Abstract
It has been fashionable to view the Classical past as a thing dead and frozen, scarcely accessible and certainly of no relevance to current international affairs. It has also been fashionable to over-sensationalize the past, and draw conclusions that are hard to justify in the light of the available evidence. The essays in this book explore aspects of Roman Imperial history, and try to define some of the experiences that we and our remote historic ancestors may have in common.