Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants: Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-09-12 08:51:37
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Garrett Ryan
- ISBN：1633887022
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Summary
Everyone knows a little about the Ancient Greeks and Romans， but everyone wants to know at least a little more。 While the fall of the Roman Empire and the exploits of Julius Caesar might be common knowledge， we don't seem to remember too much about the lives of common people in Ancient Rome and Greece。 For instance， why didn't they wear pants？ How did they shave？ How likely were they to survive surgery？ And， what were their parties really like？ Most books on the Roman Empire deal with famous figures or events， but Naked Statues， Fat Gladiators， and War Elephants focuses on things that seldom appear in history books: myths and magic， barbers and birth control， fine wine and the daily grind。 This book， based on questions Roman historian Garrett Ryan， PhD gets most often on Quora and the popular Reddit forum， AskHistorians， reveals the nitty gritty details on how Romans and Greeks lived in a series of short and engaging essays， organized into six categories: Daily Life， Society， Beliefs， Sports and Leisure， and Legacies。 Whatever your level of ancient acumen， discover how the Ancient Romans did things when in Ancient Rome with answers to these questions and more！ Why didn't the Greeks or Romans wear pants？ Did they wear underwear？ How did they shave？ Did they practice surgery？ What were the greatest delicacies？ What kinds of pets did they have？ How tall were they？ How dangerous were their cities？ Did they believe in ghosts， or aliens？ What did their exercise regimen look like？ How did they capture animals for the Colosseum？ What happened to the City of Rome after the Roman Empire collapsed？ Can any modern families trace their ancestry back to the Ancient Greeks or Romans？
Reviews
Michael Hassel
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Naked Statues， Fat Gladiators and War Elephants by Garrett Ryan。 This is an interesting book to read cover to cover or to delve into bite size chapters that perhaps catch your fancy。 Interested in knowing when pants replaced tunics in Rome？ Did they wear underwear？ Why were statues in the nude and why in general were their penis’ not so large？ There are so many interesting questions and answers given by Dr。 Ryan a historian from U。 of Michigan。 Additionally， there are videos on YouTube and a web Naked Statues， Fat Gladiators and War Elephants by Garrett Ryan。 This is an interesting book to read cover to cover or to delve into bite size chapters that perhaps catch your fancy。 Interested in knowing when pants replaced tunics in Rome？ Did they wear underwear？ Why were statues in the nude and why in general were their penis’ not so large？ There are so many interesting questions and answers given by Dr。 Ryan a historian from U。 of Michigan。 Additionally， there are videos on YouTube and a website www。toldinstone to enjoy as well。 There are plenty of footnotes as well as notes and a bibliography at the end for those interested in knowing more about early tanks in war- these are elephants as well as anti-“tank” weapons- flaming screaming pigs as just one example。 I see this as a book to read then pass on to others or leave in the bathroom for quests to read。 It is nice to know that Roman women did shave their legs and how to lay siege to a city。 An enjoyable read。 。。。more
seilerlibrary
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Clever and humorous。 Ryan combines fast facts with witty anecdotes to keep the reader laughing， all while feeling informed without becoming overwhelmed。This was a fun one！ If you like quirky， short excerpts about history， this is perfect for you。 Chapters are relatively short and focused on one topic such as “Was the Oracle of Delphi High on Fumes？” and “Why Didn’t They Wear Pants？” It’s written in a very humorous and casual style， with lots of footnotes to add information。 Ryan is clearly well Clever and humorous。 Ryan combines fast facts with witty anecdotes to keep the reader laughing， all while feeling informed without becoming overwhelmed。This was a fun one！ If you like quirky， short excerpts about history， this is perfect for you。 Chapters are relatively short and focused on one topic such as “Was the Oracle of Delphi High on Fumes？” and “Why Didn’t They Wear Pants？” It’s written in a very humorous and casual style， with lots of footnotes to add information。 Ryan is clearly well informed on the topic， but knows how to pare down the story to what we are really interested in: all the crazy sh*t and scandalous bits。 I think would appeal to a wide audience and would be enjoyable to people who don’t typically read history as well！ 。。。more
Stephen
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For those interested in the life of Greece and Rome beyond senatorial politics and agricultural policy， Naked States offers an absolutely entertaining and unexpectedly detailed look at various aspects of Greco-Roman culture。 At first glance， the text is simply a series of essays， written in response to questions — some specific， some general， but this is no dry catechesis。 Ryan’s lively explanations run cut cross not only the world of the Greek city-states and the Roman realm， but make occasiona For those interested in the life of Greece and Rome beyond senatorial politics and agricultural policy， Naked States offers an absolutely entertaining and unexpectedly detailed look at various aspects of Greco-Roman culture。 At first glance， the text is simply a series of essays， written in response to questions — some specific， some general， but this is no dry catechesis。 Ryan’s lively explanations run cut cross not only the world of the Greek city-states and the Roman realm， but make occasional forays into Persia and Egypt， as well， illustrating how no part of the classical world existed in a vacuum。 The essays end with what the author cheekily frames as an ‘irresponsible short’ history of the classical world for anyone who needs a little context。 In short， for those with any interest in the goings-on of Greeks and Romans， this is an absolute delight。It’s almost impossible to do justice to the variety of content contained herein。 Although Ryan’s approach isn’t as tightly organized something like the Gies‘ Daily Life in a Medieval Village， or Ian Mortimer’s wide-ranging social histories of England， it nevertheless succeeds in offering a panoramic view into Greek and Roman life， across classes。 Each question opens an entire avenue of consideration: “Were gladiators really fat？” for instance， is answered in an essay covering the entire scope of gladiatorial games in Rome， with an extra focus on their diet。 Given how much more information is available about the emperors and upper classes， there’s a slight preponderance of patrician topics， but this isn’t a book just about the aristocrats。 Some of its more memorable offerings include a comparative study of how nudism was treated in the classical world， a history of how our delightfully composite calendar got that way， a consideration of slavery in Greco-Roman societies， a survey of how Roman buildings were treated as the western order gave way （plundered， mostly， even the emperor’s tombs）， and a comparison of sporting events in both Greece and Rome。 （The Romans found the Greek obsession with the Olympics a little weird， except for Nero — he insisted on hosting his own games， in which he ‘competed’ — and won in a chariot race despite falling out of the the chariot and finishing third）。 Ryan provides a skillful mix of useful， general info and more interesting-but esoteric content， with just enough humor to make it playful but not so much that it veers toward the trivial。Recommended！ 。。。more
Kristine
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Naked Statues， Fat Gladiators， and War Elephants by Garrett Ryan is a free NetGalley ebook that I read into early September。Ryan addresses oft-asked questions from Quora about the Greek and Roman ages: its thematic chapters address 4-6 questions each and there's much annotation for even more details。 The stories are very in-the-moment and casual， yet quirky with Ryan setting a scene that offers some glimpses of familiarity and empathy， but other times sheer dismay and disgust。 Naked Statues， Fat Gladiators， and War Elephants by Garrett Ryan is a free NetGalley ebook that I read into early September。Ryan addresses oft-asked questions from Quora about the Greek and Roman ages: its thematic chapters address 4-6 questions each and there's much annotation for even more details。 The stories are very in-the-moment and casual， yet quirky with Ryan setting a scene that offers some glimpses of familiarity and empathy， but other times sheer dismay and disgust。 。。。more
Steve
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Excellent book bound to be a classicI loved this book。 Garrett Ryan has created an easy-to-read masterpiece on ancient Greeks and Romans。 He writes with a very conversational tone and great sense of humor， including some very clever passages that I would re-read。 He discusses a broad range of issues from human sacrifice to why Greeks and Romans didn’t wear pants， supplemented with a good selection of graphics。 I recommend starting the book with the appendix which is a short history of the classi Excellent book bound to be a classicI loved this book。 Garrett Ryan has created an easy-to-read masterpiece on ancient Greeks and Romans。 He writes with a very conversational tone and great sense of humor， including some very clever passages that I would re-read。 He discusses a broad range of issues from human sacrifice to why Greeks and Romans didn’t wear pants， supplemented with a good selection of graphics。 I recommend starting the book with the appendix which is a short history of the classical world。 Although many people will already have this knowledge， I didn’t and I found the appendix useful。 The footnotes are great and a must-read。 Ironically， it is in a footnote that Ryan suggests that readers check the footnotes for some great anecdotes。 This is a wonderful book well worth reading。 Thank you to Netgalley and Rowman & Littlefield for the advance reader copy。 。。。more
Brenda
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In quirky Naked Statues， Fat Gladiators and War Elephants Historian Garrett Ryan candidly answers questions you were itching to ask， and then some。 As a frequent traveler to Rome， I was thrilled to read this informative， witty and educational book， complete with photographs and illustrations on one of my favourite subjects。。。ancient Roman and Greek life。 It is broken down into six parts and within these parts are numerous short chapters。Learn about innovative "pockets" in clothing， the ban on pa In quirky Naked Statues， Fat Gladiators and War Elephants Historian Garrett Ryan candidly answers questions you were itching to ask， and then some。 As a frequent traveler to Rome， I was thrilled to read this informative， witty and educational book， complete with photographs and illustrations on one of my favourite subjects。。。ancient Roman and Greek life。 It is broken down into six parts and within these parts are numerous short chapters。Learn about innovative "pockets" in clothing， the ban on pants in Rome， painful shaving， pets of the wealthy， surgical instruments and procedures （including liposuction）， trepanation， delectable elephant trunks， where the first cookbooks were created， the importance and ostentation of luxurious social gatherings， how time was tracked， wages， dangers （pretty much everything）， ability to rent out public torturers if one was too squeamish， mythical beasts， curse tablets， pankration， exercise， swanky carriages， game tickets， "barley boys"， inflatable ladders， fighting strategy using scorpions and burning feathers， language including definite and indefinite articles and the end of antiquity。 There is so much more， too， as the book brims with fascinating bits。 Though educational， you absorb information without studying if you know what I mean。 It sticks as it's just so darned interesting！Roman and Greek History fans truly ought to seek out this dynamite book。 Be sure to read。。。and enjoy。。。the Appendix！ When next in Rome I will definitely see things differently and can hardly wait。My sincere thank you to Rowman & Littlefield and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this fun and riveting book。 。。。more
Dan
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