Italia : Soprintendenza archeologica di Roma

The book, with extremely fine graphics, takes us on a tour of the archaeological monuments of Central Rome, through a series of clear, interesting descriptive material which is accompanied by a thorough analysis of its main monuments and the masterpieces of ancient art housed in the city's museums.
English edition.

It is also a pleasure to read the studies devoted to the most fascinating aspects of Roman history and civilisation, ancient finds, excavations over the ages, and the huge mole of literary sources that accompany the layout. The path starts in the Roman Forum, an extremely complex place, where the buildings date from many different periods, from Ancient Rome to the early Middle Ages, and moves on to the Palatine, site of the mythical foundation of Rome by Romulus, with its painted houses (House of the Griffons, House of Augustus, House of Livia and Aula Isiaca) and the luxurious residences of the Caesars overlooking the Circus Maximus. Much attention is devoted to the Capitoline Hill, site of the Capitoline Museums, the oldest museums in the world, where the book covers the original rooms and its more recent extensions to examine its collection of masterpieces of Ancient sculpture. The route crosses over to the Imperial Fora, describing them in detail, before moving up to the museum housed in Trajan’s Markets, where the finds discovered in Ancient and modern times are on display. And, last but not least, a detailed examination of the symbol of Rome, the Colosseum, where a new phase of restoration works on the amphitheatre and the monuments surrounding it is about to begin…… (mehr)