Synopses & Reviews
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Laughter in Ancient Rome is a masterwork, simultaneously a sophisticated work of historical and literary scholarship and an unputdownable read. Beard never loses sight of the specificities of Roman culture, yet she encompasses an extraordinary range of ancient and modern theorizing. Her book will appeal to psychologists and anthropologists, as well as to classicists and indeed anyone who has ever thought about the much-debated question of why we laugh.and#8221;
and#151;William V. Harris, William R. Shepherd Professor of History at Columbia University, and author of Dreams and Experience in Classical Antiquity
and#147;With a bounty of suggestive and unfailingly intelligent conclusions about the situation of laughter within ancient Roman culture, Beardand#8217;s remarkable learning is displayed on every page. Laughter in Ancient Rome is unmistakably a work of scholarship, but it is also an unpretentious and inviting exploration available to anyone who is interested. As a literary attainment, this book is marvelous.and#8221;
and#151;Dylan Sailor, Associate Professor of Classics at University of California, Berkeley
Review
"Few things are more tiresome than seeing a joke analyzed. . . . Beardand#8217;s book avoids pedantry but also its opposite, the archness that preens itself on 'not taking humor too seriously' and signals inane wordplays with 'pun intended!' More importantly, her treatment makes one look with new eyesand#160; . . . even at works she does not herself discuss . . . [a] stimulating book."
Review
"[Beard] makes the Romans come alive and through them, gets readers to ponder that most fundamental and uniquely human facilityand#8212;laughter. The phenomenal Ms. Beard has written another cracking book, one of her best, I think."
Review
"Expect to be engaged by an enthralling book."
Review
"[Beard's] central question is simple: what made the Romans laugh? Her answers are pleasingly complex. . . . Beard is always enlightening, and writes with a perfect balance of forensic detail and wide-ranging intellect."
Review
"Superbly acute and unashamedly complex. . . . To our vision of the solemn grandeur that was Rome, she restores a raucous, ghostly laughter."
Review
"Written in Beard's trademark combination of erudition and effortless prose, Laughter in Ancient Rome is a fascinating combination of history, psychology, linguistic exploration and humor. This is scholarly writing at its best."
Review
"You can read hundreds of books on Roman emperors and conquests; this represents a valiant attempt to bring a little understanding of a smaller, but no less important, part of what made Rome run."
Review
and#8220;'Laughter in Ancient Rome: On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up,' which has just been published, is an engaging exploration of what made the Romans laughand#8212;bad breath, among other thingsand#8212;but it also explores dimensions of Roman sensibility that have become elusive to us."
Review
"Rich and provocative." Rob Hardy - Columbus Commercial Dispatch
Synopsis
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 fearand#151;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 writingand#151;from essays on rhetoric to a surviving Roman joke bookand#151;Mary Beard tracks down the giggles, smirks, and guffaws of the ancient Romans themselves. From ancient and#147;monkey businessand#8221; to the role of a chuckle in a culture of tyranny, she explores Roman humor from the hilarious, to the momentous, to the surprising.and#160; But she also reflects on even bigger historical questions. What kind of history of laughter can we possibly tell? Can we ever really and#147;getand#8221; the Romansand#8217; jokes?
About the Author
Mary Beard is Professor of Classics at Cambridge University. Her many books include The Roman Triumph and The Fires of Vesuvius.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. Introducing Roman Laughter: Dioand#8217;s and#147;Giggleand#8221; and Gnathoand#8217;s Two Laughs
PART ONE
2. Questions of Laughter, Ancient and Modern
3. The History of Laughter
4. Roman Laughter in Latin and Greek
PART TWO
5. The Orator
6. From Emperor to Jester
7. Between Human and Animaland#151;Especially Monkeys and Asses
8. The Laughter Lover
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Texts and Abbreviations
Notes
References
List of Illustrations and Credits
Index