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The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome
In this superbly illustrated volume, Athens and Rome, the two greatest cities of antiquity, spring to life under the masterful pen of Peter Connolly. All the historical and archaelogical evidence has been seamlessly pieced together to reconstruct the architectural wonders of these mighty
civilizations. Re creating public buildings, religious temples, shops, and houses, Connolly reveals every aspect of life in glorious detail, from religion and food to drama, games, and the baths. In addition to the great monuments and moments of classical Greece and Rome, readers learn about a
typical day in the life of an Athenian and a Roman. They read about and see the houses people inhabited; attend 5 day festivals and go to the theater; fight great battles and witness the birth of Rome's navy; visit temples and spend a day at the chariot races. The spectacular artwork and vivid
descriptions provide a window into the fascinating history of these two extraordinary cities and civilizations. The Ancient City is the crowning achievement of Peter Connolly's distinguished career.
civilizations. Re creating public buildings, religious temples, shops, and houses, Connolly reveals every aspect of life in glorious detail, from religion and food to drama, games, and the baths. In addition to the great monuments and moments of classical Greece and Rome, readers learn about a
typical day in the life of an Athenian and a Roman. They read about and see the houses people inhabited; attend 5 day festivals and go to the theater; fight great battles and witness the birth of Rome's navy; visit temples and spend a day at the chariot races. The spectacular artwork and vivid
descriptions provide a window into the fascinating history of these two extraordinary cities and civilizations. The Ancient City is the crowning achievement of Peter Connolly's distinguished career.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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458 people want to read
About the author
Peter Connolly
93 books43 followersPeter Connolly was a renowned British scholar of the ancient world, Greek and Roman military equipment historian, re-constructional archaeologist and illustrator. A research Fellow at Oxford in England. He was a regular contributor to such periodicals as the Journal of Roman Military Equipment and Roman Frontier Studies.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 7, 2018
Life often has moments where one can truly savor the joys of living, like a sunset or that cup of terrific coffee after a nice meal. Reading this book felt like that folks. I finished it and really felt satisfied and content. For a book to achieve this, it must be extraordinary. Mr. Connolly did just that... with a book. Kudos my good man!
I found the text to be very enjoyable and thorough, with multitudes of illustrations and pictures added to really stimulate the imagination. You can almost at times feel as if you are present, and see for a brief moment a glimpse of our ancient past. I find the details to be almost excessive, if truly such a thing is possible. Connolly hammers home each of his points on the city life, leaving no doubts to how he came about his viewpoint and often leaving myself fully onboard with his thoughts too.
I cannot imagine anyone disappointed by reading this book, and highly recommend it for anyone interested in the studies of our ancient societies. It is surprising how much we owe to them for our modern city design and functions.
Truly an A+ effort, and worth every bit of the 5 Stars I am allowed to give here.
I found the text to be very enjoyable and thorough, with multitudes of illustrations and pictures added to really stimulate the imagination. You can almost at times feel as if you are present, and see for a brief moment a glimpse of our ancient past. I find the details to be almost excessive, if truly such a thing is possible. Connolly hammers home each of his points on the city life, leaving no doubts to how he came about his viewpoint and often leaving myself fully onboard with his thoughts too.
I cannot imagine anyone disappointed by reading this book, and highly recommend it for anyone interested in the studies of our ancient societies. It is surprising how much we owe to them for our modern city design and functions.
Truly an A+ effort, and worth every bit of the 5 Stars I am allowed to give here.
February 26, 2024
If you liked eyewitness books as a kid, you’ll love this book. It’s a grown up version- tons of gorgeous illustrations and no dumbing down of the facts. A really lovely and quite detailed overview of Athens and Rome, highly recommend.
March 9, 2010
A great in-depth look at everyday life among the Greeks and the Romans.
The illustrations are fantastic, the descriptions detailed, and many of the artifacts displayed are surprising even if you thought you knew something about Greece and Rome.
The pictures of reconstructed buildings such as the Curia Julia (where the Roman Senate met), the Baths of Trajan, and the Telesterium at Eleusis remind one of just how advanced the ancient world was in architecture and engineering.
Some takeaways: The Greeks were real innovators in iron reinforcement of buildings. The architraves of the Propylaea on the Acropolis were backed with iron, and many of the Greek temples were held together with iron bars instead of mortar. In Rome, drinking bars and restaurants with seating were surprisingly common, and they even had shutters with iron backing to pull down over their shop-fronts at night, just like our modern grilles. Also, many Roman theaters did not feature mere cloth skenes as a background, but had elaborate three story, Corinthian-columned "scaenae frons" that framed the scenes and allowed movement of the actors. And, unlike in later eras, women often played female rolls in Roman theater and pantomime.
Sometimes, though, the book is too detailed, and it is hard to tell if it wants to be a reference book or a book to be read straight through. It's all worthwhile, but there is some hard slogging (especially through the details of the archaeology).
The illustrations are fantastic, the descriptions detailed, and many of the artifacts displayed are surprising even if you thought you knew something about Greece and Rome.
The pictures of reconstructed buildings such as the Curia Julia (where the Roman Senate met), the Baths of Trajan, and the Telesterium at Eleusis remind one of just how advanced the ancient world was in architecture and engineering.
Some takeaways: The Greeks were real innovators in iron reinforcement of buildings. The architraves of the Propylaea on the Acropolis were backed with iron, and many of the Greek temples were held together with iron bars instead of mortar. In Rome, drinking bars and restaurants with seating were surprisingly common, and they even had shutters with iron backing to pull down over their shop-fronts at night, just like our modern grilles. Also, many Roman theaters did not feature mere cloth skenes as a background, but had elaborate three story, Corinthian-columned "scaenae frons" that framed the scenes and allowed movement of the actors. And, unlike in later eras, women often played female rolls in Roman theater and pantomime.
Sometimes, though, the book is too detailed, and it is hard to tell if it wants to be a reference book or a book to be read straight through. It's all worthwhile, but there is some hard slogging (especially through the details of the archaeology).
August 4, 2014
This is a coffee table book with lots of great illustrations. These include photographs of ruins and artifacts, but my favorites are the drawings reconstructing Athens and Rome in their heyday. Books that emphasize pictures are often not so great when it comes to the text, but that is not the case here. The pictures are complemented by descriptions of various aspects of these ancient cities, from everyday life to politics to major historical events. (I could have done with a little less architecture, but it is the physical cities that provide the foundation of the book, after all). The entries are concise yet detailed enough to bring these civilizations to life, allowing an appreciation of both the familiar and the alien in these ancient antecedents of our own culture.
November 16, 2019
Interesting subject, but very dry writing.
June 17, 2022
Great illustrations and fascinating details that my kids and I used for our Classical Rhetoric homeschool history studies.
November 3, 2014
There’s nothing like precise, clear artwork to enhance a volume of ancient history and archaeology, and this is one of the best around. Athens and Rome were the two most important urban centers in the ancient world (relative to the development of Western culture, anyway) and about half this oversized volume is given over to each city. The first section tracks the physical development of Athens from the end of the Persian Wars (though Connolly provides a brief summary of its earlier history) to the rise of Macedon under Philip II. Separate chapters cover daily life and work, public and domestic architecture, and temples and the theater, each of them crammed with illustrations of costume, tools and weapons, everyday scenes, and (especially) beautifully rendered architectural drawings and aerial views. There are also a great many color photos of what the same areas look like today.
The second half of the book does the same service for Rome, from Augustus to the early 3rd century, though there are, again, some drawings and maps depicting the founding the city, just to orient you. Chapters here cover Rome as an imperial capital, daily life and ordinary homes, shops and other commercial spaces, religious structures, and racing and the theater, with extended discussions (heavily illustrated) on the Colosseum, the palace of Domitian, and the city’s baths. These are far more detailed even than some separate books I’ve seen.
The accompanying text in both sections includes a great deal of political and social history in small doses, all of it informative, but this is primarily a visual work. And it’s a great way to lose a weekend.
The second half of the book does the same service for Rome, from Augustus to the early 3rd century, though there are, again, some drawings and maps depicting the founding the city, just to orient you. Chapters here cover Rome as an imperial capital, daily life and ordinary homes, shops and other commercial spaces, religious structures, and racing and the theater, with extended discussions (heavily illustrated) on the Colosseum, the palace of Domitian, and the city’s baths. These are far more detailed even than some separate books I’ve seen.
The accompanying text in both sections includes a great deal of political and social history in small doses, all of it informative, but this is primarily a visual work. And it’s a great way to lose a weekend.
February 12, 2018
Really excellent information and ancient Greece and Athens really fascinate me. The writing is succinct and it is really a great deal of ground to cover. This isn't for someone looking for a story, but if you are into how things look now and renderings of how we think they used to look, this book is what you're looking for. If you are traveling to Greece or Rome, you may want to read through and look through this book. This is more of a textbook, but really interesting. Still, next I am going to go for a nice, brain-candy fiction story.
July 16, 2012
OK, this is sort of cheating since I really mostly read the captions of the pictures, but I really loved this book! I had no trouble with forming a mental picture of ancient Athens, but Rome totally stumped me. I kept visualizing the way it is now and overlaying history on top.
February 12, 2018
Fabulous overview of life in Athens and Rome in their respective classical periods. The breadth of coverage is breathtaking in using archaeological and literary evidence to illuminate the built fabric of the cities and the lives of the inhabitants.
May 14, 2013
Fantastic book! The illustrations are the best part by far, but the information is good, too. Most of the focus seems to be on specific buildings, but there is great information on everyday life and history, too. It was a perfect addition to my Ancient Cultures class.
July 16, 2014
Simplistic overall, but filled with useful tidbits and helpful drawings, photographs, maps, and dissected buildings. A good resource for a casual study of the two cities.
April 24, 2016
Sometimes you just want to flip through a coffee table book of classical history. Sometimes you need to do research for an AU fanfic set in Ancient Rome. Two birds, one stone.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews