Of the most visited archaeological sites and monuments in the Mediterranean world—the Athenian Acropolis, Pompeii, the Colosseum, Pantheon, and Forum Romanum—the last is by far the most incomprehensible to the typical tourist and, admittedly, also to those holding advanced degrees in the field. The civic center of ancient Rome is, save for the Arches of Titus and Septimius Severus, the rebuilt Curia, and a dozen or so handsome marble columns where once stood complete temples, a vast field of foundation blocks, column bases and stumps, and fragments of fallen entablature. Some of the ancient monuments, most notably the Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina the Elder, were long ago transformed into churches. In my experience—confirmed by the authors of this important new monograph—virtually everyone leaves the Forum Romanum dissatisfied and confused. Tourists wonder: Were those stones really integral parts of two great basilicas in which important state business was conducted? Was that spot really once the legendary speakers’ platform from which great orators addressed the people against the backdrop of five statue-capped columns?

In The Roman Forum: A Reconstruction and Architectural Guide, Gilbert Gorski and James Packer attempt to bring the ruins of the Forum Romanum back to life by utilizing the latest digital technology—and they succeed admirably. Their 450-plus-page volume, lavishly produced by Cambridge University Press and presented in an unusual horizontal format perfectly suited to the scores of color panoramic photographs and computer reconstructions, is a must-purchase for any university library, but its high (albeit justified) price, hefty weight, and unwieldy format render it useless as a portable “architectural guide” for travelers to Rome. I sincerely hope that the publisher and the authors will prepare an abbreviated paperback version of about one-quarter the present size with a much-reduced number of carefully chosen reconstructions which, if the Italian authorities would agree to place it in the official bookshops of Rome’s major archaeological sites and museums, would easily become a best seller well worth the investment of the publisher’s dollars and the authors’ time.