Book recommendations

[cathyr19355]

I'd like to recommend the following books: Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day and Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day. They are cultural histories of ancient Athens (say, of Socrates's day) and ancient Rome (say, early Republic), framed as though they were modern travel guides. So far as I can tell from my previous knowledge, the facts in both are, for the most part, correct, and the writing is witty and marvelous. At $18.95 apiece (they're British imports), they're not cheap, but they are fun. As you can see from the links, Amazon has them, as does Barnes & Noble, and I found one of them at my favorite family-run bookstore, so they are available.

Comments

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Did you know that the ancient Romans were tourists themselves?

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

Yes, and the author of Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day points that fact out as well.

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

Perrottet's book looks as though it would be a lot of fun as well.

Another volume on the subject ...

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, Cathy!

... was titled, IIRC, _Route 66 AD_. Borrowed it from the Virginia Beach library when I was there amout five years ago. Remember it was worth reading. Should you see a copy on sale cheap, grabbit.

Yours, John Desmond

Re: Another volume on the subject ...

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a lot of fun; I'll have to keep an eye out for it. Thanks.