Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants
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Why didn't the ancient Greeks or Romans wear pants? How did they shave? How likely were they to drink fine wine, use birth control, or survive surgery? In a series of short and humorous essays, Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants explores some of the questions about the Greeks and Romans that ancient historian Garrett Ryan has answered in the classroom and online. Unlike most books on the classical world, the focus is not on famous figures or events, but on the fascinating details of daily life. Learn the answers to: How tall were the ancient Greeks and Romans? How long did they live? What kind of pets did they have? How dangerous were their cities? Did they believe their myths? Did they believe in ghosts, monsters, and/or aliens? Did they jog or lift weights? How did they capture animals for the Colosseum? Were there secret police, spies, or assassins? What happened to the city of Rome after the Empire collapsed? Can any families trace their ancestry back to the Greeks or Romans?
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This is neither exhaustive nor focused, but that's kind of the point. This is a pleasant read if you need something to kind of settle into and you want it to be about the classical period. Unlike a lot of pop history of this type, it cites sources very directly and hides as little in footnotes as possible – I find personally find it helpful to read a book and see ‘according to Plutarch' rather than a citation at the end that I'm much less likely to remember. Unfortunately, like a lot of pop history of this type, it mashes hundreds of years of culture together indiscriminately, and we're never entirely sure what period of antiquity we're talking about unless it's immediately relevant to the answer. That said, the good is greater than the mediocre, and I plan to read the ‘sequel' the next time I need some background listening (I highly recommend the audiobook) that's still educational and not a podcast.
