A History of Private Life, Volume I: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium

ISBN 10: 0674399749 / ISBN 13: 9780674399747

Published by Belknap Press, Harvard University Press, 1992

About this Item

Book shows general signs of use and handling. May have light wear on the cover or edges and minimal writing or highlighting. Binding remains tight, and pages are clean and readable.

Seller Inventory # CTXV.0674399749.G

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A History of Private Life, Volume I: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium
• Publisher: Belknap Press, Harvard University Press
• Publication Date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674399749
• ISBN 13: 9780674399747
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis

First of the widely celebrated and sumptuously illustrated series, this book reveals in intimate detail what life was really like in the ancient world. Behind the vast panorama of the pagan Roman empire, the reader discovers the intimate daily lives of citizens and slaves―from concepts of manhood and sexuality to marriage and the family, the roles of women, chastity and contraception, techniques of childbirth, homosexuality, religion, the meaning of virtue, and the separation of private and public spaces.

The emergence of Christianity in the West and the triumph of Christian morality with its emphasis on abstinence, celibacy, and austerity is startlingly contrasted with the profane and undisciplined private life of the Byzantine Empire. Using illuminating motifs, the authors weave a rich, colorful fabric ornamented with the results of new research and the broad interpretations that only masters of the subject can provide.

About the Authors

Paul Veyne is Professor at the Collège de France.

Georges Duby, a member of the Académie Française, is Professor of Medieval History at the Collège de France.