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Loading... Daily Life in Ancient Rome (1940)by Jérôme Carcopino
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Daily Life in Ancient Rome turned out to be a fairly readable book although some sections were better than others. Originally written before WWII by a French archaeologist and translated into English for publication by Yale University Press (c.1940) the language can be a bit stiff and dry at time. However, I found it worthwhile because there are a wealth of details about life in the city of Rome during the second century CE. Part 1 covers the extent and population of the city, houses and streets, society and class, marriage and the family, education, and religion with great thoroughness. Part 2 then takes the reader through a Roman citizen's day discussing the morning routine, occupations, leisure activities such as the games and other spectacles, the baths, and finishing with dinner in the evening. This book appears on a least one "must read" list and while fairly old there are few comprehensive books about everyday life in the city of Rome for this time period. However, Carcopino does allow his personal prejudices about the Roman lifestyle to come through so I only cautiously recommend it. I read this first in German and on loan from our public library. When I bought the English version secondhand, I found that it is shorter than the German one (and presumably than the original French, too). The information it provides is very detailed, but the interpretation is too much coloured by prejudice. no reviews | add a review
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"This classic book brings to life imperial Rome as it was during the second century A.D., the time of Trajan and Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. It was a period marked by lavish displays of wealth, a dazzling cultural mix, and the advent of Christianity. The splendor and squalor of the city, the spectacles and the day's routines are reconstructed from an immense fund of archaeological evidence and from vivid descriptions by ancient poets, satirists, letter-writers, and novelists - from Petronius to Pliny the Younger. In a new Introduction, the classicist Mary Beard appraises the book's enduring - and sometimes surprising - influence and its value for general readers and students. She also provides an up-to-date Bibliographic Essay."--BOOK JACKET. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)937.6History and Geography Ancient World Italian Peninsula to 476 and adjacent territories to 476 Latium, RomeLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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