Forsaking Emperors and battles but embracing the latest archaeological evidence, she reveals what went on behind closed doors and in the public baths. 2000 years ago, Rome was "the" city, with heaving population of over 1 million. The average citizen's diaries and letters no longer exist - but their epitaphs and funerary monuments do - and they reveal the extraordinary biographies of the wives and children, the butchers and barman, the slaves and shopkeepers of this truly amazing city.