Rome is an empire with a bad reputation. From its brutal games to its
depraved emperors, its violent mobs to its ruthless wars, its name
resounds down the centuries like a scream in an alley. But was it as bad
as all that? Join the historian Jerry Toner on a detective's hunt to
discover the extent of Rome's crimes.
From the sexual peccadilloes of Tiberius and Nero to the chances of
getting burgled if you left your apartment unguarded (pretty high,
especially if the walls were thin enough to knock through) he leaves no
stone unturned in his quest to bring the Eternal City to book.
Meet a gallery of villains, high and low. Discover the problems that
most exercised its long-suffering citizens. Explore the temptations of
excess and find out what desperation can make a pleb do. What do we see
when we look at Rome? A hideous vision of ancient corruption - or a
reflection of our own troubled age?