Stupid Ancient History (Volume 14)

by Leland Gregory

Best-selling humorist Leland Gregory offers a blockbuster collection of more than 200 bizarre, weird, silly, shocking, and downright outrageous true stories about ancient Greek and Roman history.

New York Times best-selling author Leland Gregory is one of Andrews McMeel Publishing’s most successful noncartoon humorists. Silly, shocking, weird, hilariously funny—and outrageously true —the short anecdotes inside his anthologies of human stupidity are culled from print, online, and broadcast media from all over the world. Inside Stupid Ancient History , Gregory chronicles Greek philosophers, Roman conquerors, and historic mythconceptions, including:

 
— To fight off Roman ships in 300 BC, Carthaginians catapulted live snakes at them.
— The Athenian lawmaker Draco died of suffocation when gifts of cloaks were showered upon him by grateful citizens at an Aegina theater in 620 BC. 
— In ancient Rome, long before the advent of the Christian Bible, Roman men swore to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” by placing their right hand on their testicles. It is from this ritual that we derived the term “ testi mony.”
—  Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus burned to the ground in 356 BC. The arsonist was executed; and to make sure his wish for everlasting fame wouldn’t come true, it was ordered that his name be stricken from all records and never mentioned again. But people will talk. Despite all efforts, his name leaked, and Herostratus is remembered as one of the most notorious firebugs in history. 

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Humor, Historical, Comedy, Reference, Ebooks

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2012

Reviews

[May · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all, ancient graffiti is not that interesting so to fill the book every couple of chapters with it just got downright annoying. But the most grievous part of this book was the lack of organization. There are some humourous elements but the author bounces from civilization to civilization and from time to time period that the reader is too busy dealing with whiplash then trying to piece everything together. For example, the last couple of chapters dealt with the author's minor obsession with ancient dentistry which is interesting but it's smack in the middle between chapters on politics and military conquests. There were also two chapters on focusing on the "influence" of ancient Chinese civilization which was nice but just seemed so out of place in this book. Since I did manage to finish reading this book, I give it a 2 mostly for effort but lacking in execution.

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have ever seen Horrible History (TV in UK and on Amazon in US) you know about these little snippets of History related because they humorous, silly or stupid. Since this book is for adults not children you will lean about penis and scatological graffiti.

These are short bits which are well suited to casual reading. The formatting of the book with certain sections in a lighter type makes reading on a Kindle a challenge.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

The quips in this book are fun and entertaining, but the author is inconsistent. Sometimes, we are led to believe that a source, like Heroditus' The Histories is basically an encyclopedia, and on the next page we are told that it is basically unbelievable. After about halfway through, these inconsistencies began to capture more of my attention than the historical anecdotes -very unfortunate.

I read the kindle version. The kindle format was lacking what I guess would be fanciful bits of artwork or page turns to separate short stories. This made the transitions less smooth than I imagine they were intended, but I don't know for sure.

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

not what I was expecting, did not see any of these stories as stupid, some were mildly funny but not stupid

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 The only thing bad about reading these informative and fun books is that you are so eager to read more, you can't remember all the cool new facts you just learned.

[Samantha Chew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing

I would recommend as a casual read or coffee table book. It's made up of very short sections, most only a page. The facts are amusing, mostly dry humor.

[Randall Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is always a joy to read these quick reads. They are a very interesting and filled with funny facts about historical events you usually don't hear about. There are random stories about events that can make you chuckle, wince, or just shake your head. There are also things that'll amaze you along the way. There are often time where the author focuses on a topic and you read multiple stories about that specific thing, such as "dentistry" in this book. I have read a few of the other versions and have never been disappointed.

[Mycala · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, but my favorite parts were the things that people wrote on the walls -- with a hammer and chisel -- in the first century. Really? Even then, someone felt the need to stop and write "I wuz here" but it just strikes me as hilarious that they would take the time do it when it required so much more work before the advent of the Sharpie!

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a Leland Gregory book...what else is there to say?

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh L.G., you did it again my friend - good stuff!

[Emmalee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing, although some of the facts aren't as detailed as they could be. The kind of book you stick in the bathroom for a light read.

[Dolores · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and humorous look at ancient history.

[Émilie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun quick read - some topics could have been explored more in depth, but as is, it's a good bathroom read. ;P

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good one from Leland Gregory.

[Darby Riales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! I couldn't put it down. I learned so much. My favorite part was the graffiti from Pompeii. This book is a must-have for anyone who has interest in ancient history!

[Pepper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of little historical tidbits! I learned, laughed, and was surprised at all the things I didn't know. Definitely recommend for history lovers!

[T · Rating 1 out of 5]

A few interesting facts, a hard to follow arrangement, and some items that seemed to be made up. It was chaotic and unorganized. On top of all that I really think he made up some of the facts.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

many enjoyable informations.

[LibraryDanielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

moronic and quite frankly, infantile.
the book tries to be funny but fails. big time. it ends up being crude and tasteless.
i found the book to be rather tacky.

[Shiloh Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent read. I found it entertaining most of the way through. Good for a trip or long car ride

[Read a Book · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disorganized and occasionally false, with some funny/interesting tidbits in between.

[stephanie suh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The purpose of history is to transcend the subjectivity of times in the discovery of the truth about human nature with multidisciplinary approaches that aid in our understanding of the continuity of mankind. In this sense, history is an artifact of a collective human enterprise of culture and society, which mirrors how we humans have been, what we have done, and who we really are from the times immemorial to this date. If this sounds too stuffy and boring with the gravitas of an academic subject filled with dates and names and events to remember for exams, then you will love Stupid Ancient History by Leonard Gregory because it will make you both learned and amused with a course of delightful Amuse- Bouches throughout a solipsistic feast of reading to your heart's content.

Filled with many unknown tidbits of ancient Greek and Roman history, this book is a pleasure to your brain overtly fed by fake-news, ego-inflated memoirs of successful people, revisionist histories in favor of political ideology, and vehemently subjective narratives of self-proclaimed outsiders away from the realities of daily lives. It’s also refreshingly accessible to all, average and academic, which shows the humble and benign character of the author who, despite his wealth of knowledge on the subject, translates the words of an academic into those of a student seemingly with a general reader in mind. The book reveals it all; it ranges from Cleopatra VII Thea Philopather, (aka Mark Anthony’s Egyptian Lover, who wasn’t really Egyptian) to Pliny the Elder, who believed that pouring vinegar over ships gave them some slight protection against storms, to Emperor Nero, who didn’t play the violin during the Great Fire of Rome but paid out of his pocket for the provisions and housing for the homeless due to the fire, to the great ancient thinker Plato, the name meaning “wide, broad, broad-shouldered” betrayed his real name Aristocres, and to many others that will wow your brain conditioned to believe what they weren’t really.

It’s a really a Eureka experience that you will get from reading this delightful book, and you will feel effortlessly erudite in the knowledge of history and positively enriched with the knowledge of humankind that has not changed a bit according to the racy but playfully innocent scribbles found in the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii. What’s more, by adopting the in-vogue trend of using short episodic vignettes, the book doesn’t require your following the entire chapters to sequence the narrative and makes it a very pleasing and flexible read for the benefit of simple mental pleasure. So, if you want to be conversant with the history of ancient Greece and Rome without being overwhelmed by stuffy words and boring typography in one sitting, this book is the genie to your wish.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would have been improved by an editor or some work on the presentation. Generally, these are quirky facts that history books don't tell. In other circumstances, the author corrects errors in history. For example, Nero couldn't have fiddled while Rome burned because fiddles were invented in the 10th century.

I cannot explain how pitiful the presentation of this book is. It looks like someone cut and pasted things found on the Internet. However, that does not mean that the info is poor or uninteresting. On the contrary, a reader tends to downgrade the information because of the poor look.

The focus of most of this book was ancient times and Greek, Roman, and Egyptian people. For example, Caligula was never called that to his face. Instead, he got the nickname "little army boot" (what Caligula means in Latin) while on military campaigns with his father, Germanicus.

Although the book seems to be for children, I don't recommend it. Lots of the information is inappropriate for youngsters.

[Sara Tiede · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, light reading. As the cover illustration suggests, the ancient history focused on is heavily Greco-Roman, with a decent amount of Egyptian and middle eastern history to round out, but there are a few sprinkled facts about further afield ancient peoples. A couple tidbits about early America and ancient China sneak their way in. It is not, nor is it intended to be, a very in depth or detailed study of anything, but it's excellent for catching the interest and leading to more in-depth reading elsewhere.

[Chani Kynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent the entire read trying to decide if I liked this book or not. I hate the way it is set up. It changes time periods and locations on a whim. It periodically became quite confusing with the jumping back and forth. I thought some stories were cute and funny and several times I thought these would make great obscure Jeopardy questions. But, over all it was just meh.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this book had a different title. I figured it was going to be full of funny, stupid moments of history. While there definitely was some of that, it mostly was a really interesting ancient history fact book that had some really neat information in it.

[Lon Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat interesting but much info is already out there in other sources of interesting history. Also the random personal reactions and interjections of the author were at times uncalled for and marginally inappropriate

[Miss Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had encountered many of these before, but there were some interesting bits, especially linguistic anecdotes.

[Karen Cowgill · Rating 4 out of 5]

People, ancient or modern, are just so dang amazing!!

[Tiffany Zeisler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot about history.

Entertaining and easy to read, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author. Recommended.