* A Financial Times Book of the Year * A Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday Summer Read *HOLD THE POWER AND GLORY OF ANCIENT ROME IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND.''Fantastic ... expert storytelling'' CONN IGGULDEN''Excellent'' SUNDAY TIMES''Riveting and utterly original'' MAIL ON SUNDAYA wild she-wolf tenderly nurses infant twins Romulus and Remus.Marcus Junius Brutus looks out over chaos and conflict, flaunting the bloodied daggers with which he murdered Julius Caesar. Trumpets blare, crowds roar, gladiators enter the grand Colosseum. Let the games begin.Frescoes fade and books vanish, but the story of Rome’s epic rise and fall survives in scenes struck in gold, silver and bronze. Told through the lives of twelve remarkable coins, this is ancient Rome as you’ve never seen it before.''Extremely enjoyable'' EMMA SOUTHON''Wonderful ... there are riches aplenty in these pages'' CHRISTOPHER HADLEY''Ingenious - filled with illuminating details'' MATTHEW KNEALE''Fascinating, original and fun'' MARTIN WOLF, FINANCIAL TIMES