In M. G. Turner's "Roman Visions" the reader is taken on an aesthetic and emotional journey back to the sordid but beautiful civilization that has defined so much of world history. From its humble beginnings as depicted in Virgil's "Aeneid" to its dissolution under a series of cruel emperors the same story has continued to echo through the ages, a story of decline and fall and then rebirth. Here within are told the stories of both citizens and Caesars, heroes and tyrants, stories that despite their historical origin keep an eye on our present, as well as on our future. From origin to downfall, from triumph to tragedy, the fate of Rome, and perhaps our own society, is sealed within these pages, from the author of "Dreams of the Romantics"--Turner's first chapbook--which critics called "vivid and engrossing."