ANCIENT ROME

A portrait of ancient Rome, divided into four sections: ""The Roman World,"" ""Living in the Empire,"" ""Expansion and Empire,"" and ""The Fall of Rome."" Along the way it covers the usual topics for this type of book--family life, education, farming--as well as more unusual topics, including the siege of Masada, appearing in a beautifully done fourpage fold-out. Following the Nature Company Discoveries Library format, this is lavishly illustrated, both with full-color reproductions of original paintings and with photographs of Roman antiquities (though a few are too small to view well). The text is clear and interesting, but brief; the book is an introduction, and readers who want more in-depth coverage will have to look elsewhere.