The Culture of the Roman Plebs [Paperback]

Nicholas Horsfall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2004

This is the first attempt to reconstruct the life of the average Roman; looking at his culture, the songs he sang, the dances and music he preferred, the shows he saw, the games he played, the scraps of knowledge he accumulated, the Greek he learned from the Syrians across the landing, and the odds and ends of the history of Rome he had gathered up from statues, processions, and plays.
All Latin is translated and all due care is taken of the non-specialist’s requirements.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A welcome & enthusiastically recommended addition to library collections. -- MidWest Book Review

About the Author

Nicholas Horsfall has been an independent scholar for the last fifteen years, in Rome and then in Oxfordshire; before that he taught at University College London. He writes chiefly on Latin poetry, but has also ventures into late Republican history and epigraphy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Duckworth Publishers (January 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0715632388
• ISBN-13: 978-0715632383
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A welcome and long needed history, September 18, 2004

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Culture of the Roman Plebs (Paperback)

Most histories of Roman antiquity principally focus on the elite aristocracy and the military generals that supported or overthrew them. The Culture Of The Roman Plebs by independent scholar Nicholas Horsfall is a welcome and long needed history that specifically addresses the life of the common people that populated and made possible what became known as the Roman Empire. From the noisy, active role of the common populace, to their songs, dances, music, shows, games, and daily life, The Culture Of The Roman Plebs fills in the larger picture. Of special note is the Nicholas Horsfall has meticulously translated and reconstructed what the average Roman talked and thought about as recorded in graffiti and the other odds and ends of notation derived from the records of ordinary Roman life as they have survived over the past two thousand years. The Culture Of The Roman Plebs is a welcome and enthusiastically recommended addition to academic library collections and would make an excellent title for community library Ancient History collections for non-specialist general readers with an interest in Roman history.