Discover la dolce vita on this grand tour of Italy’s historic capital told through 30 dramatic true stories spanning nearly 3,000 years, plus detailed walking tours complete with easy-to-read maps. From the Curia Pompei, site of Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, to the Borgia Apartments in the Vatican, see the real-life places where history happened in this richly illustrated guide. Along with infamous power games between heroes and villains, you will find Rome’s smart and powerful women, such as Agrippina, St. Agnes, Margherita, Artemisia, and more. Then relax like Goethe and Keats at the Café Greco, Rome’s chicest coffee bar since 1760, or visit the Palazzo Colonna, the site of Audrey Hepburn’s Roman Holiday . Fantasy and fact: That is the story of the early days of Rome. The city's mythical founders, Romulus and Remus, of course, are among the great legendary figures of world history. But author Tamara Thiessen writes about very real legends too, including Lucretia, Julius Caesar, Antony, Cleopatra and Caligula. She also discusses the Roman baths, gladiators fighting to the death at the Colosseum, Michelangelo and the painting of the Sistine Chapel, and the corrupt rule of the Borgias. Stories also are told of the numerous artists, philosophers and bohemians who gathered at Caffe Greco, including Casanova, who was "among the first guests" when the literary coffeehouse opened in 1760. So many English travelers congregated around the Piazza di Spagna that it earned the nickname of Ghetto degli Inglesi, the English Ghetto. It was in this part of Rome that the English poet John Keats died of tuberculosis at age 25. The residence where he spent his last days is a museum known as the Keats-Shelley House. The last quarter of the book consists of six walking tours from Capitoline Hill to the Trevi Fountain. As with others in the wonderful Chronicles series, the book contains numerous examples of famous paintings, illustrations and photographs of Rome, both past and present. -- Chicago Tribune, 09/25/2012 Tamara Thiessen is an Australian author, photographer, and travel writer whose work has been featured in a variety of publications, including Conde Nast Traveller , DK Eyewitness Guide to Italy , the Globe and Mail , National Geographic Traveller , and the Sydney Morning Herald . Chronicles of Old Rome Exploring Italy's Eternal City By Tamara Thiessen Museyon, Inc. Copyright © 2012 Tamara Thiessen All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-9846334-4-9 Contents CHAPTER 1. Tales of Rome's Beginning: Aeneas, Romulus, the SheWolf and Seven Hills 753 B.C., CHAPTER 2. The Rape of Lucretia: Dawn of the Roman Republic508 B.C., CHAPTER 3. The Ides of March: Caesar's Demise at the Curia Pompey 44 B.C., CHAPTER 4. Free and Not So Free Speech: Cicero at the Forum 43 B.C., CHAPTER 5. The Latin Lover: Ovid's Manual of Seduction 25 B.C., CHAPTER 6. Caligula's Needle: The Vatican Obelisk 37 A.D., CHAPTER 7. Empress with an Iron Grip: Agrippina the Younger 59 A.D., CHAPTER 8. Domestic Bliss: Nero's Golden House 64 A.D., CHAPTER 9. Hadrian & Antinous: The Drowning and Deification of an Emperor's Lover 130 A.D., CHAPTER 10. Fun and Games at the Thermae: Caracalla's Roman Baths 216 A.D., CHAPTER 11. Machos & Virgin Martyrs: Agnes of Rome in Piazza Navona Early 4th Century, CHAPTER 12. Arenas of Death: A Martyr Monk at the Colosseum404 A.D., CHAPTER 13. Marozia and Theodora: Harlot Rule at the Lateran Palace 924, CHAPTER 14. Murder on Capitoline Hill: Cola Di Rienzo 1354, CHAPTER 15. Rebuilding Rome: From Urban Disasters to Miracles1450, CHAPTER 16. Lucrezia Borgia: Villainess or Victim at the Vatican Palace 1500, CHAPTER 17. Michelangelo: Torment of the Sistine Chapel 1508 — 12, CHAPTER 18. Treasures in the Tiber: The Lavish World of Villa Farnesina 9 January 1806, CHAPTER 19. Raffaello & the Baker's Daughter: The Painter, the Mistress, the Secret Marriage 1518 — 19, CHAPTER 20. Brutal Reality: Caravaggio in the Campo Marzio 1606, CHAPTER 21. Artemisia Gentileschi: Creative Desires on the Via della Croce 1611, CHAPTER 22. Cardinal Art: Scipione Borghese at the Villa Borghese1613, CHAPTER 23. Sculpting Rome: Bernini, Borromini & the Baroque Epoch 1646, CHAPTER 24. Queen Christina: A Runaway Royal at the Palazzo, CHAPTER 25. The Grand Tour and Caffè Greco: Goethe 1786 — 88, CHAPTER 26. Romancing Rome: Keats and the Ghetto Ingelsi 1821, CHAPTER 27. Tosca: Rome in Three Acts 1900, CHAPTER 28. Ruining Rome: Mussolini's Road through Imperial History 1930S, CHAPTER 29. Roman Holiday: Audrey Hepburn in Rome 1953, CHAPTER 30. The Trevi Fountain: Anita Ekberg, Fellini & La Dolce Vita 1960, WALKING TOURS, TOUR ONE Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum and Capitoline Hill, TOUR TWO Pantheon, Campo de' Fiori and Piazza Navona, TOUR THREE Sant'Angelo, San Pietro/St. Peter's and Vatican Museums, TOUR FOUR Tras