A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome: Daily Life, Mysteries, and Curiosities - Softcover

Angela, Alberto

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1933372710 ISBN 13: 9781933372716

Publisher: Europa Editions, 2009

Synopsis

The wondrous extravagance of banquets where flamingos are roasted whole and wine flows like rivers. The roar of frenzied spectators inside the Colosseum during a battle between gladiators. A crowd of onlookers gathered at a slave auction. The silent baths and the boisterous taverns...Many books have dealt with the history of ancient Rome, but none has been able to so engage its readers in the daily life of the Imperial capital.

This extraordinary armchair tour, guided by Alberto Angela with the charm of a born storyteller, lasts twenty-four hours, beginning at dawn on an ordinary day in the year 115 CE, with Imperial Rome at the height of its power. The reader wakes in a rich patrician home and discovers frescoes, opulent furnishings and richly appointed boudoirs. Strolling though the splendors of the Roman Forum, one overhears both erudite opinions from learned orators and local ribaldry floating out from the public latrines. One meets the intense gazes of Roman matriarchs strolling the streets, looks on as a banquet is prepared, and is afforded a peek into the sexual habits and fetishes of Roman patricians and plebs. For all those who have ever dreamed of traveling back in time, Alberto Angela's narrative style will prove thoroughly satisfying. Rich in atmosphere and historical information, A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome is a voyage into a world both distant to us in time and surprisingly near in its habits, mores, and passions.

About this title

About the Author

Alberto Angela hosts two of Italy's most popular science television programs, Superquake and Ulisse. He is the author of Life-sized Museums (1988) and, with his father Piero Angela, The Extraordinary Story of a Growing Life (1996), Sharks (1997), and Voyage in the Cosmos (1998).

Gregory Conti teaches at the University of Perugia and the University of Rochester. His published translations include works by Rosetta Loy, Mario Rigoni Stern, and Tiziano Scarpa. Most recently, he translated Capital and Language by Christian Marazzi and The Templars by Barbara Frale.

Reviews

Starred Review. Many books, documentaries and movies claim to chronicle daily life in ancient Rome, but it's rare to find a narrative so encrusted in detail as this lively offering from an Italian author and television host. Adopting a first person plural voice, Angela takes us on an eagle-eyed tour of the ancient city on an "ordinary day" in the year A.D. 115. Serving as a Virgil-like guide, Angela begins in a Domus, an upper-class home, exploring its meticulous inner workings, from the aqueduct hook-up to the slave labor. Out in the streets, Angela provides a fascinating, nail-by-nail description of Roman construction before schooling readers in the particulars of buying slaves. Next up is a bloody scene at the Coliseum (featuring hungry lions and their worthy meal), and a steamy sunset tour of bedrooms, salons, and sexual mores; Romans viewed sex as "a gift of the gods," something to enjoy, and would "judge our sexuality as excessively complicated... by mental complexes and roles." Angela's rigorous research and populist style, aided by Conti's seamless translation, should fascinate casual readers as well as dedicated Italophiles.

Edition details

• Publisher: Europa Editions
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1933372710
• ISBN 13: 9781933372716
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352