Those who open this book with little prior knowledge of Pompeii and its history may find it a frustrating read at times. It has the design finesse and lush photography of a coffee-table tome, while sometimes assuming a level of existing knowledge in its readers that would be more suited to a scholarly work. Not that such a book can’t be both aesthetically pleasing and academically rigorous, but there is something of a disconnect – the introduction, for example, concludes by stating how the "sublime verses of Giacomo Leopardi" beautifully express the intertwined nature of life and death as recognised by the ancients, but no examples of Leopardi’s verse are provided to illustrate this. To an English-speaking audience at least, the 19th century Italian poet’s work is unlikely to be well-known. Perhaps this is something for the translators of the original Italian text to keep in mind for future editions.
Submitted by Bija Knowles on Mon, 08/10/2009 - 12:04
A luxurious villa dating from the time of the emperor Titus Flavius Vespasian has been uncovered in the Sabine countryside about 100km north east of Rome. The size, opulence and date of the villa are very strong indications that it is in the fact the villa of Vespasian himself, who is known to have owned a summer residence in the area near Cittareale, north east of the provincial town of Rieti (also a Roman town).
A luxurious villa dating from the time of the emperor 
