A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities : Strange Tales and Surprising Facts From the World's Greatest Empire

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. 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: BL Romans on urban living: The satirist Juvenal lists "fires, falling buildings, and poets reciting in August as hazards to life in Rome." BL 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) BL 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" BL 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) BL 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." BL 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. CONTENTS......Page 14 CHAPTER I: Family Life......Page 18 CHAPTER II: Women......Page 25 CHAPTER III: Names......Page 33 CHAPTER IV: Education......Page 45 CHAPTER V: The Army......Page 49 CHAPTER VI: Romans at Sea......Page 61 CHAPTER VII: The Law......Page 67 CHAPTER VIII: Farming......Page 75 CHAPTER IX: Medicine......Page 81 CHAPTER X: Religion and Superstition......Page 95 CHAPTER XI: The Life of the Mind......Page 109 CHAPTER XII: Foreigners......Page 117 CHAPTER XIII: Slaves......Page 128 CHAPTER XIV: Animals......Page 135 CHAPTER XV: Spectacles......Page 156 CHAPTER XVI: Food and Drink......Page 167 CHAPTER XVII: Decadence......Page 181 CHAPTER XVIII: Buildings......Page 188 CHAPTER XIX: Pompeii and Herculaneum......Page 198 CHAPTER XX: Toilets......Page 202 CHAPTER XXI: Not for the Puritanical......Page 210 CHAPTER XXII: Tempus Fugit......Page 216 CHAPTER XXIII: Kings, Consuls, and Emperors......Page 220 B......Page 250 C......Page 251 G......Page 252 M......Page 253 P......Page 254 R......Page 255 T......Page 256 Z......Page 257 THE COIN IMAGES......Page 258 ILLUSTRATION CREDITS......Page 260 The Ancient Romans Have Left Us Far More Information About Themselves Than Has Any Other Western Society Until Much More Recent Times. But What We Know About Them Is Sometimes Bizarre, And Hardly Fits The Conventional View Of The Romans As A Pragmatic People With A Ruthlessly Efficient Army And A Very Logical And Well Ordered Language -- Publisher Description. Family Life -- Women -- Names -- Education -- The Army -- Romans At Sea -- The Law -- Farming -- Medicine -- Religion And Superstition -- The Life Of The Mind -- Foreigners -- Slaves -- Animals -- Spectacles -- Food And Drink -- Decadence -- Buildings -- Pompeii And Herculaneum -- Toilets -- Not For The Puritanical -- Tempus Fugit -- Kings, Consuls, And Emperors. J.c. Mckeown. "A Cabinet of Roman Curiousities" is subtitled "Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire." I thought it sounded interesting and would be a fun read. It is actually pretty interesting, but it's not that fun. It's basically a glossary of Roman facts arranged byt topic (family, food, the Army, etc.) but after the first couple of tidbits in each section, it is stretching to be entertaining. The facts are, well, just factual. It is probably a better book for picking up and reading an excerpt or two at a time than a front to back read. I tried to read it through and got bored, but flipping around pages was entertaining enough.