Laughter in Ancient Rome: On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up

by Mary Beard

Overview

"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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520401495
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	03/05/2024
Series:	Sather Classical Lectures , #71
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	803,110
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

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

Table of Contents

Preface

1. Introducing Roman Laughter: Dio’s “Giggle” and Gnatho’s Two Laughs

PART ONE
2. Questions of Laughter, Ancient and Modern
3. The History of Laughter
4. Roman Laughter in Latin and Greek

PART TWO
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

Editorial Reviews

"Rich and provocative."

Times Literary Supplement

"[Beard] makes the Romans come alive and through them, gets readers to ponder that most fundamental and uniquely human facility—laughter. The phenomenal Ms. Beard has written another cracking book, one of her best, I think."

Independent Whig.

"Beard discusses theories of humor, power relationships, evolutionary psychology and much more in Laughter in Ancient Rome."

Scientific American

"Laughter in Ancient Rome is a book that is filled with good sense and sound scholarship. It is a worthy successor to the previous published volumes of the Sather lectures."

Hermathena

"This is a very sensible, readable, and useful volume. . . . A valuable contribution to scholarship on a difficult topic."

Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"Laughter in Ancient Rome is never dull. Beard's tone is conversational throughout, and it's almost as if the reader gets to experience a little of what she's like as a lecturer."

Irish Independent

"Wide-ranging, deeply thought, and extensively researched."

Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Beard’s ability to draw together a wide array of ancient and modern references in her discussions is impressive... Laughter in Ancient Rome succeeds in leading sympathetic readers on a stimulating journey through Roman “laughterhood”.

Phoenix

"What made the Romans laugh? It’s an incredible, almost childlike thought to have. But in this characteristically brilliant book by  Mary Beard, this simple thought becomes a mental projection that conjures up the world of Rome as well or better than any book in recent memory."

Flavorwire

"You can read hundreds of books on Roman emperors and conquests; this represents a valiant attempt to bring a little understanding of a smaller, but no less important, part of what made Rome run."

Columbus Commercial Dispatch

"Few things are more tiresome than seeing a joke analyzed. . . . Beard’s book avoids pedantry but also its opposite, the archness that preens itself on 'not taking humor too seriously' and signals inane wordplays with 'pun intended!' More importantly, her treatment makes one look with new eyes  . . . even at works she does not herself discuss . . . [a] stimulating book."

New York Review of Books

"Like a great piece of archaeology, Laughter in Ancient Rome allows us to glimpse ourselves in the cracked mirror of a distant culture."

Washington Post

"Written in Beard's trademark combination of erudition and effortless prose, Laughter in Ancient Rome is a fascinating combination of history, psychology, linguistic exploration and humor. This is scholarly writing at its best."

Shelf Awareness for Readers

"Superbly acute and unashamedly complex. . . . To our vision of the solemn grandeur that was Rome, she restores a raucous, ghostly laughter."

Telegraph

"[Beard's] central question is simple: what made the Romans laugh? Her answers are pleasingly complex. . . . Beard is always enlightening, and writes with a perfect balance of forensic detail and wide-ranging intellect."

Scotsman

"Expect to be engaged by an enthralling book."

Spectator

Laughter in Ancient Rome: On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up, which has just been published, is an engaging exploration of what made the Romans laugh—bad breath, among other things—but it also explores dimensions of Roman sensibility that have become elusive to us."

New Yorker

"Beard has posed excellent questions about Roman laughter . . . Her engaging style of writing draws the reader into the discussion. . . . A must read."

American Historical Review

Beard’s ability to draw together a wide array of ancient and modern references in her discussions is impressive... Laughter in Ancient Rome succeeds in leading sympathetic readers on a stimulating journey through Roman “laughterhood”.

Phoenix Rina

Beard’s ability to draw together a wide array of ancient and modern references in her discussions is impressive... Laughter in Ancient Rome succeeds in leading sympathetic readers on a stimulating journey through Roman “laughterhood”.

Phoenix

"Wide-ranging, deeply thought, and extensively researched."

Journal of Ícaro|Ícaro|Ícaro|Interdisciplinary History

"Laughter in Ancient Rome is never dull. Beard's tone is conversational throughout, and it's almost as if the reader gets to experience a little of what she's like as a lecturer."

Irish Ícaro|Ícaro|Ícaro|Independent

"[Beard] makes the Romans come alive and through them, gets readers to ponder that most fundamental and uniquely human facility—laughter. The phenomenal Ms. Beard has written another cracking book, one of her best, I think."

Ícaro|Ícaro|Ícaro|Independent

"Beard has posed excellent questions about Roman laughter . . . Her engaging style of writing draws the reader into the discussion. . . . A must read."

American Historical Review - John R. Clarke

"This is a very sensible, readable, and useful volume. . . . A valuable contribution to scholarship on a difficult topic."

Bryn Mawr - Kristina Milnor

"A fun read . . . accessible yet academic."

Norfolk Bookworm - Sarah

"What made the Romans laugh? It’s an incredible, almost childlike thought to have. But in this characteristically brilliant book by Mary Beard, this simple thought becomes a mental projection that conjures up the world of Rome as well or better than any book in recent memory."

Flavorwire - Jonathon Sturgeon

"Like a great piece of archaeology, 'Laughter in Ancient Rome' allows us to glimpse ourselves in the cracked mirror of a distant culture."

Washington Post - John Domini

"Rich and provocative."

TLS - Roy Gibson

"You can read hundreds of books on Roman emperors and conquests; this represents a valiant attempt to bring a little understanding of a smaller, but no less important, part of what made Rome run."

Columbus Commercial Dispatch - Rob Hardy

"Written in Beard's trademark combination of erudition and effortless prose, Laughter in Ancient Rome is a fascinating combination of history, psychology, linguistic exploration and humor. This is scholarly writing at its best."

Shelf Awareness for Readers - Pamela Toler

"Superbly acute and unashamedly complex. . . . To our vision of the solemn grandeur that was Rome, she restores a raucous, ghostly laughter."

The Telegraph - Iona McLaren

"[Beard's] central question is simple: what made the Romans laugh? Her answers are pleasingly complex. . . . Beard is always enlightening, and writes with a perfect balance of forensic detail and wide-ranging intellect."

The Scotsman

"Expect to be engaged by an enthralling book."

The Spectator - Harry Mount

"[Beard] makes the Romans come alive and through them, gets readers to ponder that most fundamental and uniquely human facility—laughter. The phenomenal Ms. Beard has written another cracking book, one of her best, I think."

The Independent - Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

"Few things are more tiresome than seeing a joke analyzed. . . . Beard’s book avoids pedantry but also its opposite, the archness that preens itself on 'not taking humor too seriously' and signals inane wordplays with 'pun intended!' More importantly, her treatment makes one look with new eyes . . . even at works she does not herself discuss . . . [a] stimulating book."

New York Review of Books - Gregory Hays

“'Laughter in Ancient Rome: On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up,' which has just been published, is an engaging exploration of what made the Romans laugh—bad breath, among other things—but it also explores dimensions of Roman sensibility that have become elusive to us."

New Yorker - Rebecca Mead