Author Description

Here Is A Whimsical And Captivating Collection Of Odd Facts, Strange Beliefs, Outlandish Opinions, And Other Highly Amusing Trivia Of The Ancient Romans. We Tend To Think Of The Romans As A Pragmatic People With A Ruthlessly Efficient Army, An Exemplary Legal System, And A Precise And Elegant Language. A Cabinet Of Roman Curiosities Shows That The Romans Were Equally Capable Of Bizarre Superstitions, Logic-defying Customs, And Often Hilariously Derisive Views Of Their Fellow Romans And Non-romans. Classicist J. C. Mckeown Has Organized The Entries In This Entertaining Volume Around Major Themes--the Army, Women, Religion And Superstition, Family Life, Medicine, Slaves, Spectacles--allowing For Quick Browsing Or More Deliberate Consumption. Among The Book's Many Gems Are:? Romans On Urban Living: The Satirist Juvenal Lists Fires, Falling Buildings, And Poets Reciting In August As Hazards To Life In Rome.? On Enhanced Interrogation: If We Are Obliged To Take Evidence From An Arena-fighter Or Some Other Such Person, His Testimony Is Not To Be Believed Unless Given Under Torture. (justinian)? On Dreams: Dreaming Of Eating Books Foretells Advantage To Teachers, Lecturers, And Anyone Who Earns His Livelihood From Books, But For Everyone Else It Means Sudden Death? On Food: When People Unwittingly Eat Human Flesh, Served By Unscrupulous Restaurant Owners And Other Such People, The Similarity To Pork Is Often Noted. (galen)? On Marriage: In Ancient Rome A Marriage Could Be Arranged Even When The Parties Were Absent, So Long As They Knew Of The Arrangement, Or Agreed To It Subsequently.? On Health Care: Pliny Caustically Described Medical Bills As A Down Payment On Death, And Martial Quipped That Diaulus Used To Be A Doctor, Now He's A Mortician. He Does As A Mortician What He Did As A Doctor. For Anyone Seeking An Inglorious Glimpse At The Underside Of The Greatest Empire In History, A Cabinet Of Roman Curiosities Offers Endless Delights.