1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910791045903321

Autore

Beard Mary <1955->

Titolo

Laughter in ancient Rome : on joking, tickling, and cracking up / / Mary Beard

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, : University of California Press, 2014

©2014

ISBN

0-520-28758-4

0-520-95820-9

9780520958203

Descrizione fisica

1 Online-Ressource (X, 319 Seiten)

Collana

Sather Classical Lectures ; ; 71.

Classificazione

HIS002000LIT004190POL010000

Disciplina

152.4/30937

Soggetti

Laughter - Rome - History - To 1500

Latin wit and humor - History and criticism

Rome Social life and customs

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Introducing Roman Laughter: Dio's "Giggle" and Gnatho's Two Laughs -- 2. Questions of Laughter, Ancient and Modern -- 3. The History of Laughter -- 4. Roman Laughter in Latin and Greek -- 5. The Orator -- 6. From Emperor to Jester -- 7. Between Human and Animal- Especially Monkeys and Asses -- 8. The Laughter Lover -- Afterword -- Acknowledgments -- Texts and Abbreviations -- Notes -- References -- List of Illustrations and Credits -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

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?