Invisible Romans

Invisible Romans by Robert C Knapp

Robert Knapp brings invisible inhabitants of Rome and its vast empire to life. He seeks out the ordinary men, housewives, prostitutes, freedmen, slaves, soldiers, and gladiators, who formed the fabric of everyday life in the ancient Roman world, and the outlaws and pirates who lay beyond it. He finds their own words preserved in literature, letters, inscriptions and graffiti and their traces in the nooks and crannies of the histories, treatises, plays and poetry created by members of the elite. He tracks down and pieces together these and other tell-tale bits of evidence cast off by the visible mass of Roman history and culture, and in doing so recreates a world lost from view for two millennia. We see how everyday Romans sought to survive and thrive under the afflictions of disease, war, and violence, and to control their fates before powers that variously oppressed and ignored them. Chapters on each of the main groups reveal how their worlds were linked in need, dependence, exploitation, hope and fear. Slaves and ex-soldiers merge into the world of the outlaw; slaves become freedmen; the sons of freedmen enlist as soldiers; and the concerns of women transcend every boundary. We see them all at last in the tumult of a great empire that shaped their worlds as it reshaped the wider world around them.

Prof Knapp does an exemplary job of seeking his subjects in obscure papyri and places that will reward researchers and historians for years to come * Country Life *
A good, lively read * Irish Examiner *
Unusual and scholarly book..rich in revelation * Daily Express *
The task Knapp set himself was hugely ambitious, and it is a tribute that not only did he succeed, but that he managed to make the telling of it entertaining as well as informative * Scotsman *
[A] remarkable achievement * Diplomat *
If you like your information to come thick and fast, this is the book for you ... clearly presented and well backed up * BBC History *

Robert Knapp is an historian by training, holding a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in Ancient History. He has written three books and numerous academic articles on ancient history, a subject he focused on for over thirty years at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is now Professor Emeritus.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781846684012
ISBN 10	1846684013
Title	Invisible Romans
Author	Robert C Knapp
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Profile Books Ltd
Year published	2011-06-16
Number of pages	384
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable