Laughter in Ancient Rome On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up |
|
| Author:
| Beard, Mary |
| Series title: | Sather Classical Lectures |
| ISBN: | 978-0-520-28758-7 |
| Publication Date: | Sep 2015 |
| Publisher: | University of California Press
|
| Book Format: | Paperback |
| List Price: | AUD $31.95 |
Book Description:
|
What made the Romans laugh? Was ancient Rome a carnival, filled with practical jokes and hearty chuckles? Or was it a carefully regulated culture in which the uncontrollable excess of laughter was a force to fear_a world of wit, irony, and knowing smiles? How did Romans make sense of laughter? What role did it play in the world of the law courts, the imperial palace, or the spectacles of the arena?
Laughter in Ancient Rome explores one of the most intriguing,...
More DescriptionWhat made the Romans laugh? Was ancient Rome a carnival, filled with practical jokes and hearty chuckles? Or was it a carefully regulated culture in which the uncontrollable excess of laughter was a force to fear_a world of wit, irony, and knowing smiles? How did Romans make sense of laughter? What role did it play in the world of the law courts, the imperial palace, or the spectacles of the arena?
Laughter in Ancient Rome explores one of the most intriguing, but also trickiest, of historical subjects. Drawing on a wide range of Roman writing_from essays on rhetoric to a surviving Roman joke book_Mary Beard tracks down the giggles, smirks, and guffaws of the ancient Romans themselves. From ancient _monkey business_ to the role of a chuckle in a culture of tyranny, she explores Roman humor from the hilarious, to the momentous, to the surprising. But she also reflects on even bigger historical questions. What kind of history of laughter can we possibly tell? Can we ever really _get_ the Romans_ jokes?