<DIV>The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome is the history of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire in the words of those who saw it firsthand. Never before in such detail has there been a history of this great and influential civilization that continues to mark the landscape (the Colosseum, the Roman roads, the aqueduct at Nimes), our language, our calendar ("July" for Julius Caesar), our laws, our traditions (carrying a bride across the threshold), and our very thoughts. With all the gossip of I, Claudius and the excitement of Gladiator (but none of the historical inaccuracy), The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Ancient Rome is a unique tour into the most important civilization in the West.</Div>