Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day

Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87  ·  rating details  ·  160 ratings  ·  30 reviews
A time-traveler's guide to sightseeing, shopping, and survival in the city of the Caesars.
Welcome to Rome, city of the Caesars! This informative and entertaining guide provides everything that any tourist needs for a journey back in time to ancient Rome in AD 200. All you need is your imagination and a toothbrush--this book does the rest, describing all the best places to...more
Hardcover, 143 pages
Published June 1st 2007 by Thames & Hudson
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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 389)
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Alisa
This was a fun book, but not especially informative - as a previous reviewer said, the author is attempting to cover hundreds of years of history, which doesn't allow for in-depth coverage. I do like the way it's written though, as an 'ancient roman' travel guide similar to the Fodor's or Frommer's guides today. And definitely check out the list of useful phrases in the very back of the book - it made me laugh out loud; want to learn how to say a quote from Winnie the Pooh in latin? This is your...more
sabisteb
Rom für 5 Denar am Tag ist ein als Reiseführer getarntes Geschichtsbuch. In diesem "Reiseführer" für das Rom des Jahren 200 n. Chr. wird auf genau die gleichen Dinge eingegangen wie in einem modernen Reiseführer: Reisevorbereitungen, die beste Unterkunft und worauf man achten sollte, Sehenswürdigkeiten und Rundgänge, Shopping Guide, kulturelle Besonderheiten...
Belegt werden viele Hinweise und Erzählungen durch antike Zitate und archäologische Funde. Statt der in normalen Reiseführern üblichen Fo...more
Scott
Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day makes me want to strap on my petasus and head for the hills of Rome. This is the Rough Guide to a rough town, teeming with brigands, cutpurses, rowdies, hooligans, poop, prostitutes, and wacked out emperors. I loved every page. Matyszak's silly at times, but he's nearly always informative, and his little book did more to bring ancient Rome to life for me than all of Livy's decades or Cicero's long-winded orations. What you get in this book is Rome at its greate...more
Pete daPixie
Think I maybe slightly over generous with four stars here, but it's Sunday and the sky is blue. However, I did really like this one, though it is only just over 130 pages. Published in 2007,
Philip Matyszak's book is a travel guide for the pilgrim of around 200ad. So this is a funny, tongue in cheek, time travellers guide to the eternal city. Replete with all the standard guide booky info and advice on safe travel, where to buy, where to eat, best places to stay, what to wear and with latin phras...more
Heather80
This book is written like a travel guide to Rome in circa 200 A.C. It's humorous in style, and there are many good quotes by famous Romans. Photographs, CGI and drawings illustrate the glories of the great city. There is a map, a collection of Latin phrases (Fortesse, haec olim meminisse nobis iuvabit = Maybe one day we'll look back at this and laugh), and many interesting facts called Res Romae, which are sprinkled throughout the book. I would recommend it for history buffs, tourists and anyone...more
Eddy Allen
A time-traveler's guide to sightseeing, shopping, and survival in the city of the Caesars.
Welcome to Rome, city of the Caesars! This informative and entertaining guide provides everything that any tourist needs for a journey back in time to ancient Rome in AD 200. All you need is your imagination and a toothbrush--this book does the rest, describing all the best places to stay and shop, what to do, and what to avoid.
The guide first gives advice on arranging the sea journey to Italy, and then des...more
Lisa
A travel guide that takes you not only through space, but time as well! It's a guide to Rome in the 2nd Century CE and if I could go back... this would be an essential part of my carry-on luggage. This is a great book for people who want to know more about life in ancient Rome, whether they are scholars or just folks inspired by the recent HBO series. [return][return]It's a fun read and the Useful Latin Phrases in the back of the book are a hoot!
Pat Mizell
I rate a book on whether it accomplished it's purpose, the reader knew what that purpose was beforehand, and enjoyed reading it. I thought it was a hoot. The wonderful thing about Dr. Matyszak's books is that you can enjoy and learn. And have some grins along the way. I would love to take this book, walk up to a traffic cop in Rome, and point down at an establishment; then ask directions.

See, Phillip, I can stir things up to. On to Mithradates now.
Leandra
Mar 21, 2010 Leandra rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Rome travellers
I bought this for my Rome-holiday, and it was even more awesome than I thought it could be.

The book is essentially a travel guide for a Rome traveller visiting Rome 200 A.C. - Matzysak fills his descriptions of ancient Rome with a multitude of information, but manages to stay incredibly funny while doing so. This was the perfect read during our holidays - we read it in the evening in bed, we took it with us to the sights.

Very recommendable.
Jamie
Such a fun book. It makes one actually wish they were on a tour of ancient Rome. This book is even better if you are planning on visiting Rome in the near future as it gives you a completely different perspective on the city. Easily can be read multiple times.
Menno
Nov 30, 2009 Menno marked it as to-read
This travel guide is a peoples' history in disguise. It is concerned with the details of daily life such as what to eat, where to stay, and what sights to see for a visitor to ancient Rome. These sorts of details are often overlooked in the more traditional histories. And it will come in really handy if I decide to do some time traveling.
Kirsty Gray
I thought this was an enjoyable if somewhat fluffy look at classical Rome - which from the title is exactly what I expected. A quick and easy read in preparation for doing some actual study on this topic.
Teri
An entertaining and informative take on the ancient culture of Rome. Also a great, handy source for quick reference for historical fiction writing or historical role-play.
hexaspir
Jul 06, 2009 hexaspir rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: travellers to Rome
Shelves: hist-alt
I used this during my latest visit to Rome to make ancient Rome more vivid for my (adult) travelling partner. We would sit down at points of interest (Colosseum, Forum Romanum, Circus Maximus, ...) and I would read out related passages from the book. Highly recommended to bring ancient Rome back to life while you are there.
John
What a terrific book - equally funny and educational. Can't wait to read the Athenian version!
Johanne
really good book loads of little details funny and fascinating
Abraham Ray
intresting history book
Nancy
A fun little book in the form of a modern-day travel guide to the ancient city of Rome, circa AD 200, with information for the traveler on how to get there, where to stay, dining out, shopping, entertainment, "must-see" sights, and useful Latin phrases for a variety of situations including Vel vinum mihi da, vel nummos mihi redde (I want my wine or my money back) and Noli me tangere (Get your hands off of me).
Jonathan
Nov 21, 2009 Jonathan added it
Shelves: history
None
Aaron
It really makes history come alive! The Coliseum and aqueducts weren't ALWAYS in ruins, you know...
Ijorabi
This is a fun little book that's meant to give a small amount of insight into Roman culture. It's for the person who has very little understanding of how much the ancient world was similar to our modern world. If you want a definitive book of Roman culture, this is not your book. Treat this as a brief introduction.
Ann
Cute idea to structure it as a travel guide. It makes it much more readable than Lionel Casson's 'Travel in the Ancient World' where he seems to get a lot of his information. In fact they use a many of the exact same excerpts from primary documents.
Anthrodiva Stommen
Excellent resource for the time-traveler on the go.
Sadie
Fun to read through, and to get a glimpse of Romans as they were as regular people, and not as we tend to elevate them. Not something you'll learn terribly much from, but it's a joy to read.
digbybare
A very fun little book. Covers many aspects of typical Roman life (circa early-mid empire) which are not usually covered by more standard roman texts.
Bostian
Written in the style of a contemporary travel guide this book provides a general but fun introduction to what life in Rome was like almost 2,000 years ago.
Jess
The title's a little disingenuous: you could actually get by in ancient Rome on around three denarii a day.
Bookworm
A very entertaining introduction to the sights and culture of Rome at the height of the Roman empire.
Juliet
Neat book. A "modern" travel book written for the traveler to ancient Rome.
Sal
Love it
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