Roman

Christine Cianci's Roman Tarot grew from parallel long-term studies, tarot and Roman history, and claims a genuine first: the review notes no full seventy-eight card deck had committed wholly to Rome before. The classical aesthetic is oil-painterly and the cast is historical, famous Romans taking the arcana's stations, which gives readings the particular pleasure of drawing an emperor and knowing his ending. Rome suits tarot better than its late arrival suggests: a civilization obsessed with fortune, omen-reading and the wheel of rising and falling men is practically the Major Arcana with aqueducts. Alternate Way Press's 2013 edition keeps it an indie production with a scholar's heart. It suits classicists and Roman-history readers, teachers who reach students through antiquity, and collectors of historical-theme decks done from study rather than costume. Readers who want their classical world Greek have the Mythic Oracle; Rome, as usual, arrived later and built to last.