, Memoir

391 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pax Romana, when Romans had the relative safety, leisure, education and desire to see classical sites, is generally thought to have covered the times between 27 BCE through 180 CE. Perrottet’s book looks to those Roman travelers and compares them with modern tourists using himself and his pregnant partner as examples. The typical Roman travelers of the Pax Romana usually went south along the Western coast of Italy and hit the touristy areas of Capri and Pompei among other places. The Romans would hop to Brendisi and on to Greece by ship. The Greek high points would have related to heroes and Gods (the history of its day). They would go on to what is now Turkey to see the sights of Troy and find locations relating to Aeneus, the mythical founder of Roman civilization. Finally Perrottet and his 7 month pregnant partner tour the Egypt that the Romans would have visited.

The author is a bit of an historian in addition to being a travel writer. Along with his very indulgent partner they try to reproduce Pax Romana travel. Like those classical tourists they run into bad food, bad lodging and locals who would like to separate them from their money.

I liked the information on the classical tourists far more than the sort of silly Mr. Perrottet’s travels. By the time the author and partner tour Egypt I’m less than fascinated. If you enjoy a Bill Bryson type of travel, you’d probably enjoy this.

[Loren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faced with an impending travel moratorium (his girlfriend became pregnant), Tony Perrottet took the family-to-be on the road to explore the route laid out by the original adventure travelers. The results are sometimes poignant, often very funny, and always backed by fascinating research. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

For the first time in the history of the world, a class of people had the disposable income and curiosity to travel. The Pax Romana made the adventure relatively safe; paved Roman roads eased the journey. Many of the destinations along the Roman Grand Tour are still popular today: Athens and Olympia, Ephesus and Troy, Alexandria and Cairo. Where there are travelers, a travel industry springs up. Some of the highlights of the book come as Perrottet explores destinations that are less familiar — and no more tamed than in Roman times.

One such chapter begins in the Naples train station (which I had the misfortune of visiting several years ago). Dank and cavernous as something out of Dante’s hells, the train station is a fitting precursor to the “Hotel Hades,” where Perrottet and his girlfriend spend a week. Perrottet takes the opportunity to wonder why it is so difficult to find a decent hotel in Europe, backing the question up with anecdotes from Roman-era guidebooks musing over the same question.

Naples once had been the original writers’ retreat, where literary types came in the summer to read their work and hobnob with their benefactors. Virgil completed the Aeneid in Naples, henceforth becoming the first author-as-rock star. All that ambiance evaporated long before Perrottet’s visit.

Along the Bay of Naples once stretched the legendary Roman spas. Among these, Baiae had an unsurpassed reputation for debauchery. Sometime during the Middle Ages, it crumbled into the bay “like cake dipped in coffee.” Perrottet arranges a scuba trip into the extremely poluted waters to see the remnants of the Roman Gomorrah. Amidst in waters full of rusting barrels, plastic bags, and medusae jellyfish, finding mosaic floors and toppled columns “was evocative and haunting, like stumbling across a lost city in a rain forest.” Perrottet’s awe at the things he saw — and the filth he imbibed through his leaking regulator — gave me chills.

Pagan Holiday provides the best kind of travel writing: adventures for the armchair tourist, described in beautiful language, full of color and history. Perrottet’s first book was The Naked Olympics. I look forward to traveling with him again.

[Ensiform · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author travels to the Mediterranean, attempting to retrace the de rigeur world tour of ancient Roman patricians, from Greece to Italy to Egypt, from Pompeii to the Parthenon to the Pyramids. (He also brings along his pregnant girlfriend, who is a considerable trooper to put up with the squalor he puts her through.) He encounters the usual lying guides, touts, and absurd bureaucrats. Along the way he drops anecdotes about ancient tourists and the similar obstacles they encountered; discusses the maps, guide books, and graffiti made by Roman travelers; and emphasizes the loud, colorful spectacle that the area has always been, perhaps more so in ancient times than even now.

Written with vigor and some wit, this is a travel book that makes history come alive. Communing with the past through texts and ruins, Perrottet gets close enough to the ancients that he can hear and feel them (quite literally, in the case of the mummy of Thutmose), and he does an admirable job conveying what he learns. Of particular interest are the parallels and contrasts between modern tourists and the ancient Romans, from hedonistic beach parties to buying trinkets at holy sites. An intelligent and interesting book, and full of fascinating historical nuggets.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today I didn't leave the house. But I ended up taking a vicarious journey following the path of the ancient tourists courtesy of Tony Perrottet. Something around 2 AD a first cohesive map on known world was unveiled encouraging the early tourists to go explore and 2000 year later the author set off to retrace their sandaled steps. There is a strong masochistic anxiety inducing quality to Perrottet's traveling, he goes places one wouldn't want to go, stays in accommodations that seem straight up nightmarish and uses horrifying modes of transportation. There is a sort of almost recklessness to the whole thing. This isn't the kind of traveling an average person would want to undertake, but it is certainly tons of fun to read about and there are photographs in the book as well. The real joy here is Perrottet's writing, so humorous, witty and erudite. This book is as much travel fiction as it is a history of an ancient world often told by the way of shocking (and shockingly informative) anecdotes. Very entertaining, very educational, several kinds of awesome. Highly recommended.

[Doubledf99.99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good travel read on Italy, Greece, Turkey and Egypt. Lot of good sight descriptions and trial and tribulations of hotels and inns. In parts especially about the inn's it reminded me of Tobias Smollett's 18th century book, Travel's Through France and Italy.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very fun book to read: The author combines a clear love of history and his travel experience to write an excellent description of tourism in the Roman empire.

Beginning in Rome with the unveiling of Jupiter's Panorama in the year 5 BCE (or BC)the author tracks the Roman's desire to travel around their empire. There are a staggering number of parallels between the Roman tourist industry two thousand odd years ago, and the modern tourism industry today, these similarities are narrated in a humorous, contemporary manner which is a pleasure to read.

Tony and his wife travel in the footsteps of the wealthy Roman tourist from Rome, through Pompeii and the beach-side resorts of Italy. They then take the same ferry route that Romans would have as they cross to Greece, then turkey. Then, through necessity, they cheat a little by flying across to Egypt to conclude the tour visiting the monuments that the Romans were already flocking to see in 66 CE (or AD, if you insist).

A great book, full of interesting little snippets of knowledge from the past, combined with a light-hearted travel narration of a trip with a motif.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Perrottet intersperses his own travel from Rome to Naples to Greece to Turkey and finally to the upper Nile at Aswan, approximating 'the Grand Tour' of an aristocratic Roman during the relatively peaceful centuries when the Mediterranean was 'a Roman lake', with surviving records of vacationers from that era. The emphasis is on parallels, on similarities. The tone is humorous. The presentation is easy going, even for those without much background in classical antiquity or Egyptology. A slight book, but entertaining enough.

[Katherine A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

June of 2025 is the second time in about 5 years that I’ve read this fun, FUN book! I love all of Perrottet’s books that I’ve read so far and am looking forward to the ones I’ve missed. After just returning from Greece and the heart of the Peloponnese it is a thrill to follow Tony and Les retracing the same steps that the ancient Roman’s ( and us!) took. These places were real then and they are real now and still breathtaking to behold and Perrottet’s style and sense of humor make the memories even better for me!

[Jeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this. Read it when I was in Turkey several years ago, and have been thinking it's due for a reread.

[Allie Pae · Rating 5 out of 5]

i finished this awhile back but it’s SO GOOD everyone should read this it’s interesting entertaining riveting

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended by a friend - good choice. Great for those who appreciate history the most when it is compared to modern day (Blue Latitudes, for example.) Witty and very interesting, this dip into the travels of Romans back in the day compared to a current trip to Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt was engaging - especially, I expect, for those of us who have also visited these places.

[Alex Telander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tony Perrottet has written a travel book about tourists, but these tourists had never been seen by the world. Route 66 A.D. is not just a travel book, but a history book, for its real characters are tourists of ancient Rome, who began an industry which has become one of the greatest money-making industries in the known world, and in many cases is what towns and cities depend on for survival.

Perrottet became interested in the subject of ancient tourism when he discovered the oldest guidebook in the New York Public Library, and from there charted a detailed history of where ancient Roman tourists went on vacation, and why the went to places like Egypt, Greece, the end of the Nile and the supposed location of the ancient city of Troy. The result is a book that is both like and unlike any other travel guidebook every written; safe to say that if anyone has an interest in traveling and an interest in reading, this is the book for you.

The author’s only true failing is in not fully appreciating what he has uncovered. He addresses these gems of history in a very cavalier way, sub-heading everything with annoying titles like: “Island Hopping the Aegean,” “Traffic Jam on the Sacred Way,” and “VIP Seeks Crocodile God.” Nevertheless, the book is filled with many photographs and details like the infamous directions to the brothel in Pompeii – cared penises on the walls – as well as a detailed index that can help navigate anyone on a most unique vacation into the ancient world.

Originally published on October 7th, 2002.

For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.

[Raina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book - though the current version, now in paperback is actually titled Pagan Holiday: On the Trail of Ancient Roman Tourists. Perrottet believes the Romans were the originators of tourism. The author has a very good sense of humor and of the absurd, as he and his pregnant fiancée trace the route of the Grand Tour for the ancient Roman. He cites ancient texts, letters, and even graffiti to show that problems plaguing modern travelers are all too common across the ages (i.e. bad hotels, bad food, sickness, etc.). The book is a delightful mix of the historical and the contemporary. I enjoyed learning what the ancient tourists had written about their travels as well as learning what those ancient sites looked like now. I couldn't put this down and probably annoyed my friends and family by constantly reading parts of the book to them. In addition to a fascinating glimpse into the ancient past, it's an excellent guide to what one should see around the Mediterranean today.

On a side note, you have no idea what Bacchanalia means until you read this book. They put Spring Breakers to shame!

[Jenny T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book fired up my wanderlust something fierce. The author follows the trail of Ancient Roman tourists, from Rome to Naples, Greece, the Mediterranean islands, Turkey, Troy, and finally Egypt, revealing fascinating little tidbits about ancient travel. The book is also half travelogue, as he recounts the adventures of himself and his very pregnant wife as they visit these sites, looking for signs of the ancient in some very modern places. Both hilarious and insightful, this book was an absolute treat. And I'm feeling the need for a vacation more than ever!

[Rebecca Huston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rollicking, funny read, about tourists on the road in the Roman Empire. And if you think travel delays, gouging innkeepers, bad food, bad service and the like are a new phenomena, nope, it seems that travel was just as wretched then as it can be now. You'll recognize many of the attitudes and comments. A great, very funny, read.

For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Route_...

[Vicki Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author and his pregnant girlfriend travel to places the well-to-do ancient Romans would have gone. They encounter problems the ancients would have had to put up with (unpleasant landlords) as well as more modern ones (a car that keeps breaking down). They visit Olympia, the site of the ancient games, the supposed site of Troy, Ephesus, Rhodes, Alexandria and the pyramids and many more. There's an description of ancient Latin-Greek phrasebooks that appear to have been used while on vacation at the bathhouses. An interesting mix of history with contemporary travel.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoyed this book! It's well written and well researched. I never gave a thought to the ancients going on tours or vacations until I found this book! One of the funnier anecdotes was ancients leaving graffiti on places they visited! Too funny! After reading this book, I kind of think maybe all of our ancestors took some sort of vacations in their day. Maybe not as elaborate as today's (or even the Roman's day), but simply moving on to another area to see first hand some place another tribe told them they should visit! Humans are a curious bunch! Fun read!

[Ary Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book, it had a mix of history, mythology and his real life as he navigates the area. Where it falls short is how there is little to no transition of those so it takes a couple sentences to realize you are now reading about history or mythology as opposed to his vacation. What really got me, was how horribly he treated his pregnant and sick wife throughout the book, almost made it too hard to finish.

[Diane in Australia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars = I liked the book. I'm glad I read it.

[Benita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This turned out to be a combination of modern and ancient travelogue. Perrottet stumbled across and account of Marcus Aggrippa's huge map of the ancient world on which all the great tourist sites of the ancients were laid out and he was fascinated. He started looking at the ancient accounts of travelers from the Roman world, in particular the travel account written by Pausanias. It is the only ancient guidebook that has survived to the present day.

At first the author and his wife intended to follow Pausanias's route through Greece and end their trip with that. They started out in Rome and then traveled to all the major tourist sites in Greece that were mentioned in Pausanias. Of course, that led them to Turkey and the Greek cities of Ephesus, Pergamum, and Symrna. Once there it was on to Troy and from there the trail led to the greatest of all Roman holiday trips - Egypt. The last third of the book was about the Roman fascination with Egypt and how wrong the Romans got the history and religion of Egypt. It turns out that the Romans were fascinated by the funerary customs of Egypt along with their mummification rites. They were also enthralled with the worship of Sobek - the crocodile god. The Egyptians had created an entire city devoted to this cult in the Faiyum Oasis. The city was named Crocodilopolis and was one of the must see's on the Roman tourist list for Egypt. The author says that the Egyptian priests had developed tourist spectacle to rival those found in Las Vegas hotels. His description of the place made it seem to be an impossibility - but it wasn't.

The author states clearly at the end of the book that this work was not intended to be a scholarly account. Nevertheless he takes great pains to quote from Roman and Greek authors from the Pax Romana and his has an extensive timeline and source list. He also has a glossary of Who's Who at the end of the book.

This was not the more scholarly type of travel book that I was expecting. It is a rather light hearted take on ancient tourism and what is left of those sites for the modern traveler. Some of the places are changed beyond recognition and some are simply not there anymore due to the active geology of the Mediterranean and the desertification of parts of Egypt.

[Tim Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

_Pagan Holiday_ by Tony Perrottet is both an amusing and interesting travel book and an excellent history focused on the very first age of tourism, the age of Roman tourism. With the advent of a massive, highly detailed and for the time very accurate map unveiled in 5 B.C. (completed by the Roman war hero Marcus Agrippa), the completion and extension of Rome's glorious highway system, the acceptance of Roman currency even to the farthest reaches of the Empire, two unifying common languages (Greek and Latin), and the Pax Romana (the longest unbroken period of peace in European history, lasting roughly from 30 B.C. to A.D. 200), the world was open to legions of Roman tourists. These viatores or peregrinatores (wayfarers; also called spectatores or sightseers) would go on what he called the original Grand Tour, journeying to resorts in other parts of the Italian peninsula, to sacred and historical sites in Greece (the Hellenic "greatest hits" including Athens, Delphi, Olympia, Sparta, and Epidaurus), the Olympic games if possible, to the ruins of Troy, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the exotic and fantastic ruins in Egypt (which to first century A.D. spectatores were mostly enigmatic relics from a forgotten epoch, nearly as ancient to the Romans as they are to us today). Across the entire Mediterranean world a complex tourist infrastructure arose to cater to the needs of the Roman traveler. Perottet sought to both describe the experiences of the Roman tourists - who they were, what they saw, how they traveled, and the difficulties they encountered - and to replicate their travels as closely as possible, to show to the modern reader what they might have been like and to describe the ruins as they appear today.

I found the parallels between Roman and modern tourism quite striking. Perrottet provided numerous examples of Roman contemporary accounts of stays at roadside inns (where even some of the richest Roman tourists complained of hard mattresses, leaky roofs, and bad food), eating at restaurants serving highly questionable fare, visiting lavish temples (which the author noted were in many ways the equivalent of modern museums as they were often crowded with statues and all manner of artifacts), and sending home letters to friends and loved ones.

Another parallel between Roman and modern travel (particularly in the Third World) is the fact that tourists often had to deal with shysters and con artists competing for their attention at every site they visited, each one proclaiming that he can show secrets about the site and provide a true and accurate history (though that was very rarely the case). Perrottet vividly described the hordes of professional tour guides (called mystagogi) that clustered around the most significant tourist attractions, each competing for the attention of the Roman tourist, spouting memorized spiels of "facts" to the tourist, often geared towards the Roman ear by tying in local legends and ruins to Homeric accounts of the Trojan War or to the Roman gods. These guides often exasperated Roman tourists; one academic was known to have prayed to Jupiter to protect him from his guides at Olympia!

Also like today, the Roman tourists bought tacky souvenirs. Numerous painted glass vials showing the Lighthouse of Alexandria and miniatures replicas of famous statues of Apollo have been found. The author said that these were the ancient equivalent of water-filled snowscapes of famous tourist attractions.

Roman tourists were fond of leaving mementos of their journey, generally by etching graffiti onto their favorite monuments. Precisely 2,105 pieces of Roman graffiti have been noted (and studied) from the Valley of Kings alone. They often preferred to inscribe Homeric verse (some wealthy Roman tourists even brought poets along so that they could do this), while others left much simpler messages ("I was amazed" was a common inscription on notable ruins and tombs). Some sites thoughtfully provided stone carvers for hire so that these messages could be left.

Though the Romans traveled primarily by ship, this age saw the first "road trips." In particular the compact size and density of sites to see in Greece lead many Romans to hire wagons on the outskirts of Athens and travel on the excellent Roman highways to the various destinations they sought, taking advantage of roadside inns, periegesies (guidebooks), itineraria picta (graphic itineraries or maps), and even roadside markers (miliaria or milestones). Perrottett quoted a number of times from one of the most notable and thorough periegesies to survive into modern times, the _Description of Greece_ composed by the travel writer Pausanias between A.D. 130 and 180, an encyclopedic work that comprised originally ten papyrus scrolls, an amazingly thorough guidebook to the whole of mainland Greece.

Several Roman tourist destinations - notably Sparta and Troy - were but shadows of what they were in their heyday. While Sparta was a major city-state in the 5th century B.C., by the days of the Pax Romana it largely maintained its famed traditions for the tourists, with such events as the annual scourging of the youths at the festival of Artemis performed primarily for the benefit of its visitors.

One way Roman tourists differed from modern ones was in how the very richest traveled. The wealthiest aristocrats would have their private wagons for instance shipped to Greece, where they would travel in a slow and sumptuous convoy that included a huge retinue of chefs, slaves, and secretaries. These rich tourists would dine in silk-curtained tents set up each night as dining halls, eat off plates of beaten gold, and sleep in luxurious carrucae dormitoriae (sleeping carriages). The very richest and most powerful of travelers - several Roman emperors enjoyed the Grand Tour - often required years of preparatory work as entire buildings (notably baths) would be erected in anticipation of their visit. Whenever an emperor passed through a city it was nearly bankrupted by the massive expenses in entertaining him and his retinue.

A very entertaining book - Perrottet and his girlfriend had a number of interesting encounters along the way in their travels - I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Nigel McFarlane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has brought the ancient world alive like nothing I've ever read before. Tony Perrottet follows the tourist "grand tour" taken by wealthy Romans, accompanied by his heavily-pregnant girlfriend, armed with a Roman guidebook, and taking a determinedly low-budget approach. Along the way we discover than the first 200-odd years of the Roman empire were an age of mass tourism, when tens of thousands of Romans took advantage of the political stability and good roads to visit sites in Italy, Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt. They visited the same sites we do today, many of which were already ancient, and had much the same experiences: they had drunken sex holidays in Naples; they complained about the hotels; they were ripped off and pestered by hawkers, guides and thieves; they bought cheesy souvenirs for the mantelpiece; they had selfies painted at the Parthenon. Throughout this, the author contrasts his modern-day experience with the ancient one, seeing these sites as if for the first time through awestruck ancient eyes. Also incredible is his pregnant girlfriend. I felt like shouting: Are these people crazy? Why don't they just stay in a decent hotel? Why hasn't she caught the plane home yet? Literally marvelous.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book.

The author and his spouse take a vacation to the eastern Mediterranean (Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt), following an ancient Roman (circa 2nd century A.D.) guidebook - a sort of last fling before parenthood experience. I enjoyed it because Tony and Lesley experiences reminded me of Marcus Didius Falco and his spouse Helena Justina in the mystery series by Lindsay Davis. See Delphi and Die in particular. The crowds crowding every tourist site. ("Crowds are good." Tony's mantra.) The kitsch at every tourist site. (The ancient Greeks and Romans were souvenir collectors too, and left behind the pottery that proved it.) The inscriptions. ("I, Varius, saw and was amazed." on one of the Colossi of Memnon) The problems of hotel accommodation. The problems of motion-sickness, especially during a first pregnancy. The problems of traffic congestion.

It was like seeing the sights through three pairs of eyes - the guidebook author's and the Perrottets' - two thousand years apart. The Falcos and the Perrottets were not unlike either, so this book added to my pleasure recalling Linday Davis's novel. Or the novel added to my pleasure reading this book.

It's not meant to be a scholarly tome; but I think anyone interested in Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece would learn from this book. Besides, it's humanizing - the thought of those Roman tourists acting like ... tourists.

[Ruthiella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tony Perrottet and his then girlfriend, later wife, Lesley, follow the footsteps of ancient Romans as a last hurrah before they welcome their first child. They start where the Romans would have started and follow their path down the Appian Way to first Naples, then Greece, then Troy (now Turkey) and the finally to Egypt. When the going gets rough in the modern world of travel (missed boats, shady hotel proprietors, insistent tour guides, etc.), Tony reminds himself that this only makes his parallels with the ancients more accurate. Ancient Romans, they’re just like us! And there are a lot of parallels between tourist then and now as well as marked differences, all of which the author shows by way of ancient graffiti, writings, histories and archaeological finds.

This was very reminiscent of the entertaining, humorous, and illuminating travel books by Bill Bryson and Tony Horowitz that I have read in the past. I have had this on my shelf for probably at least 20 years. I think I bought it at Borders (RIP).

[Marysia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy history way more when it contains interesting details about how people lived. The history of ancient tourism was interesting and funny to read about. The modern sections reminded me of some of the scripts on the "other" Tony, Anthony Bourdain's TV shows. I occasionally "heard" him reading them in his voice.

One thing that drove me nuts a few times was that Tony P would describe getting into some crazy situation (the Nubian wedding being the biggest example), but then abruptly ended the section before explaining how it resolved. I would have appreciated at least a sentence or two. I also felt awful for poor Lesley as she really didn't seem to be having a good time!

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF
Mildly amusing jokes sprinkled among the lists of “what I read about a feature of antiquity “
Jarring insertions of personal tales of poor decision making and lack of travel planning into discriptions of historic places
Stopped reading shortly after being told first century poets who won competitions were awarded crowns of corn leaves

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in a book on the history of ancient Roman tourists, but the book is only half about that, the other half being about the author and his girlfriend on vacation, hitting all the spots Romans used to visit, and we get just as much detail on what tourism is like today in those areas as we do on Ancient Roman era tourism.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

There needs to be a special 'tone' and pace for this genre of books to work and this one is first rate. Following the footsteps of Roman travellers on their Grande Tour with modern day misadventures. Why couldn't high school history be this enjoyable?

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved so much about this book. History lessons, life lessons, and humor. Recommend. Five stars! I can’t even pick out a favorite bit of the book. But if I really had to choose, it would be worrying the landlady was going to try on their underwear.

[Liam Cheasty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting read but the author's style is irritating.