?Fifteen centuries after its fall, the Roman Empire still has the power to fascinate. The crumbling ruins and rutted roads in the lands where its mighty empire once held sway are testament to the vast scope of its greatness and a reminder of the mortality of glory. When the first edition of the Horizon Book of Ancient Rome appeared in 1966, it set the standard as an introduction to this great empire, and today, it continues to be a magnificent guidebook to a civilization that had endured for more than a thousand years and left to us a bequest both timeless and dynamic. Since the book's publication, there have been exciting discoveries and fresh interpretations that have deepened our understanding of the Roman world. Numerous archaeological excavations have found evidence of Roman architecture and communities throughout the Mediterranean and have revealed such precious jewels as the Vindolanda Tablets (a marvelous collection of private letters from Roman soldiers stationed at the Empire's lonely outpost in northern England). Increasingly sophisticated techniques in excavation have revealed entire Roman cities in northern Africa, and in the heart of Rome itself, the great Imperial markets have been unearthed and reconstructed. The Emperor Nero's palace, the Domus Aurea, also has been meticulously restored and opened to the public for the first time since the fall of Rome. Roman coin discoveries (the Hoxne Hoard being only one) and their display on dozens of accessible Internet sites have made it as easy to own and study a genuine piece of Roman history as it was formerly to read about it.