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Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides)
By Amanda Claridge ( Oxford University Press, USA )
Release Date: 1998-06-25
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Product Description
Capital and showcase of the Roman Empire and the center of Christian Europe, the city of Rome is the largest archaeological site in the world. Here, Amanda Claridge presents an indispensable guide to all significant monuments in Rome dating from 800 BC to 600 AD. Included are such breathtaking structures as the Capitoline Hill, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Mausoleums of Augustus and Hadrian, the Circus Maximus, and the Catacombs. Divided into twelve main archaeological areas in central Rome, and four in Greater Rome, this accessible guide provides a detailed overview of the sites, as well as historical reference tables listing archaeological periods, emperors, and principal surviving buildings. The introduction offers an assessment of Roman achievement along with its status as the capital of the Roman Empire, and explains Rome's survival as the world's most complex archaeological site.
Amazon.com Review
The city of Rome is the largest archeological site in the world. If your idea of a good Roman holiday is uncovering the archeological mysteries of the Roman Empire, then Oxford Archeological Guides: Rome is your ideal guidebook.

For such a detailed guide, this book is remarkably readable. Of the Field of Mars (Campus Martius), Claridge writes,

It is the one part of Rome which continued to be quite densely inhabited after the C9 AD, becoming the center of the late medieval and Renaissance city, and is still densely inhabited today, an extraordinary blend of past and present even for Rome. The Stock Exchange occupies a Roman temple, the boiler-rooms of the offices of the Senate are set in the ruins of Roman thermal baths, a modern theatre nestles in the shell of a Roman theatre. Many of the streets are on the lines of ancient streets, and the walls of the buildings on either side of them are often balanced directly on top of Roman walls.
Among this Oxford guide's special features are 200 site plans, maps, diagrams, and photographs; a cultural and historical overview; a chronological overview; and a glossary of essential terms. It uses star ratings to help you plan your days and divides Rome into 12 main areas: the Roman Forum, Upper Via Sacra, Palatine Hill, Imperial Forums, Campus Martius, Capitoline Hill, Circus Flaminius to Circus Maximus, Colosseum Valley and Esquiline Hill, Caelian Hill and the Via Appia, other sites, museums, and catacombs.

Shaded sidebars add anecdotal interest, covering issues such as the Seven Hills, Jupiter's Dining Room, Tomb of Bibulus, the "Province" Reliefs, Madam Lucretia, Nero's New Palace, and Gladiatorial Shows. --Kathryn True

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Product Reviews:
  best archaeological guide to "ancient" Rome ( jaroman7 )
This Oxford archaeological guide to Rome is a replacement book for an older volume of the same that I had used so much that the pages were falling out! If you are primarily interested in the archaeological history of Rome from her beginnings through the late imperial period, then this is the book to have.

This guide is not a standard tour summary that just hits the highlights.
It is comprehensive and a bit academic, but if you really want to dig a little deeper into ancient Rome's structural past whether you are reading excerpts from it in your living room, or contemplating the forum from the Capitoline hill, this is the volume to have!
  If you're wondering what all of those ruins are in Rome, this is fantastic! ( upscwru )
I took this book, along with a plethora of touristy guidebooks, and this one got read the most! We spent hours and hours in the Forum and the Palatine, and really delighted in uncovering the mysteries of so many building foundations. I left Rome wishing I had an archaeologist as a personal tour guide, but this book was an excellent substitution! It can be read at home, but I found infinitely more meaning when I sat at the site and read about where I was. Take this to Rome if you are interested in the ancients!
  None better. ( d4032 )
I had the fortune or misfortune of buying this book prior to my first visit to Rome. It is such a well-organized, well-written, and concise guide to ancient Rome that you could make the mistake that I made upon completing it and my first visits there. You might search a long, long time and spend a lot of money trying to find something better. Based upon my experience, a university-level seminar or a three semester hour course is the only thing that could surpass this guide.

Don't be put off by simplified plans shown in the pages. You need clear, simple ideas of what the stuff once was to understand what you're looking at. When you're in the ruins, you will be surrounded by other tourists, any changing weather conditions, and you will be viewing the architectural remains of a previous civilization from many different standpoints. You can't do that successfully without a clear, simple concept already in your mind.

Fodor's Holy Rome, 1st Edition: A Millennium Guide to Christian Sights (Fodor's Holy Rome)
  The perfect companion when touring Rome 
You can't really understand Rome without this companion. It looks deeply into the very heart of the city, into its foundations and the stories they tell. This is practical archaelology at its best, presenting us with the lessons that history can teach us.
  Invaluable ( wilwallace88 )
I used this book for my second trip to Rome and it was absolutely invaluable. I wish that I had it for my first trip. I am a person who only cares about the Ancient Roman artifacts and this book literally has ever one listed by region that you have access to. If you decide to use this book bring along a highlighter and check off the sections that you complete, by the end of the day you will be amazed at how much you have seen. I cannot recommend this book enough.