Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town

Author(s): Mary Beard

European

WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2008'The world's most controversial classicist debunks our movie-style myths about the Roman town with meticulous scholarship and propulsive energy' Laura Silverman, Daily MailThe ruins of Pompeii, buried by an explosion of Vesuvius in 79 CE, offer the best evidence we have of everyday life in the Roman empire. This remarkable book rises to the challenge of making sense of those remains, as well as exploding many myths: the very date of the eruption, probably a few months later than usually thought; or the hygiene of the baths which must have been hotbeds of germs; or the legendary number of brothels, most likely only one; or the massive death count, maybe less than ten per cent of the population.An extraordinary and involving portrait of an ancient town, its life and its continuing re-discovery, by Britain's favourite classicist.


Product Information

Mary Beard is a professor of classics at Newnham College, Cambridge, and the classics editor of the TLS. Her books include the acclaimed The Roman Triumph and The Parthenon (in the Wonders of the World series of which she is general editor).

General Fields

  • : 9781846684715
  • : Profile Books Limited
  • : Profile Books Ltd
  • : 0.334
  • : November 2010
  • : 198mm X 129mm X 24mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Mary Beard
  • : Paperback
  • : 1504
  • : English
  • : 937.02
  • : 368
  • : HBJD
  • : Illustrations (some col.), maps, ports. (some col.)