Ancient Rome in So Many Words

by Christopher Francese

The word histories in this book use language as a window into the culture of ancient Rome. The hidden stories behind common Latin words illustrate interesting aspects of Roman life, while more rare terms shed light on noteworthy facets of this ancient culture. Avoiding traditional caricatures of the Romans as uniquely noble or depraved, this book uses the Latin vocabulary to figure out what mattered to the Romans themselves, and how they thought about it. Interweaving quotations, anecdotes, and analysis in a lighthearted and readable way, Francese holds the mirror of language up to the obsessions and blind spots of the Romans, and by extension to some of our own as well. * Includes word histories of almost 100 classical Latin terms
* Divided by areas of social life, such as childhood, status & class, technology, debauchery, crime & punishment, and insults
* Features common words like dignitas , plebs , and alumnus , and rare terms like fascinum , pistor , and carnifex

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Language, Ebooks

248 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2007

Reviews

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The official blurb about this book is accurate. A series of one-page descriptions of important (and not so important) Latin words illustrating aspects of Roman life and also reminding us that our assumptions about the way things must always have been are not necessarily accurate. (What exactly was a pater familias? I thought I knew, but it's more nuanced than I realized.) A great book to keep by the bedside. Read just one page a night and in a few months become a Better Person!

[Kilian Metcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

From childhood (crepundia) to death (monumentum), this book takes a look at ancient Rome one word at a time. Some words look familiar but have very different meanings for the Romans than they do for us. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Roman history or word origins.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. It's linguistically and culturally rich. It's a quick read and worthwhile, too.

[Dolores · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating little book on the origins and meanings of many words that have come down to us from Roman times. Roman history and word origins are two of my favorite things!!

[Anson Cassel Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

One detriment of pseudo-historical films like Gladiator is that the undereducated are encouraged to believe that Romans were “just like us.” Francese’s well-written study of more than ninety more-or-less important Latin words is a good antidote to such thinking.

In his preface, Francese confesses to making idiosyncratic decisions about which words to include; but he has made his choices thoughtfully and has well fulfilled his goal to use (sometimes secondary meanings of) Latin words to “tell some of the central stories of Roman history and culture.” This book can be profitably read by an educated general reader with no knowledge of Latin, but it is a gold mine of quotable material for both teachers of the language and professors of ancient history.

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has floated on my Kindle for a while. It's a good floater because it's a collection of short entries. So whenever I was deciding what to read next, I read this. It tells the origin and usage of Latin words in Ancient Rome. The book gives you a piece by piece picture of the culture of the Roman Empire. I would enjoy a sequel just as much.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend Chris's book. He's super smart and cool, and I love Rome. The edition is coming out any day now.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read, but a bit tedious at times.
I learned a lot about the Romans and their lives by looking at some of their words.

[Stephen Kibler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather interesting stuff.