Social strata, Daily life in Ancient Rome (100 BC-200 AD) - Recommended reading?

Perseus digital library: www.perseus.tufts.edu/

Diotima: Women and Gender in the Ancient World: http://www.stoa.org/diotima/

PBS doesn't suck: http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/life.html

Rome reborn: http://www.romereborn.virginia.edu/

Read Robert Graves: I, Claudius and Claudius the God.

I've found some good stuff on ancient Roman marriage practices just using Google Scholar.

Try Mary Beard's book on Pompeii: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8526786-pompeii and Invisible Romans by Robert Knapp: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11457131-invisible-romans.

There is literally a series of books called "Daily Life in..." the Byzantine Empire, the Medieval Islamic World, etc. It includes "Daily Life in Ancient Rome," by Jerome Carcopino.

Be aware that the series varies in usefulness; I found the book on the Byzantine Empire to be very helpful, the one on the Medieval Caliphate to be less so.

"A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome" by Alberto Angelo has been the best resource I've found in my own research. He describes everything. EVERYTHING. It goes through a day from morning until evening, describing a rich villa and them getting ready in the morning, the poorer classes living in the upper levels of the apartment blocks. He describes restaurants, toilets, shopping, graffiti, the forum, the courts, banquets (including menus), what things would have cost, views on sex. It is amazing!

History of Rome, Michael Grant
Not precisely what you're looking for, but a must-read for understanding Rome. Grant is a leading authority...plus a good writer. At a minimum, skim through the book; you'll find ample descriptions of the social classes.

Steven Saylor writes a series of historical mysteries set in ancient Rome. They are well-researched and would give you a sense of the time in a fictional way.

Steve and I were on a committee once upon a time. Rick Riordan and Kate Wilhelm were also on it.

(I needed to brag, name-dropper, me.)

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

You can also find really good information on daily life in the Roman world in 2 DVD sets by The Teaching Company. Pompeii: Daily Life in an Ancient Roman City. Experiencing Rome: A Visual Exploration of Antiquity's Greatest Empire. These sets are spendier than books, by you can often find them in Libraries or get them through inter-library loan.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Oh hey! I love having an aborted Classics degree! I'd suggest Apuleius' The Golden Ass, which isn't entirely Rome but is exactly your time frame, and even better, it's a primary source. It's a novel, and quite funny, about a man who got turned into an ass. There's a lot of gender roles floating about, and romances and awkward sexual moments if I recall right. It's a quick read, and I remember getting the feeling that ancient Rome was an awful lot like modern America.

. . . Oh, shoot. It actually takes place in Greece. That's not Rome at all. But it might give a feel for social norms and relationships, if you keep in mind that the Romans though the Greeks were rather decadent.

Legionary: The Unofficial Manual and Gladiator: the Unofficial Manual by Phillip Matyszak. Both are fairly good insights at the soldier/gladiator level for those classes of Roman society. It breaks the big picture history down into the nitty gritty details quite well.

Definitely not forks. Those were invented in the middle ages, and not commonly used till the 17-18c. (Louis XIV to the end of his life sneered at courtiers who were too dainty to use their fingers like God intended...)

callalily61 said:

LOL. Thanks. I'm really hoping for knives here...

Click to expand...

Maybe a blunt instrument? Check out the banquet of Trimalchio from the Satyricon for a reasonably detailed depiction of a banquet hosted by a nouveau riche type.

Useful link: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/petronius-satyricon-feast.asp

EDIT: Admittedly that's just an opener. Petronius drew out the banquet quite a bit longer. I remember there is a great werewolf anecdote in there too.