cathyr19355: Stock photo of myself (Default)
cathyr19355 ([personal profile] cathyr19355) wrote2008-10-19 10:59 pm

Book recommendations

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.

Re: Another volume on the subject ...

[identity profile] cathyr19355.livejournal.com 2008-10-26 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Sounds like a lot of fun; I'll have to keep an eye out for it. Thanks.