The Roads to Rome: A History

Brimming with life and drama, this is the first book to explore two thousand years of European history through one the greatest imperial networks ever built

'A delightful, novel and authoritative history from the ground up' JUDITH HERRIN

'Epic and witty ... Fletcher is a thoroughly enjoyable narrator because she peppers her learned prose with wry humour' TOBIAS JONES, Observer

'All roads lead to Rome. ' It's a medieval proverb, but it's also true: today's European roads still follow the networks of the ancient empire, as Rome’s extraordinary legacy continues to grip our imaginations.

Over the two thousand years since they were first built, the roads have been walked by crusaders and pilgrims, liberators and dictators, but also by tourists and writers, refugees and artists. As channels of trade and travel, and routes for conquest and creativity, Catherine Fletcher shows how the roads forever transformed the cultures, and intertwined the fates, of a vast panoply of people across Europe and beyond.

Reflecting on his own walk on the Appian Way, Charles Dickens observed that here is ‘a history in every stone that strews the ground.’ Based on outstanding original research, and brimming with life and drama, this is the first book to explore two thousand years of history through one of the greatest imperial networks ever built.

Praise for Catherine Fletcher’s The Black Prince of Florence :

"Bold, breathless, and full of suspense.” -- Daisy Dunn, The Times (London)

"A gripping narrative. It is impossible to finish this medieval melodrama without thinking that it would make a riveting series for an enterprising TV producer.” — The Economist

"Her narrative follows the extraordinary arc of Alessandro's life closely, but also uses it to illuminate the bloody opulence of Renaissance Italian politics in all its squalid, operatic glory.” — The Financial Times

"Nothing in sixteenth century history is more astonishing to our era than the career of Alessandro de' Medici. His story, told by an exact and fluent historian, challenges our preconceptions. Catherine Fletcher's eye for the skewering detail makes the citizens of renaissance Florence live again: courtesans and cardinals, artists and assassins.” -- Hilary Mantel, New York Times bestselling author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies

"Fletcher displays an excellent comprehension of the Medici family and Renaissance political maneuvering. She carefully separates friends from enemies. Medici fans will expand their awareness of the family's broad reach, and Renaissance students will discover Machiavelli's models for The Prince.” — Kirkus Reviews

"Fletcher recounts Alessandro de’ Medici's life, and even more so the times, in clear and often vivid prose with an eye for interesting detail.” — The Los Angeles Review of Books

"This is an accomplished and original account of an extraordinary and much misrepresented episode in Italian history. Fletcher provides a newly sympathetic portrait of a monarch whose rule in Florence was even more unlikely than Henry VII's presence on the English throne.” -- Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of The Reformation

"In this revelatory work, Fletcher rescues Allessandro de’ Medici from the well-known caricature his opponents manufactured. Throughout this compelling narrative, de' Medici's unlikely story and extraordinary life finally feel revealed as Fletcher gives him a welcome new complex legacy.” — Publishers Weekly , "Top Ten Picks for History"

"A scintillating book that glisters and gleams with stabbings, poisonings, adultery and intrigue—and a startling reminder of how visceral and dangerous Renaissance Florence was. The drama of events is perfectly complemented by careful scholarship and lucid writing. This is everything a historical biography should be.” -- Ian Mortimer, author of The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England

"Packed with intrigue. Fletcher describes with cool menace the plotting and politicking that dominated Alessandro's rule... brought splendidly to life in this excellent book.” -- Dan Jones, The Sunday Times (London)

Catherine Fletcher, a historian of Renaissance and early modern Europe, is the author of several books, including The Black Prince of Florence ; The Beauty and the Terror: An Alternative History of the Italian Renaissance ;and The Divorce of Henry VIII. She is a professor of history at Manchester Metropolitan University and broadcasts regularly for the BBC. Her impeccably researched and entertaining books have been featured with laudatory review coverage in both America and Britain. Catherine lives in Manchester, England.