{"product_id":"a-cabinet-of-roman-curiosities","title":"A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities","description":"\u003cp\u003eHere 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. A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities 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. 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: - Romans on urban living: The satirist Juvenal lists \"fires, falling buildings, and poets reciting in August as hazards to life in Rome.\" - On enhanced interrogation: \"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) - On dreams: 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\" - On food: \"When people unwittingly eat human flesh, served by unscrupulous restaurant owners and other such people, the similarity to pork is often noted.\" (Galen) - On marriage: 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.\" - On health care: 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.\" For anyone seeking an inglorious glimpse at the underside of the greatest empire in history, A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities offers endless delights.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"J. C. McKeown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43560813822013,"sku":"9780195393750","price":41.95,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0597\/7689\/2989\/files\/9780195393750.jpg?v=1788424155","url":"https:\/\/www.palmleaf.com.au\/products\/a-cabinet-of-roman-curiosities","provider":"Palmleaf","version":"1.0","type":"link"}