Memento Mori: What the Romans Can Tell Us About Old Age and Death

Author:   Peter Jones
Publisher:   Atlantic Books
Edition:   Main
ISBN:  

9781786494825


Pages:   224
Publication Date:   03 October 2019
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

Our Price $24.99 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

Memento Mori: What the Romans Can Tell Us About Old Age and Death


Add your own review!

Overview

In this revealing and entertaining guide to how the Romans confronted their own mortality, Peter Jones shows us that all the problems associated with old age and death that so transfix us today were already dealt with by our ancient ancestors two thousand years ago. Romans inhabited a world where man, knowing nothing about hygiene let alone disease, had no defences against nature. Death was everywhere. Half of all Roman children were dead by the age of five. Only eight per cent of the population made it over sixty. One bizarre result was that half the population consisted of teenagers. From the elites' philosophical take on the brevity of life to the epitaphs left by butchers, bakers and buffoons, Memento Mori ('Remember you die') shows how the Romans faced up to this world and attempted to take the sting out of death.

Full Product Details

Author:   Peter Jones
Publisher:   Atlantic Books
Imprint:   Atlantic Books
Edition:   Main
Dimensions:   Width: 12.90cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 19.80cm
Weight:   0.197kg
ISBN:  

9781786494825


ISBN 10:   1786494825
Pages:   224
Publication Date:   03 October 2019
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

Table of Contents

1: Lifespan 2: Young versus old: a brief digression 3: The death of children 4: The trials of old age 5: Facing up to death 6: Exemplary and ignominious deaths 7: Cicero's De Senectute: 'On Old Age' . 8: Death and burial 9: Epitaphs and the afterlife 10: Epilogue: Memento Mori

Reviews

An enjoyable, engaging and educational book that makes ancient attitudes on mortality accessible to us all. * Lucia Marchini, Minerva * An often amusing, always illuminating, guide which offers an intriguing vantage point at which to examine Roman life. * All About History * Fascinating... It is learned but an easy read, a rare combination. -- Christopher Howse * Daily Telegraph *


Fascinating... It is learned but an easy read, a rare combination. -- Christopher Howse * Daily Telegraph * An often amusing, always illuminating, guide which offers an intriguing vantage point at which to examine Roman life. * All About History * An enjoyable, engaging and educational book that makes ancient attitudes on mortality accessible to us all. * Lucia Marchini, Minerva * 'Like everything else Jones writes, Eureka! is packed with intriguing nuggets for novices and experts alike... He flits between the beautiful and the banal, never missing a good story' Natalie Haynes, The Times * Natalie Haynes, The Times, on Eureka! * Jones is a storyteller at heart, unashamed to entertain while educating by stealth, as all the best teachers do. * Spectator on Eureka *


Author Information

Peter Jones was educated at Cambridge University and taught Classics at Cambridge and at Newcastle University, before retiring in 1997. He has written a regular column, 'Ancient & Modern', in the Spectator for many years and is the author of various books on the Classics, including the bestselling Learn Latin and Learn Ancient Greek, as well as Reading Virgil's Aeneid I and II, Vote for Caesar, Veni, Vidi, Vici, Eureka! and Quid Pro Quo.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

Aorrng

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List