Available Formats
Ancient Rome: Facts and Fictions
By (Author) Monica M. Bontty
Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Bloomsbury Publishing USA
30th May 2024
NIPPOD
United States
Primary and Secondary Educational
Non Fiction
Historiography
Ancient history
Paperback
256
Width 156mm, Height 235mm
This book shares little-known facts from and excerpts of primary source documents to correct popular misconceptions about Ancient Rome and to show how those misconceptions became widespread. Roman personalities and history have always had a larger-than-life profile in American popular culture, but most people think of this ancient civilization as merely decadent, cruel, and elitist. Most of our stereotypical conceptions of the empire and its people, however, are wrong. This book corrects popular misconceptions about the ancient Roman world, thus making ancient history relevant and accessible to modern readers and allowing modern critics of American politics and society to draw accurate comparisons. Each chapter discusses how a particular misconception developed, spread, and evolved into what we now believe to be the historical truth. Topics discussed include crucifixion, the destruction of Carthage, Julius Caesar's last words, and Roman hygiene. Excerpts from primary source documents provide evidence of both the rise of the historical fictions and the truths behind the myths.
The text will be good supplementary reading for anyone studying ancient history, particularly undergraduates or anyone just beginning to study this topic. Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduates. * Choice *
Monica M. Bontty is professor of history at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and a respected authority on ancient history.