Overview

Rome's Hidden Gold: Lost Treasures of an Empire by Peter H. Fairbanks uncovers one of history's most enduring mysteries-the fate of the vast wealth that once powered the Roman Empire. From the spoils of Carthage and the plunder of Jerusalem to the vanished imperial treasuries beneath the Palatine Hill, Fairbanks traces how unimaginable quantities of gold and silver flowed into Rome-and how they disappeared. Across centuries of conquest, collapse, and rebirth, the empire's riches were scattered: hidden by fleeing legions, seized by barbarian kings, lost beneath rivers, or melted into the splendor of Byzantium and the Vatican. Fairbanks follows these echoes through time, from the looting of the Temple in Jerusalem to the burial of Alaric the Visigoth in the Busento River, from the golden mosaics of Ravenna to the deep vaults of Constantinople and modern archaeological hunts beneath European soil. Drawing on classical accounts, archaeological discoveries, and the latest research, Rome's Hidden Gold blends scholarship and adventure in equal measure. It explores how gold shaped imperial ambition, fueled divine imagery, and ultimately became a metaphor for Rome itself-magnificent, elusive, and immortal in memory. Ideal for readers fascinated by ancient history, archaeology, and lost treasure, Rome's Hidden Gold: Lost Treasures of an Empire illuminates the rise and fall of civilization's greatest power through the glittering metal that defined its glory-and still glimmers beneath the dust of time.

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