24 Hours in Ancient Rome

Narrator Michael Page's English accent and professorial tone highlight the dry humor in this account of one day in ancient Rome. Each chapter follows one person for one hour. Page delivers dialogue with gusto--as exemplified by the spirited scolding of the tavern keeper who tosses out her unruly customers. Characters include a priestess and a prostitute who rues dropping the potted plant from her balcony onto the tipsy magistrate's head. Page truly shines with his deadpan delivery of wry commentary on daily irritations; for example, the washerwoman's struggle to clean white togas and "seductively dyed" nightwear using that wonder treatment--human urine, the "professional dinner guest's" bemoaning of the scarcity of watchmen when he's accosted after dark, and the messenger's suspicion that the locals begrudge his tax-funded salary. We haven't changed that much. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine