Slavery and Society at Rome:
Roman slavery between 200 BCE and 200 CE... This book is concerned with what it was like to be a slave in the classical Roman world, and with the impact of the institution of slavery on Roman society at large. Describes the Roman slave system not in economic terms but as a social institution."
Slavery and Society at Rome
As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History
Personal life in ancient Rome: women in Roman society, leisure and entertainment, religion and philosophy, families, marriage, housing and city life, domestic and personal concerns, slavery and more.
The Eye of the Beholder: Deformity and Disability in the Graeco-Roman World:
In the eyes of the ancient Greeks and Romans, physical imperfections and infirmities were comparable to marks of the barbarian. The distinguished historian Robert Garland offers the first detailed investigation of the plight of those Greeks and Romans who, owing either to deformity or to disability, did not meet their society's exacting criteria for the ideal human form. Examines the high incidence of disability and deformity among the Greek and Roman population. From the deaf, the blind, and the lame to hunchbacks, dwarfs and giants, to those even more severely disabled, he explores the lives of the handicapped and their place in ancient society. Garland discusses medical treatments, jobs available to the disabled, religious and scientific explanations for congenital deformities, and the prevalence of belief in monstrous races. The handicapped served as living testimony to the power of divine retribution, and were also regarded as scapegoats, portents, embodiments of evil, objects of amusement, and proof of nature's ingenuity...contributes an important chapter in the history of the treatment of the disabled and offers a revealing introduction to a relatively neglected aspect of ancient life.
Eye of the Beholder: Deformity and Disability in the Graeco-Roman World
The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome:
The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome
...With minutely detailed cityscapes, cutaway views and interiors, this hefty urban study recaptures the architectural glories of two great cities in their heydays....describing government, legal systems, religious ceremonies, theater and other public amusements, fashion, daily life for people of all classes (childhood, marriage, work, recreation, bathing ), food, water, and waste disposal.
Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance:
Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance
John Riddle uncovers the obscure history of contraception and abortifacients from ancient Egypt to the seventeenth century with forays into Victorian England--a topic that until now has evaded the pens of able historians. Riddle's thesis is, quite simply, that the ancient world did indeed possess effective (and safe) contraceptives and abortifacients. ...discovers a wealth of ancient folk recipes that allowed women to control their reproduction. . . .Riddle speculates that with the onslaught of syphilis, women who understood effective herbal contraception may have withheld that information from their daughters for fear that sexual freedom would become a death warrant. . . . {He} demonstrates consummate mastery of the ancient and early modern medical record.
The Art of Love: Amatory Fiction from Ovid to the Romance of the Rose:
The Art of Love: Amatory Fiction from Ovid to the Romance of the Rose
Ovid taught would-be lovers how to behave in order to have others satisfy their erotic desires. Medieval copiests appended the original version, adding vociferous passages that dissuade their readers from the practice of this art, which, they claim, leads not only to earthly destruction but also to eternal damnation." In "The Art of Love", Allen persuasively argues that the "De amore" and the "Romance of the Rose" are central to the courtly tradition. ...Allen contends that their conflicts and contradictions are not signs of confusion or artistic failure, but are instead essential clues which show that the medieval works follow the disruptive structural model of Ovid's first-century elegiac "Ars amatoria (Art of Love)".
Cults of the Roman Empire
By Robert Turcan. Antonia Nevill (Translator)
This inquiry into the collective psychology of the ancient Romans speaks not about military conquest, sober law, and practical politics, but about extremes of despair, desire, and envy. We are shown a society struggling at or beyond the limits of human endurance. To probe the tensions of the Roman world in the period from the 1st century B.C. through 200 A.D., Barton picks two images: the gladiator and the "monster."
The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans : The Gladiator and the Monster
Courtesans and Fishcakes:
Courtesans and Fishcakes: The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens
Refreshing look at Greeks at play examining the pleasures of eating, drinking, and sex....brilliant and original ...Discusses at length the complex world of Greek sexuality: in the male-dominated society of Athens, an active commercial market in sex, the subjects of which were women classified as concubines or courtesans (decent women were so secluded that they seemed invisible), coexisted with a flourishing homosexual culture. Athenian attitudes toward pleasure had pervasive political implications as well: the pleasure-seeking class was the powerful minority, and excessive pleasure-seeking, or pleasure of the wrong kind, could ....... Refreshing look at Greeks at play examining the pleasures of eating, drinking, and sex.
Journey to the past from the comfort of your easy chair! Join us as we explore the lives of the ancient Romans, Greeks, Egyptians and others, famous and infamous, who lived and loved in the ancient Empire that lasted a thousand years. The ancient world must have been a fascinating site to see. Rome's civilization was violent, corrupt, and cruel; yet Rome's legacy (i.e in law, architecture and government) pervades our lives still. What was it like to be a Roman aristocrat? Slave? Gladiator? Greek hetaira or courtesan? Member of a tribe conquered by Caesar? A pyramid builder?
Pandora's Daughters:
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