Cullen combines a vivid imagination with historic detail to create a travelogue of the ancient city of Rome. I liked this much more then I thought I would. It's written in an engaging manner, easy to get into, and well organized. The chapters are exceedingly short, which makes it feel like you're breezing through the book. I particularly cherish the chapter that describes the bookseller’s area (Ch. 33:Argiletum). The only part I didn't much like was the overt modern moralizing (on slavery, the circuses, the games, etc). ( )