Peter Arnott has drawn a superb profile of Rome and the Romans ranging from the legendary Romulus and Remus through almost twelve hundred years of triumph and decay until the fall. Histories of Rome have been done before, but not quite like this one. the emphasis is on the people, the daily events, the culture and society - not on the warmaking. The approach in recounting the magnificent story is the same as the historian's in discoveing it: through the archaeology and the literature. The result is as true and vibrant a picture as we've yet had.