Pompeii
The Life of a Roman Town
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4.3 • 8 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
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 Mail
The 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.
Customer Reviews
Great narrative but don’t use as guide
Really enjoyed reading this book. Beard is great at really bringing Pompeii to life while simultaneously telling us the facts very accurately. However, it is not great as a guide book. I felt I knew a lot, but when I turned up and walked around, I didn’t really have a good idea of what everything was and where it was in the book. Due to the way images are handled, it was very difficult to see what the numbers are on the map. Moreover, it was very hard to find information on each site (I had forgotten), because Beard scatters places throughout the book that make for good storytelling, but not for finding information on each place. In short, good for its intended purpose but don’t try and use as guide.