‘A dream come true’ to pen book

Visitors to Fishbourne Roman Palace, just outside Chichester, will soon be able to buy a brand new guidebook to the site.

Written by Bournemouth University academic Dr Miles Russell, the book is the product of a lifetime’s fascination.

“I first visited Fishbourne on a school trip aged seven in 1974 and I still possess the school homework project I wrote immediately after,” Dr Russell said. “Half a century later, and I still can’t believe that I’ve been asked to write the new version of the official guide. It’s a dream come true!”

The Roman Palace is one of the largest excavated Roman homes in Britain. The ruins were partially discovered in 1805 and later excavated by the Sussex Archaeological Society,whichnow looks after the palace.

Dr Russell, the director of fieldwork in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at Bournemouth University, hopes the guide will help new visitors find their way through the vast ruins and site regulars return with fresh insight.

“Fishbourne is a unique site, beingtheearliestandlargestroman civilian residence in Britain with a footprint greater than Buckingham Palace,” he said.

The site also boasts some of the earliest mosaics anywhere in Great Britain, as well as some of the most luxurious examples of Imperial-style fresco painting anywhere in Europe.

Alongside all of that, it is hometooneofonlyfivelife-sized statues of a 14-year-old Emperor Nero, found during excavations in the 1960s.

Proceeds from sales of the guidebookwillgotothethesussex Archaeological Society.