15 OCTOBER 1994, page 32

The Life And Soul Of The Party

Celestria Noel PARTIES: A LITERARY COMPANION by Susanna Johnston, with a foreword by John Wells Macmillan, £16.99, pp. 280 Y ou can make a case for parties being what separates......

Facts And Fantasies About Ancient Rome

Jasper Griffin BLOND'S ROMAN EMPERORS by Anthony Blond Quartet, £17, pp. 210 A ncient Rome is dead, but it refuses to lie down. History, art, tourism, the movies: all cluster......

The True Modernity

`Evil, be thou my good, Discord, my harmony', Roars Vitriol, 'I practise The true modernity!' But surely, Vitriol, For those who praise there should Be no such dated ciphers As......