Life on the Old Roman Road is a widely read and admired autobiographical work of prolific and multi-faceted writer, Vahan Totovents (1893-1938) who after graduating from the University of Wisconsin returned to Yerevan, Armenian in 1922, where he produced poems in prose and verse, short stories, novellas, novels, critical and biographical works, comedies, dramas, translations from Shakespeare, etc. Criticized for failing to produce works with "proletarian" content, Totovents refused to conform and was eventually arrested and exiled to Siberia. Very little is known about his last years. Sarepig Manoogian, his official biographer, simply informs us that Totovents "died at the height of his creative powers leaving behind many unfinished projects..."