ROMAN MYTHOLOGY: A Traveller's Guide from Troy to Tivoli

Drawing on the great works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Plutarch, Ovid, Horace and Virgil, and with maps, illustrations and a gazetteer giving practical information about the sites today, this is a fresh look at a subject of great fascination. Rome itself was a melting pot of peoples from across the Mediterranean and beyond, each bringing their myths and legends of heroes and heroines, gods and goddesses. Taking the reader on a tour of 18 of the great sites of the ancient Roman world - Delos, Carthage, Eryx, Cumae, Ardea, Alba Longa, The Palatine Hill, the Capitol, Campus Marcius, the Aventine Hill, the Sublician Bridge, the Roman Forum and more. We follow in the footsteps of Aeneas and his campanions from Troy via Greece, North Africa and Sicily to Italy, and travels with his descendants from Rome enjoying a brief excursion to Tuscany and Latium to explore later legends. Evocative descriptions of the landscape precede the associated myths and stories as well as descriptions of rituals performed there in antiquity. Whether for aristocrats dressing up for banquet, or bloodthirsty audiences in the amphitheatres thrilled to watch condemned criminals forced to enact the roles of mythological creatures, Roman myths formed the backdrop to the rituals and customs of everyday life. Offering a fresh approach to Roman mythology, each site begins with a brief, evocative description of the location and landscape, followed by its associated myths and stories, as well as any rituals performed there in antiquity. 272 pages, Maps, beautiful design, 70 illustrations in delicate line art.