{"product_id":"9780199752782","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. 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? Romans on urban living: The satirist Juvenal lists \"fires, falling buildings, and poets reciting in August as hazards to life in Rome.\" \u003cbr\u003e? 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) \u003cbr\u003e? 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\" \u003cbr\u003e? 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) \u003cbr\u003e? 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.\" \u003cbr\u003e? 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, \u003cem\u003eA Cabinet of Roman Curiosities\u003c\/em\u003e offers endless delights.","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47156479131888,"sku":"9780199752782","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780199752782_p0.jpg?v=1763673135","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780199752782","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}