How do we know so much about Roman history?
I can’t help with the last bit, but you might check out your local university library in the “N” section. Art history scholarship will probably have a lot to say about this. The only thing that I do know for sure about sculpture is that realistic portraits were reserved only for the wealthy and/or powerful. Many busts of, for instance, Caesar look alike, so we are pretty sure that he looked at least very close to the portrayals in sculpture. With regard to Rome proper, the certainty with which buildings are identified comes from a huge map called the Severan Marble Plan that has the layout of Rome inscribed on it. It is of course in pieces now, but it is still a trove of information about Rome. We know an awful lot about Roman history from the Roman historians. Dio Cassius and Dionysius of Hallicarnassus (sp?) are two that spring to mind. Of course, the philosophical writings by folks such as Seneca and Cicero also contain a wealth of information. Then, the satirists can provide some i
