Rome: Recommended Reading and Viewing
Books: Non-Fiction
Written in the 18th century, Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is considered the classic history of ancient Rome.
Originally published as a series of New Yorker articles in the 1950s, Rome and a Villa reads as if it's Eleanor Clark's journal. Of Paul Hofmann's multiple books about Italy, The Seasons of Rome is the favorite among readers. Another good Americans-in-the-Eternal-City memoir is As the Romans Do (Epstein). Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love sets a third of her spiritual memoir/travelogue in Rome.
The holy center of Christendom has plenty of worthwhile books documenting its history. Saints & Sinners (Duffy) is a warts-and-all illustrated guide to the popes. In When In Rome, Robert Hutchinson writes as a lapsed (sometimes irreverent) Catholic discovering the roots of Christianity in Vatican City. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling (King) describes the drama behind the masterpiece. The Pope's Elephant (Bedini), written by a historian from the Smithsonian, tells the story of Pope Leo X's favorite pet.
A Literary Companion to Rome (Varriano) also includes 10 self-guided walking tours. Kids (and adults who like cool pictures) enjoy David Macaulay's two books about Rome: Rome Antics and City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction (both for ages nine and up).
Books: Fiction
No modern crime drama or soap opera can top the world of ancient Roman politics. Colleen McCullough — who also wrote The Thorn Birds — describes the early days of the Roman Republic in her work of historical fiction, The First Man in Rome. Robert Graves wanders from Caesar Augustus to Caligula and beyond in I, Claudius.
Ancient Rome makes a great backdrop for mysteries, as shown in Roman Blood (Saylor) and Silver Pigs (Davis), both the first in a series. Cabal, by Michael Dibdin, takes place in modern Rome. In the blockbuster book Angels and Demons, written by The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown, murders are linked by Rome's Bernini statues.
For a literary take on Rome, try Open City: Seven Writers in Postwar Rome (edited by William Weaver).
Films
Two masterpieces of Italian Neorealism — set in the bleak, post-WWII years — take place in Rome: Roberto Rossellini's Open City (1945) and the touching, heartbreaking film, Bicycle Thieves (1949).
A feel-good love story, Roman Holiday (1953) made a star out of Audrey Hepburn. Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) is another romantic crowd-pleaser.
During the era of epics, Hollywood couldn't get enough of ancient Rome. Quo Vadis (1951) contains three hours of religious-historic drama. Ben-Hur (1959) is a campy mash-up of Christianity, Charlton Heston, and chariot races. Spartacus (1960) cast Kirk Douglas as a rebel fighting Rome.
La Dolce Vita (1961) is Federico Fellini's seductive masterpiece. (His 1972 film Roma seems tacky in comparison.)
Originally a BBC miniseries, I, Claudius (1976) puts Derek Jacobi and John Hurt at the center of a pulpy classic. Gladiator returned to ancient Rome in 2000, and won five Academy Awards for its portrayal of life in the bloody arena.
For up-to-date specifics, see the latest edition of the Rick Steves' Rome travel guide. We also offer free-spirited Rome tours.