The anthropologist embarks on a journey by train visiting key sites of the Roman empire. Alice begins her Roman tour at Pompeii, where she explores ingenious Roman engineering, racy artworks, the role of slaves and a surprising tax levied on local laundries. Alice also gets access beyond the tourist trail to a fresh dig that casts new light on one of Ancient Rome's notorious and mysterious cults.
Alice heads seven miles south of Naples to Herculaneum, a town that, like Pompeii, was buried in volcanic ash in 79 CE. She also pays a visit to Capua's giant amphitheatre, second in size only to Rome's Colosseum, where gladiators battled wild creatures from the farthest corners of the empire, including lions and tigers. Alice gets a chance to handle the world's most famous sword.
Alice explores Rome, from the ingenuity of ancient Roman aqueducts to the story behind Trajan's Column, and finds the original road that drove the expansion of the empire. She visits two of the city's most spectacular private estates, including one with its own giant mausoleum and private sporting arena. At a live dig in the hills north of Rome, the Etruscan origins of many of Rome's most impressive developments are revealed.
In the city of Parma, Alice surveys an underground hotel, a buried Roman bridge and a museum of offerings to the gods. A train takes Alice north to Turin, to find out how the city's grid system helped scientists crack an age-old mystery. She also heads across the Alps to discover how Hannibal dragged his army of elephants through the mountains.
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