At the height of its power in the mid second century CE the population of the Roman Empire has been estimated to be around 60 million, although there is much guesswork in any such figure. That population, citizens, freemen and slaves, had very mixed opinions about the empire under which they lived, but their labour and taxes were what kept the empire going economically, and with their ROM series Nikolai have gone a long way to portray these people as they go about their lives.

The people in this set seem to have no particular common theme, and most are perhaps just standing and talking. One man carries a scroll, which gives him an air of officialdom, while another carries a staff and looks like he might be travelling. The children are doing what children do best - running about - although the girl is perhaps making herself useful by carrying a pot. The last row shows what appears to be some form of altar with what might be a priestess in attendance. A man is carrying a sheep, which we can reasonably suppose has a very worried expression on its face as its life expectancy may be only a matter on moments once it reaches that altar. However if you prefer you might like to think that the man is giving the sheep a lift as it is feeling tired!

All the figures apart from the 'priestess' are wearing everyday clothes and all have been excellently and realistically sculpted. Apart from small entry and exit points there is no flash to be trimmed, but as always we should point out that none come with bases - those seen above were added by us. This annoying feature was particularly relevant to the boys since very little of their small feet is actually touching the ground and they are hard to anchor securely. Equally the fairly brittle nature of resin means that the children in particular are easily broken if not handled carefully.

These are clearly meant for display rather than play, and each one is a little work of art. Since they are cast in jet black resin they cry out to be painted, otherwise all the beautiful detail is very hard to appreciate. If not the world's most exciting set of figures, these are still excellent models that would grace any civilian Roman scene, and they continue the fine standards this company has set.