It was a treacherous stretch of coast. The ancient Greek historian Xenophon, writing in the 4th century BC, describes the perils of…
The story of the rise of Rome is best studied not in the city itself, but in the area surrounding it. It…
Should you be caught in a heavy rain storm in modern Ercolano, you will understand why the local residents talk about ‘lava’…
Rome is an iconic city. From Grand Tour etchings to nocturnal portraits of the cityscape, Rome’s monuments have become familiar images. Yet…
For Sigmund Freud, the archaeology of the city of Rome was a metaphor for the unconscious mind – a place where no…
Every time I arrive at the British School at Rome, it is somehow different. Old buildings and strong institutions can be like…
Rome is a city of books. Perhaps the greatest concentration of leading libraries in the world exists here, though refurbishments and closures…
In 1911 a major international exhibition was held in Rome, and the British put up a particularly splendid pavilion designed by Edwin…
We know more about Pompeii than any other Roman town. It is the benchmark, and yet we still have so much to…
In his writings, Strabo explains that the city of Metropolis is 120 stadia from Ephesus - and indeed it lies about 35km…
Myra, on the southern coast of Turkey, was home to the 4th century bishop St Nicolas (of Santa Claus fame). What remains…
As the capital of two great empires, Istanbul (and in its previous incarnation as Constantinople) contains a great wealth of culturally important…
Exquisitely located just 11km from the Mediterranean coast, the city was founded atop a 60m high acropolis. Its history is both deep…