Its heyday passed long ago, and the Roman Empire may seem unimaginably different from the present. Using the alter ego Marcus Sidonius Falx, Cambridge University's Jerry Toner takes a tour of the empire at its height, offering a tourist's impressions as he goes. Included here are impressions of such far-flung (yet Romanized) locales as Athens, Egypt, Turkey, and Gaul, before crossing to Britannia, where he suffers the worst that provincial life has to offer. Falx also provides practical advice on surviving pirates, shipwrecks, bedbugs, and lousy food.