Published by the Folio Society, London, 2013.
 
The book is in excellent condition bound in pictorial cloth, terracotta cloth back lettered in gilt, sitting within its green slipcase, which is in a similar condition, with minimal shelfwear or rubbing. The book contains coloured frontispiece and plates, numerous illustrations and plans in the text, as well as front and rear endpaper maps.
 
Dame Winifred Mary Beard (born 1 January 1955) is an English classicist specialising in Ancient Rome. She is a trustee of the British Museum and formerly held a personal professorship of classics at the University of Cambridge. She is a fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge, and Royal Academy of Arts Professor of Ancient Literature. Beard is the classics editor of The Times Literary Supplement, for which she also writes a regular blog, "A Don's Life". Her frequent media appearances and sometimes, controversial public statements, have led to her being described as "Britain's best-known classicist". In 2014, The New Yorker characterised her as "learned but accessible".