{"product_id":"9780195393750","title":"A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire","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. \u003ci\u003eA Cabinet of Roman Curiosities\u003c\/i\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:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  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 \u003cbr\u003e  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 \u003cbr\u003e  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 \u003cbr\u003e  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\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  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 \u003cbr\u003e  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.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e For anyone seeking an inglorious glimpse at the underside of the greatest empire in history, \u003ci\u003eA Cabinet of Roman Curiosities\u003c\/i\u003e offers endless delights.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47007239831792,"sku":"9780195393750","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780195393750_p0.jpg?v=1763664841","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780195393750","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}