In New Tales of Old Rome, by weaving a tapestry of historical explanation with revelations of recent discoveries, Lanciani not only helps the reader understand the past but helps him or her relive the excitement of rediscovering a city the author obviously loves. In the first part of the book, Lanciani outlines the difficulties of excavating a city as rich in history as Rome. Then the author takes the reader back to the time of the founders of Rome, depicting how they lived and how they worshipped. Moving into the imperial period, Lanciani focuses on a fashionable part of the city and goes into detail discussing its various shops. With this information in place, the author broadens his perspective by examining the early settlements in the lower valley of the Tiber, the geography of the region, the agricultural operations and the evolution of landowners in the area. In the final part of his tales, Lanciani brings Rome onto the international stage, but in an unusual way. He discusses Jews, English and Scots, some of whom first involuntarily made contact with the city but later created settlements, made pilgrimages and, as Prince Charles did in 1727, began to simply visit the city of Rome.

KEY WORDS: Archaeology, Jewish life in Rome, Comitium, Forum, Sacred Via, Roman history, Roman religion, Roman superstitutions, Sacred grove of the Arvales, Christian crypts, St. Paul, Scottish pilgrims