The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rome offers thirty-one original essays by leading historians, classicists and archaeologist on the largest metropolis of the Roman Empire. While the Colosseum, imperial palaces and Pantheon are famous features of the Roman capital, Rome is addressed in this volume primarily as a city in which many thousands of men and women were born, lived, and died. The clearly written and succinct chapters discuss numerous issues related to the capital of the Roman Empire: from the monuments and the games to the food- and water supply, from policing and riots to domestic housing, from death and disease to pagan cults and the impact of Christianity. Richly illustrated and designed as a readable survey accessible to all audiences, the Companion explains ground-breaking new research against the background of current debate and reaches a level of sophistication that will be appreciated by the experts.