Garrett Ryan

Breezy read with a lot of interesting factoids of life in ancient Greece and Rome. The question and answer format works well as a framing device for what would otherwise be a bit too sprawling a book. Perhaps for that reason, an appendix of a lighting round view of a narrative history is provided, but it's too short to be of any real use and just smacks of an insecurity to the core conceit. Much like a good podcast format you get a taste of the times and want to learn more; and if it's covering something you already know it's easy to skip ahead without missing anything.… (más)

Subtitle: Frequently Asked Questions about the Greeks and Ancient Romans
This is a very amusing book. The writer has a wry style, and he has organized his survey of odd facts about the ancient Greeks and Romans in brief chapters with titles like "Why Didn't the Greeks or Romans Wear Pants" and "How Dangerous Were Their Cities". The subjects of the titles have their own chapters. We learn that public latrines in Rome sometimes were blown up by ignited methane, that gladiators ate a fattening diet of beans and barley, that spies wrote codes on flattened lead sheets that were rolled up into earrings. There are so many well researched facts and anecdotes that this book needs to be saved and referred to again.

From the publisher:
Why didn't the ancient Greeks or Romans wear pants? How did they shave? How likely were they to drink fine wine, use birth control, or survive surgery?

In a series of short and humorous essays, Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants explores some of the questions about the Greeks and Romans that ancient historian Garrett Ryan has answered in the classroom and online. Unlike most books on the classical world, the focus is not on famous figures or events, but on the fascinating details of daily life.

Learn the answers to:
How tall were the ancient Greeks and Romans?
How long did they live?
What kind of pets did they have?
How dangerous were their cities?
Did they believe their myths?
Did they believe in ghosts, monsters, and/or aliens?
Did they jog or lift weights?
How did they capture animals for the Colosseum?
Were there secret police, spies, or assassins?
What happened to the city of Rome after the Empire collapsed?
Can any families trace their ancestry back to the Greeks or Romans?… (más)

A cute and informative book that answers good and somewhat naïve questions about the ancients—how did they shave, how did they get the animals exhibited in the colosseum, how much did they drink, and so on. The author knows his stuff and is excellent at conveying it in an easy, colloquial manner. Many of the chapters begin with a self-consciously dramatic story ("He squinted, shielding his eyes with a cupped hand. For hours, he had watched the line of sunlight creep closer, illuminating the hats of the senators in the front rows..." begins the Colosseum chapter.) The author sometimes passes on the tall tales of the ancient authors as established fact, but never on a matter of importance. I liked the 18-page "Very Short History of the Classical World" in question-and-answer format at the end of the book. I'd recommend this book without reservations to a high-school or first-year college studient in Latin or Greek, but older or more knowledgeable readers may find the sensationalism a bit wearying.… (más)