Whether for aristocrats dressing up for banquet, or bloodthirsty audiences in the amphitheatres thrilled to watch condemned criminals forced to enact the roles of mythological creatures, Roman myths formed the backdrop to the rituals and customs of everyday life. Rome itself was a melting pot of peoples from across the Mediterranean and beyond, each bringing their myths and legends of heroes and heroines, gods and goddesses. The sites and events throughout the ancient world provided Romans with a rich tapestry to weave the stories of their past. He is the founder of the theatre company Actors of Dionysus and a Fellow of Goodenough College, London.All Roads Lead to Rome, as the famous saying goes.

Table of ContentsTroy, Turkey ĭavid Stuttard taught Classics for eleven years in Edinburgh, St Andrews and York, and has written numerous books on the Classical world including Greek Mythology: A Traveller's Guide from Mount Olympus to Troy, A History of Ancient Greece in Fifty Lives and The Romans Who Shaped Britain (with Sam Moorhead), all published by Thames & Hudson. Drawing on the great works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Plutarch, Ovid, Horace and Virgil, and with specially commissioned illustrations and information about key events and remains that can still be seen today, this is a fresh look at a subject of eternal fascination. Each chapter begins with an evocative description of the site’s location and landscape, followed by its associated myths and stories, as well as any rituals performed there in antiquity. Myths formed the backdrop to the rituals and customs of everyday life.David Stuttard takes the reader on a tour of eighteen of the great sites of the ancient Roman world, following in the footsteps of Aeneas and his companions from Troy via Greece, North Africa and Sicily to Italy, and travelling with his descendants to Rome, while also enjoying an excursion into Tuscany and Latium to explore later legends. Rome’s citizens wholeheartedly embraced these stories of kings consorting with river nymphs, a prophetic baby discovered in a field and the founding of Rome itself.

The city itself was a melting pot of peoples from across the Mediterranean and beyond, each bringing their myths and legends of heroes and heroines, gods and goddesses. Sites and events throughout the ancient world provided Romans with a rich tapestry woven with the stories of their past. The perfect companion for both the actual and armchair traveller to the Roman myths and the landscapes and ideas that shaped themAll roads lead to Rome.

Roman Mythology by David Stuttard