Description
This lively cultural history explores how ancient Romans laughed—and what their laughter reveals about power, class, politics, and everyday life. Drawing on oratory, theater, legal puns, joke collections, slapstick, and the antics of performers and trained animals, it shows that humor in Rome could entertain, challenge authority, unite audiences, or provoke dangerous consequences. With characteristic wit and close attention to vivid historical evidence, the book examines who was allowed to laugh, who became the object of ridicule, and how Roman “laughterhood” shaped public and private life. The result is an illuminating and often surprising portrait of Roman society through one of its most revealing human impulses.
Available Editions
paperback
University of California Press
Published Jan 1, 2015
336 pages
ISBN: 9780520287587
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Details
First Published
2014
Language
eng
Content Warnings
Content and trigger warnings for Laughter in Ancient Rome by Mary Beard.