Coming Fall 2012 from Clocktower Books. Meanwhile, readers may enjoy the Fictionwise Special digital edition (12-part Rome Walks Series), which went live in 2009. Final Clocktower digital and print editions of A Walk in Ancient Rome, Revised Second Edition will be published in January 2012. This book, which already has been praised by many critics, is the best general guide to ancient Rome, in generations, for academic and lay readers.

It has never been done before: a complete virtual tour of the Imperial capital in 150 CE, with detailed commentary on history, religion, and other factors relevant to the topology thus exhaustively covered. It should serve as a reference for students, and an enjoyable introduction for interested lay readers and amateur historians.

Imagine walking the streets of ancient Rome, temple for temple, house for house, building for building, as best the topology is known today. The tour is organized in the 14 Imperial districts created by Augustus in 7 CE, and lasting until European Medieval times. From the splendid Porticus Europa in Regio VII on the Via Flaminia, to the battered Praetorian Guard fortress outside the Porta Collina (Hill Gate) of the Servian Wall, and many points inbetween, experience Rome as the Romans did. Buy a book in the Argiletum, eat roasted doormice in the Velabrum, walk through the shops in the Basilica Aemilia, and understand how the wooden tabernae (shops) of the Forum gave way to great basilicas. You have a wealth of surprising and informative learning ahead, as no tour guide of modern Rome can come anywhere near offering. 95% of what's in this book has vanished, and most tour guides can't even scratch the surface compared to what you'll read here.

Author's advice: Do not buy the botched first edition, released by Simon&Schuster in 2005. Instead, buy the Revised Second Edition, a significantly revised and improved book with many images and maps, in a larger format—it will rise to the high standard I originally envisioned, for a book of genuine and lasting merit, and a valuable reference work to a broad readership. Subject-area reviewers—both academic experts and best-selling authors—have already begun offering considerable praise.