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Title: Life, Death, and Entertainment in the Roman Empire by D. S. Potter, D.J. Mattingly ISBN: 0-472-08568-9 Publisher: University of Michigan Press Pub. Date: February, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: No-Spin Zone
Comment: Nothing further to add, but wanted to point out that this work is not as slanted politically correct as Encolp in his review above make it seem. The book is much more objective, all the pseudo-intellectual babbling is purely the reviewer's preferred conlcusions using the data in the book as a springboard. I just can't help wonder why he is so disturbed by so-called "manly types" (or what he means by that).
Rating: 5
Summary: Power, Wealth, Pleasure, and a "Duh" Mentality...
Comment: Sound familiar? Does what goes around -- come around
again? Are the malls the 21st century version of
the Roman baths? Are the Nascar racetracks the 21st
century version of the chariot races? Are our
football stadiums the 21st century version of the
Colosseum? This book does not present its themes
in these terms, but one cannot help but think about
these things as one reads it -- in tandem with reading
the Roman writers who satirized or caught in verse the
goings-on in their own times: Catullus, Martial,
Petronius, Juvenal.
Besides the "Introduction" by David S. Porter, there
are 3 large Parts to the division of the book. Part
I is titled: "Social Structures and Demography". Within
this section are informative and highly interesting essays
on "The Roman Family," "Elite Male Identity in the Roman
Empire," and "Roman Demography." Part II is titled:
"Religion." There is only one essay in this Part --
"Roman Religion: Ideas and Action." Part III is titled:
"Bread and Circuses" [the famous phrase used to describe
how the rulers and the "elite" kept the masses under their
control -- by giving them doles of food or by providing
them with mass entertainments to keep their minds off
the fact of their gruelling lives and that they did
not lead the "good life" that the "elites" were leading --
sound familiar?]. In this Part are the essays: "Feeding
the City: The Organization, Operation,and Scale of the
Supply System for Rome," "Amusing the Masses: Buildings
for Entertainment and Leisure in the Roman World," and
"Entertainers in the Roman World." Since our modern
era also seems to be so much into shallow entertainment
and pleasures, perhaps the titles of the subsections of
this last chapter will be intriguing: Actors and Athletes.
Chariot Racing.[the factions and their fans sound like
ancient Roman predecessors to the WWF and Nascar
fanatics...] Gladiators, Beast Hunts, and Executions.
[well, we haven't "progressed" in our tastes and
"sophistication" that far yet...but, who knows? ...]
All in all, this is a very interesting, insightful,
intriguing -- as well as provoking book. The
section that interested me the most was the one
on the Roman emphasis and hang-up on male identity -
what was considered manly, and what was not. It isn't,
as if that is one of the main obsessions in our own
times in the U.S. of A. , of course. And what are
all the "manly" types contributing to the betterment,
stability, and nobility of our present society and culture?
It gives one pause, for reflection.
Rating: 4
Summary: Extremely entertaining and informative
Comment: First off, this book is a collection of seven very long essays by different experts. The essays deal with the minutest details of Roman life, ranging from religious practice to construction to gladiatorial combat and criminal execution. Not all essays are created equal, and there are two in here that I found rather dry, but perhaps that is because I couldn't care less about the specifics of amphitheater construction. The others were phenomenal, and even the "boring" ones contain excellent and useful information.
I read L,D,&E (as I have begun to call it) for an undergraduate class in Roman History and had to write a critical review-type paper about it. I have to say I actually enjoyed the assignment. The book was, overall, excellent. It features real-life "snapshots" of different aspects of Roman life, and unlike many books about Ancient Rome, it doesn't focus solely on the upper classes. It also doesn't spend any time discussing politics or history or "great men" of the times, so if you're looking for that, go elsewhere. This book is NOT an introduction to imperial Rome -- you'll need to have one of those under your belt already -- but it IS the most wonderful, complete, and readable supplementary material available. It really fills in the gaps and answers questions you didn't know you had, giving you a vastly more complete picture of Rome under the Emperors.
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Title: Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome by Lesley Adkins, Roy A. Adkins ISBN: 0195123328 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $21.50 |
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Title: As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History by Jo-Ann Shelton ISBN: 019508974X Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: August, 1997 List Price(USD): $43.95 |
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Title: Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome by Eckart Kohne, Cornelia Ewigleben, Eckart Köhne ISBN: 0520227980 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 2000 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power by Alison Futrell ISBN: 029272523X Publisher: Univ of Texas Press Pub. Date: November, 2000 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome (Approaching the Ancient World) by Donald G. Kyle ISBN: 0415248426 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: April, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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