Comments on: Books about city life in ancient Rome

Question: Books about city life in ancient Rome

Kattullus — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 15:46:41 -0800

Any good books/sites you can recommend about city life in ancient Rome?

I used to be a classics major, and so have studied quite a bit about the ancient Romans, so imagine my surprise when I realized that I knew next to nothing about how the citizens and denizens of the city of Rome lived during the Empire. I know bits and pieces, but have nothing resembling of an overview.

By: omphale27

omphale27 — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 15:55:39 -0800

I have really enjoyed the Sub Rosa series by Steven Saylor. They are mystery novels, so while I wouldn't use them as source material for a research paper, I found them to give me a pretty good idea of Roman life. (I am a former Classics major, myself). He starts well before the empire, though, but it's fun to watch his protagonist progress through the crumbling of the Republic.

By: trip and a half

trip and a half — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:04:48 -0800

I found Tom Holland's Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic to be very evocative and full of details of daily life in ancient Rome. But that was the Republic, of course, not Empire -- it ends with the death of Augustus.

By: The Michael The

The Michael The — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:42:08 -0800

My classical archaeologist girlfriend recommends, in this order:

The Archaeology of the Roman Economy, Kevin Greene, University of California Press 1990 (because this deals with the economy, it necessarily deals with daily life)

The World of Rome: An Introduction to Roman Culture, Peter Jones and Keith Sidwell (editors), Cambridge University Press 1997

Daily Life in Ancient Rome, Jerome Carcopino, Yale University Press 2003

Daily Life in Ancient Rome, Florence Dupont, Blackwell Publishing 1994

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 18:34:40 -0800

I like Lindsey Davis' Falco mysteries, but again, they're fiction.

By: zardoz

zardoz — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 18:43:09 -0800

The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCoullough. First of a series of novels about Roman life. It's very thorough and very detailed, but I found it a bit dull. You may think differently. Though not a book, check out HBO's series "Rome", good show.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 19:12:56 -0800

Also, check out these previous AskMe threads: 1 and 2.

By: little miss manners

little miss manners — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 21:01:42 -0800

You can actually infer a fair amount about average roman life simply by reading Gibbon's chapters on the early church, since Gibbon describes the values and lifestyle of the early christians by contrast theirs with that of mainstream Roman citizens.

You'll still want more scholarly and more specialized sources, of course, but as a short, well-written take on the matter it'd be a shame not to read (that part of) Gibbon.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 22:13:12 -0800

"City" by David Macaulay

By: greycap

greycap — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 02:38:59 -0800

The Michael The's answer is very comprehensive. I also enjoyed the first chapter of A World Full of Gods by Keith Hopkins. It's not about city life in Rome but does give an interesting idea about what life in another city would have been like.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 08:02:34 -0800

Thanks to all!

My local library has both Daily Life in Ancient Rome books, one of which I'll pick up on my next run.

By: nancoix

nancoix — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 18:32:50 -0800

Not exactly about daily life in Rome, but a novel (or precursor to the novel) written by a Roman in about 60 AD.... a really fun book of wild adventures. The Satyricon by Petronius.