Amberley (2017) p/b 96pp £9.99 (ISBN 9781445665641)
C. is a prolific author, specialising in the local history of Yorkshire and aspects of the social history of ancient Greece and Rome (primarily the latter). He studied classics at Hull and Southampton universities. How to be a Roman is the eleventh in his classical series, with five more apparently in preparation. His technique is to take a topic—military disasters, life for women, sex, record-keeping, for example—and to assemble a large number of facts on several facets of the topic based on the original sources. He theorises relatively little and does not engage in academic debate.
In this book his topic is the daily life of a well off Roman family in about 80 AD with husband, wife, son and daughter, supported by three female and three male slaves. Using the device of a single day of 12 hours to divide his topics, he describes domestic life, patronage and work, education, domestic religion, bathing, entertainments, pets and food. Each topic bristles with facts, and there are generous extracts from the primary sources. Even the expert reader is likely to be presented with some information about which they were previously unaware. The plentiful illustrations are relevant, attractive, varied and well chosen. The device of using the activities of an individual family does not grate because it is mainly used to introduce quotations.
The emphasis on quotations probably means that the exaggerations of a Juvenal or a Martial influence the reader’s understanding of the topic more than the less recorded humdrum. That tendency is particularly obvious in the cooking topic, where the excesses of Trimalchio overshadow the descriptions of standard eating. On occasion the urge to complete a comprehensive list can seem disproportionate; nearly thirty individual deities or spirits are identified as influencing aspects of pregnancy, childbirth and the early life of the child—Postverta to avoid breech birth, Rumina for breastfeeding, Cunina to protect the cradle, etc.
Overall this is a grown up, reliable and entertaining account of the subject the book sets out to cover. Quite what the target audience is meant to be is somewhat of a puzzle; the book is not forensic enough for the academic audience and assumes a greater knowledge of the historical and linguistic context than could be expected of a first time audience. It is, however ideal for a lapsed classicist like the reviewer.
Roger Barnes