Synopsis In following a fascinating trail to the most beautiful cities of the ancient world, this book retraces the history and development of the most important urban centers of antiquity, placing them in their historical and geographical context and analyzing what remains of their architectural and artistic treasures. Superb photographs and careful reconstructions of their urban layout help the reader to understand the cities importance to the civilizations that built them: Knossos and Athens, the elegant cities of southern Italy, imperial Rome, Leptis Magna, Thebes the powerful, splendid Palmyra, the megalopolis of Babylon, Ur and Persepolis, the ancient capitals of the Chinese empire, magical Angkor, Teotihuacán, Chichén Itzá, Cuzco and Machu Picchu. The journey through the cites of ancient civilizations could go on forever; new discoveries continue to shed further light on the existence of ancient peoples, whose obscure past gradually becomes more visible through the work of archaeologists. This book is a tribute to the great cities of the past, masterpieces of urban construction, treasure chests of art and history and, not least, the places where human kind cultivated the social roots and developed the multiethnic and cosmopolitan societies that today govern the destiny of our planet.