Laughter in Ancient Rome: On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up Volume 71 -- Mary Beard, Paperback

"Superbly acute and unashamedly complex."--The Telegraph
"Rich and provocative."--Times Literary Supplement
"An engaging exploration."--The New Yorker
"The phenomenal Ms. Beard has written another cracking book, one of her best."--The Independent

What made the Romans laugh? Was ancient Rome a carnival, filled with practical jokes and hearty chuckles? Or was it a carefully regulated culture in which the uncontrollable excess of laughter was a force to fear--a world of wit, irony, and knowing smiles? How did Romans make sense of laughter? What role did it play in the world of the law courts, the imperial palace, or the spectacles of the arena?

Laughter in Ancient Rome explores one of the most intriguing, but also trickiest, of historical subjects. Drawing on a wide range of Roman writing--from essays on rhetoric to a surviving Roman joke book--Mary Beard tracks down the giggles, smirks, and guffaws of the ancient Romans themselves. From ancient "monkey business" to the role of a chuckle in a culture of tyranny, she explores Roman humor from the hilarious, to the momentous, to the surprising. But she also reflects on even bigger historical questions. What kind of history of laughter can we possibly tell? Can we ever really "get" the Romans' jokes?

Author: Mary Beard
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 03/05/2024
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780520401495

About the Author
Mary Beard is Professor of Classics at Cambridge University. Her many books include The Roman Triumph and The Fires of Vesuvius.