{"product_id":"a-cabinet-of-roman-curiosities-strange-tales-and-surprising-facts-from-the-worlds-greatest-empire-9780195393750","title":"A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire","description":"Here is a whimsical and captivating collection of odd facts, strange beliefs, outlandish opinions, and other highly amusing trivia of the ancient Romans. We tend to think of the Romans as a pragmatic people with a ruthlessly efficient army, an exemplary legal system, and a precise and elegant language. \u003cem\u003eA Cabinet of Roman Curiosities\u003c\/em\u003e shows that the Romans were equally capable of bizarre superstitions, logic-defying customs, and often hilariously derisive views of their fellow Romans and non-Romans.\u003cbr\u003e Classicist J. C. McKeown has organized the entries in this entertaining volume around major themes--The Army, Women, Religion and Superstition, Family Life, Medicine, Slaves, Spectacles--allowing for quick browsing or more deliberate consumption. Among the book's many gems are: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e BL Romans on urban living: \u003cbr\u003e The satirist Juvenal lists \"fires, falling buildings, and poets reciting in August as hazards to life in Rome.\" \u003cbr\u003e BL On enhanced interrogation: \u003cbr\u003e \"If we are obliged to take evidence from an arena-fighter or some other such person, his testimony is not to be believed unless given under torture.\" (Justinian) \u003cbr\u003e BL On dreams: \u003cbr\u003e Dreaming of eating books \"foretells advantage to teachers, lecturers, and anyone who earns his livelihood from books, but for everyone else it means sudden death\"\u003cbr\u003e BL On food: \u003cbr\u003e \"When people unwittingly eat human flesh, served by unscrupulous restaurant owners and other such people, the similarity to pork is often noted.\" (Galen)\u003cbr\u003eBL On marriage: \u003cbr\u003e In ancient Rome a marriage could be arranged even when the parties were absent, so long as they knew of the arrangement, \"or agreed to it subsequently.\"\u003cbr\u003e BL On health care: \u003cbr\u003e Pliny caustically described medical bills as a \"down payment on death,\" and Martial quipped that \"Diaulus used to be a doctor, now he's a mortician. He does as a mortician what he did as a doctor.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e For anyone seeking an inglorious glimpse at the underside of the greatest empire in history, \u003cem\u003eA Cabinet of Roman Curiosities\u003c\/em\u003e offers endless delights.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJ. C. McKeown\u003c\/strong\u003e is Professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the author of \u003cem\u003eOvid's\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eAmores\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50459969880338,"sku":"9780195393750","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f18506a1-211f-47b5-a592-72759bbd0453.jpg?v=1730018949","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-cabinet-of-roman-curiosities-strange-tales-and-surprising-facts-from-the-worlds-greatest-empire-9780195393750","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}