Wilkie Collins 
Antonina 

In ‚Antonina, or The Fall of Rome‘, Mr. Collins reproduces in very vivid and gorgeous colors the striking and important events that marked the first steps in the decline of the Roman power. The period affords ample scope to a fertile imagination and a brilliant fancy. We have before us Rome in all its luxury, refinement, and depravity, we watch the spread of the moral gangrene that has eaten into its heart’s core. We would direct the attention of our readers particularly to the description and details of the famine while making its grand strides through the devoted city as one of the most powerful and masterly chapters of the book. The story abounds with passages of surpassing beauty and striking eloquence, and we are presented with a succession of artistically arranged scenes, portrayed with all the exuberant fancy of a poet and all the brilliant prismatic coloring of a painter. This book has a powerful attraction to the lovers of imaginative literature and there is a charm about the story which has ensured its popularity and success.