Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants: Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans

by Garrett Ryan

Why didn't the ancient Greeks or Romans wear pants? How did they shave? How likely were they to drink fine wine, use birth control, or survive surgery? In a series of short and humorous essays, Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants explores some of the questions about the Greeks and Romans that ancient historian Garrett Ryan has answered in the classroom and online. Unlike most books on the classical world, the focus is not on famous figures or events, but on the fascinating details of daily life. Learn the answers to: How tall were the ancient Greeks and Romans? How long did they live? What kind of pets did they have? How dangerous were their cities? Did they believe their myths? Did they believe in ghosts, monsters, and/or aliens? Did they jog or lift weights? How did they capture animals for the Colosseum? Were there secret police, spies, or assassins? What happened to the city of Rome after the Empire collapsed? Can any families trace their ancestry back to the Greeks or Romans?

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Audiobook, Greece, Ancient, Historical

280 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2021

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those interested in the life of Greece and Rome beyond senatorial politics and agricultural policy, Naked States offers an absolutely entertaining and unexpectedly detailed look at various aspects of Greco-Roman culture. At first glance, the text is simply a series of essays, written in response to questions — some specific, some general, but this is no dry catechesis. Ryan’s lively explanations run cut cross not only the world of the Greek city-states and the Roman realm, but make occasional forays into Persia and Egypt, as well, illustrating how no part of the classical world existed in a vacuum. The essays end with what the author cheekily frames as an ‘irresponsible short’ history of the classical world for anyone who needs a little context. In short, for those with any interest in the goings-on of Greeks and Romans, this is an absolute delight.

It’s almost impossible to do justice to the variety of content contained herein. Although Ryan’s approach isn’t as tightly organized something like the Gies‘ Daily Life in a Medieval Village, or Ian Mortimer’s wide-ranging social histories of England, it nevertheless succeeds in offering a panoramic view into Greek and Roman life, across classes. Each question opens an entire avenue of consideration: “Were gladiators really fat?” for instance, is answered in an essay covering the entire scope of gladiatorial games in Rome, with an extra focus on their diet. Given how much more information is available about the emperors and upper classes, there’s a slight preponderance of patrician topics, but this isn’t a book just about the aristocrats. Some of its more memorable offerings include a comparative study of how nudism was treated in the classical world, a history of how our delightfully composite calendar got that way, a consideration of slavery in Greco-Roman societies, a survey of how Roman buildings were treated as the western order gave way (plundered, mostly, even the emperor’s tombs), and a comparison of sporting events in both Greece and Rome. (The Romans found the Greek obsession with the Olympics a little weird, except for Nero — he insisted on hosting his own games, in which he ‘competed’ — and won in a chariot race despite falling out of the the chariot and finishing third). Ryan provides a skillful mix of useful, general info and more interesting-but esoteric content, with just enough humor to make it playful but not so much that it veers toward the trivial.

Recommended!

[Adam K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is essentially a collection of interesting and fun facts about Ancient Greek and Roman history assembled into a Q&A format (What kind of pets did they have? How dangerous were their cities? Did they travel for pleasure? Was the Oracle of Delphi high on fumes? etc.). Condensing a topic as complicated as Ancient Greek and Roman history, politics, culture, society, art, and religion down to bite-sized pieces is a difficult task. However, I think that Garrett Ryan did an admirable job at distilling things into fairly straight-forward sounding answers to the questions which he poses. Naturally, almost every sentence in this book belies an interesting anecdote or glosses over a massive amount of information, but going into all that would defeat the purpose of this book. That being said, even in a more simplified form, the sheer volume of facts presented without in-depth context make it difficult to imagine many readers being able to recall a great many of them after finishing the book.

This is a sort of pop-history book with fun information about Ancient Greeks and Romans that would likely appeal to someone who has not had much exposure to Classical Antiquity, and I think it accomplishes that task fairly well.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boil off all the flesh and leave the bones, and you've got Naked Statues ... and its take on the Greeks and the Romans. It is quick and dirty and fun, and it is particularly useful for anyone who knows Rome and Greece in antiquity but needs a refresher. It is a little cheese souffle, well executed because it never falls and it tastes delicious, but maybe it needed to be on an other menu and needed to be slightly better seasoned. No matter. It is good enough. No time was wasted, but I did walk away wanting a wee bit more.

[Zygintas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pirmas sakinys: Einate žmonių pilna senųjų Atėnų gatve.

"Pradžios žodyje" autorius Garrett Ryan knygą pristato taip:
"<...> Jei jums bent sykį gyvenime buvo parūpę, kada romėnai ėmė dėvėti kelnes, ar graikai tikėjo savo pačių mitais, kokie darbai Antikoje buvo dosniausiai apmokami arba kas Koliziejui tiekdavo liūtus, jūs nesuklydote atsivertę šią knygą. Čia esama daug ko: paslapčių ir magijos, gladiatorių ir žudikų, puikaus vyno ir kovos dramblių.
Pateikiami atsakymai – ne kas kita kaip glaustos iki šiol sukauptų mokslinių žinių santraukos, paskanintos iš senųjų šaltinių pasiskolintais anekdotais ir papildytos autorių teisių nesaugomomis iliustracijomis. Nė nemėginsiu apsimesti, jog tekstai pateikia išsamius atsakymus, nes informacijos tėra tiek, kiek įmanu sutalpinti keliuose maksimaliai koncentruotuose puslapiuose, tačiau nuoširdžiai tikiuosi, kad jie sužadins jūsų smalsumą. Visi atsakymai į klausimus – tai viso labo bazinė informacija apie senovės Graikijos ir Romos gyventojus. O kadangi visuomet pravartu remtis kontekstu, knygos pabaigoje, priede, pateikiu labai trumpą Antikos pasaulio istoriją. Jei pradžiai norite bendresnio vaizdo, rekomenduoju pirmiausia perskaityti priedą. Jei ne, imkitės klausimų ir atsakymų." (9-10 p.)

Pradžioje truputį papurkštavau, kad atsakymas į klausimą kodėl? nepateikiamas, tačiau tas užkliuvo tik pirmajame skyriuje, kuriame toks klausimas ir yra: "Kodėl graikai ir romėnai nedėvėjo kelnių?" (skyriuje pateikiamas tik faktas, kad nedėvėjo, ir pasakoma, ką nešiojo).
Šiek tiek bendro filosofinio skepsio įneša sakiniai apie tai, ką ir kaip Antikos žmonės galvojo ar jautėsi ("Daugumai graikų ir romėnų visas gyvenimas buvo ištisa kova, tad ir sukūrus šeimą tekdavo imtis sudėtingų sprendimų. Dažniausiai jie būdavo daromi iš išskaičiavimo, tačiau nereikėtų manyti, kad priimti juos buvo lengva", 34 p.).
Ir labai išmuša iš vėžių priedo "Labai trumpa Antikos pasaulio istorija" netikslumai, kuriuos turėjo taisyti vertėjas Darius Krasauskas: 302 p. (Antrasis triumviratas), 308 p. (kad Konstantinas įkūrė Konstantinopolį) ir kt.

Tačiau tai tik smulkmenos – knyga įdomi, pagauli, kokybiška. 30 skyrių apie senovės graikų ir romėnų kasdienybę, visuomenę, įsitikinimus, sportą ir laisvalaikį, karus ir politiką bei paveldą (taip ir pavadintos penkios knygos dalys).

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

In quirky Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators and War Elephants Historian Garrett Ryan candidly answers questions you were itching to ask, and then some. As a frequent traveler to Rome, I was thrilled to read this informative, witty and educational book, complete with photographs and illustrations on one of my favourite subjects...ancient Roman and Greek life. It is broken down into six parts and within these parts are numerous short chapters.

Learn about innovative "pockets" in clothing, the ban on pants in Rome, painful shaving, pets of the wealthy, surgical instruments and procedures (including liposuction), trepanation, delectable elephant trunks, where the first cookbooks were created, the importance and ostentation of luxurious social gatherings, how time was tracked, wages, dangers (pretty much everything), ability to rent out public torturers if one was too squeamish, mythical beasts, curse tablets, pankration, exercise, swanky carriages, game tickets, "barley boys", inflatable ladders, fighting strategy using scorpions and burning feathers, language including definite and indefinite articles and the end of antiquity. There is so much more, too, as the book brims with fascinating bits. Though educational, you absorb information without studying if you know what I mean. It sticks as it's just so darned interesting!

Roman and Greek History fans truly ought to seek out this dynamite book. Be sure to read...and enjoy...the Appendix! When next in Rome I will definitely see things differently and can hardly wait.

My sincere thank you to Rowman & Littlefield and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this fun and riveting book.

[Sato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just as the title suggests, this book is pretty much a long FAQ section about the Ancient Greeks and the Romans. In short parts questions like 'Did the Greeks and Romans believe in their own myths?', 'How did they capture the animals for the Colosseum?' or 'What kind of pets did they have' are answered. Imagine a collection of anecdotes and fun facts, without getting very academic. Which probably also makes it appealing to people, that aren't that interested in history.

To me that was good, since it was therefore quite easy to read and breeze through, and not so good, since I felt I didn't learn that much and I sometimes just wished there was more. I realize this book wants to provide an overview and wants to stay on the lighter side, but still, I think it is usually the more obscure details that stand out.

Also, even though it might be a strange thing to criticize, I don't know if I truly like the fact that this book covers both the Ancient Greeks and the Romans. Sure, I get it, Rome and Greece were close, they shared a pantheon, there are many connections and influences, but still, not everything was the same. Though it's not uncommon to mix them together in history, I think I would have preferred a focus on one of the two. With that much history, there has to be enough for a whole book, right?

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded to 4

This was a fun and interesting book on the ancient Greeks and Romans. While a fair amount was not new to me (thanks in part to a year of high school Latin), there was plenty to enjoy and learn.

The author uses a Q & A format and divides the sections into 6 sections:
🏺 Daily life
🏺 Society
🏺 Beliefs
🏺 Sports / Leisure
🏺 War / Politics
🏺 Legacies

If you've ever wondered about how they shaved or how the gladiators trained, this is an entertaining look at the past. This is not the big sweep of History, but more the tidbits of life. This definitely could be a springboard to further research - it is not an in-depth analysis. Still it was loads of fun.

One thing he discusses is genealogy - as in 'can you trace your ancestors back to the ancients?' - and he notes that while you might not be able to trace yourself back to a specific person or family (and tells us why), he does say that almost anyone who can trace their ancestry back to Europe is definitely the descendent of the Romans and Greeks. While our differences may *seem* large, we are all related to each other if you go back enough generations.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a hot summer night in Ancient Rome Augustus and his friends get together to watch another episode of two and a half men… I’m just joking lol but isn’t hard to believe how people of the ancient world lived and entertained themselves without the modern technology’s and life that we have today?

Garrett Ryan takes us on a fun filled adventure full of cool interesting facts about how people lived and saw life in Ancient Greece and Rome.

The book is broken down into various parts

- Daily Life
- society
- Beliefs
- sports and Leisure
- War and Politics
- Legacies

Each one gives excellent historical facts about daily life like how did they shave? Did they use weights to workout or did they believe in ghosts or aliens? These are just some of the fun facts that he discusses!

Naked statues, Fat gladiators and war elephants is a great book on ancient history and one I even found funny at times in my own way lol if your looking for fun facts or just wanting to know more about Ancient Greece and Rome this book is for you!

[Marcus Maximilian Augustus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the exact sort of book I wished existed when I was a child first getting interested in Classical history. Packed with information, the dry wit found in his YT channel (toldinstone) is ever present in these bite size chapters. If you've ever wondered what life was like for regular folk during this period, this book will help to explain many different aspects of the times. Recommended to anyone with even a passing interest in the subject matter. This tome has inspired me to continue work on the time machine I'd nearly completed as Rome, circa 150 AD, will be my initial destination! 🤣

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are the back stories of Greek and Roman culture that would have made a World History class a true pleasure.
The Greek and Roman cultures are compared and contrasted on each topic for a balanced approach.
Done in question & answer style by a well-read young history buff, in manageable chapters, the book covers a great portion of everyday life in the Classical world. A gladiator’s diet. Typical pets. Money, “vomitoriums”, sex and alcohol. Crime, superstitions, advertising. Even posters and action figures for the young at heart.
It’s pretty much all there.

A good read.

[B. Rule · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very poor as ancient history, but pretty fun as a supplement to it. Set up in a loose Q&A format, Ryan covers a lot of human-interest questions that often get lost by capital-H History. It's not solely "a day in the life" type stuff, but you get a lot of that, along with some big picture summaries of why things shook out the way they did.

It's not so great as history because Ryan collapses complex issues into soundbites, elides the distinctions between Greek and Roman culture (and changes over time), and often doesn't identify his dramatis personae by name. That said, he backs up more than you would expect to primary sources in the footnotes (which also include some of the juicier detail on his subjects). The tone is basically "amateur, chipper YouTuber summarizes Roman history in three minutes or less." It's an enjoyable and brisk read that includes some humor along the way. Don't rely on it as your single source for ancient history, but you can have some fun if you already know the basics.

[Bogdan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half was very interesting with some new informations (for me) about small details of the daily basis life of the antic greeks and romans, but the second one felt more like a short history of their times.

Still a good read!

[Tim Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a miscellany of interesting facts about the Ancient Greeks and Romans, especially Romans. Almost everyone will learn something from it, whether they have studied the Greco-Roman World for years, or are new to it.

'Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators and War Elephants' mainly covers the 1,000 years from the high point of Ancient Athens in the 5th Century BC to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th Century AD. It also sometimes looks further ahead to Justinian and the early Middle Ages, and, more rarely, back to the earlier, less documented Bronze Age and Archaic Greeks. The author Garrett Ryan is a former academic Classicist and we can mostly trust him to get his facts right. [I have included in Square brackets below information from my own knowledge or internet research not in the book itself.]

Whenever I learn about the Roman Empire, I am struck both by how impressive it was, and how unfair it was.

On the 'impressive' side, we learn here e.g. of the Romans' pioneering use of concrete, made partly from volcanic ash.

On the 'unfair' side, we also learn that the Emperor Augustus had a slave crucified (execution so agonising that it was used when merely cutting the criminal's head off was too merciful) for eating the Emperor's favourite fighting quail.

This book also tells us how the Roman army learned to defeat the armoured war elephants of eastern kingdoms that could devastate the ranks of ancient armies.

Roman anti-elephant tactics included setting light to live pigs, as two things elephants feared were fire and, for some reason, squealing pigs. A panicked elephant attacked anyone, friend or foe, and could cause destruction and disorder in their own sides' army.

We also learn that gladiators were fed a diet designed, not to make them actually fat, which would handicap them in the arena, but plumper than other athletes, with a layer of fat under the skin to help protect their internal organs from serious injury in combat.

Opium (from the still more powerful morphine, heroin and fentanyl are now made) was known and used as an anaesthetic. However, it was rare and expensive. There is no record of anyone taking it often enough to be addicted, with the possible exception of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It was said in Roman times that a good surgeon was indifferent to his patients' screams, suggesting that most operations were without anaesthetic.

Tourism, with a trade in souvenirs, developed in Roman times. Visiting the presumed site of Ancient Troy was popular with educated Romans who had read in Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid that their distant ancestors were fugitives from Troy. Souvenirs one could buy there included a pottery cast of one of Helen of Troy's breasts.

We are told that Latin, as it became the common language of the Western half of the Empire (in the East, Greek predominated), remained a single language while there was sufficient movement of merchants, soldiers and administrators across the Empire to keep dialects and accents close. [We know from how French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese etc. have all lost the Neuter gender, case inflections and Subject- Object- Verb sentence order of Classical Latin that these must have been common developments in late colloquial Latin across the Empire, before Latin broke up into separate languages.

After the Empire fell, long distance trade declined, the professional army ceased to exist and governors and their staffs no longer went from Rome to rule distant provinces. Consequently, local dialects of Latin could develop independently, eventually into separate languages like French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese etc. [Other local Latin based languages might have developed in North Africa and Britain too, had those areas not been conquered by Arabs or Anglo-Saxons, who brought their own languages.]

At times I would have liked more detail. Thus, the chapter on Roman culinary delicacies concentrates on just one, the Moray Eel. This is mostly presented as a chance to say 'Urghh! They actually ate that!', due to the Moray's natural covering of slimy mucus, viciously aggressive character and extra teeth in its throat.

However, the author gives no sign of having tried to find out what Moray eels taste like and hence why Romans loved eating them. [From internet search, they are still eaten in some places like the Canary Islands. A different species of moray eel is eaten in Japan. In both places, people consider the flesh of Moray eels to have a fine flavour and pay high prices for it, but I have been unable to find a more specific description of what they are like to eat.]

[If I was writing about Roman delicacies, I would have mentioned the premium varieties of Fish Sauce, and the spice we call Asafoetida but the Romans called 'laser' and the Greeks 'silphium'; and Pliny the Elder's throw away line that Romans of his day (1st Century AD) did not eat puppies, 'as our ancestors used to do'.

Roman Fish Sauce, apparently made similarly to the Fish Sauce of modern Thailand and Vietnam, from the run off liquid from barrels packed with fermenting fish, usually anchovies, and salt, was an essential ingredient of Roman cuisine. Gourmet variants with no modern equivalents, included 'garum sociorum' ('fish sauce of their companions') made from fish drowned in fish sauce. There was also a fantastically expensive kind, invented by the gourmet Apicius, made just from livers of red mullet and salt.]

[The spice Asafoetida, very popular with Greco-Romans, is still used today in Indian cooking. It has a notoriously powerful, unpleasant smell raw, which disappears in cooking. This made it ideal for a slave owning society. The obnoxious task of handling the raw spice was left to kitchen slaves, whose feelings were unimportant, while the master, his family and guests enjoyed the finished dishes. Its cooked flavour is reminiscent of onion, but without the gas or bad breath that onion or garlic can cause.

Today Asafoetida grows wild in Afghanistan. In ancient times there was another variety, considered superior, and also a natural contraceptive, that grew wild in Libya, until exploited to extinction.]

There are also chapters on divorce, ghosts, the spread of Christianity, espionage and other topics.

This mostly just gives snippets of information about the Ancient World, not a wider picture, although the author gives a short summary of the course of ancient history at the end of the book.

Overall, 'Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators and War Elephants' is good, but earns 4 stars rather than 5 from me.

I have recently taken to Audiobooks, but so far mainly fiction. This was my first nonfiction Audiobook.

An attraction of Audiobooks for me is that I suffer from chronic fatigue, and am sometimes too tired to sit up and read, but can lie down and listen. While this one was fine, I think in future I shall mostly leave Audiobooks for fiction and poetry, for two reasons.

First, reviews of the printed version say it includes notes as to the author's sources of information, making it possible for readers to check them if they wish, and indicating possible further reading. The Audiobook lacks that.

However, an important disadvantage for me is that where I come across a particularly interesting point in a book, I turn down a corner of the page to mark it and go back later to copy out these points in a notebook for future reference. I cannot do that in an Audiobook.

[Daryna Diachok · Rating 5 out of 5]

Прекрасна книжка про побут стародавніх греків та римлян. Читається легко, інформація дійсно цікава. По суті, це відповіді на 36 запитань про античну культуру, але не ту високочолу, а якраз просту - про людей, їхні вподобання і вірування, подорожі, їхню владу. Однозначно рекомендую всім зацікавленим у античності!

[Julius Trautmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

Sehr informativ

[Faustibooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book, which did not come as a surprise to me, as I have been watching and listening to Garrett Ryan's content on YouTube for some time now which I really enjoy. In this book, Ryan answers a set of super intriguing questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans in an FAQ format. These questions are all very interesting and go over different topics. Looking at the daily lives of people, their beliefs, their politics and other topics. These are questions that I did not really think about much, but the moment I read them they immediately aroused my curiosity and I felt like I HAD to know the answer. Some interesting questions Ryan answers include: "What kind of pets did they have?", "How did they keep track of time?", "How long did they live?", "Did they believe their myths?", "Did they believe in ghosts, monsters and/or aliens?", "Did they travel for pleasure?", "How were animals captured for the Colosseum?" and "Why did Latin evolve into multiple languages? Why didn't Greek?".

The way that Garrett Ryan writes is extremely entertaining and engaging. He has such a great way with words and is very funny. He makes witty jokes and remarks but also showcases his great writing skills when describing something, such as what it would have been like walking through the ruins of Rome after the fall of the city, or when he describes what it would have been like trying to get to your seat at the Colosseum. The way he wrote those parts made me feel like I was actually there, strolling through that ancient and mysterious city. The book is filled with countless interesting and sometimes hilarious anecdotes from those strange yet somehow familiar Greeks and Romans.

I recommend this book to literally anyone. Those who have read dozens of books on antiquity will definitely still find things to learn in this book while also finding it very entertaining. Those who don't know anything about the Greeks and Romans will surely also be able to enjoy this book, as Garrett Ryan is simply so good at making this book fun and making each answer just a couple of pages long. He also includes a very short and nice summary of ancient history in an appendix, which is very friendly to any newcomers to the time period.

For those who don't like reading as much, I would definitely recommend Ryan's channel on YouTube called 'toldinstone', which answers similar questions as in this book while being also very entertaining.

Absolutely amazing book that can't get a lower rating than five stars!

[Kevin Haar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Garrett Ryan offers some clever, researched, and interesting answers to questions about the ancient world. Some questions are farfetched and others quite basic. Ryan illuminates everyday life for ancient Greeks and Romans. However, I found this book very difficult to get into. The questions, while arranged by topic, rarely played off one another. I felt like I was gaining a surface level understanding of things, maybe some fun quips for a party, but I'm not sure I retained a much better understanding of ancient peoples. What bothered me most about this book was the lumping together of Greeks and Romans. The author casually flips between the two, sometimes within the same sentence, convoluting the two and making it difficult to distinguish between the two very different cultures. There is plenty to like and lots of fun to be had in this book, it's just ultimately not the style or substance for me.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

As an historian, I tend to be very picky about general interest books, far more so than academic books. And I am thrilled to say, Naked States, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants has passed with flying colours! There are a lot of "daily guide to XYZ period" books out there, and they often end up feeling like a daily encyclopedia. Ryan covers a LOT of material without dragging or making it feel like a chore. He also answers a lot of those seemingly random questions about Greek and Roman that most of us are too afraid to ask! What I particularly enjoyed was the balance of tone and information- although it has something for everyone, whether you are new to the ancient world or long-immersed in it, but it stays light and engaging throughout! All in all, a fantastic history book.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes what could be (and generally is) some pretty dense history and approaches it with bite size, very readable pieces. The individual sections (generally about 4-5 pages) provide a very nice top level review of the ancient Greek & Roman daily life, society, beliefs, etc (while supporting references are there if you really want to dig into the detail.) The appendix "A very short history of the classical world" did a wonderful job of presenting an "irresponsibly short survey" of the history without bogging down in the details. A wonderful read - I recommend it!

[Marc C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Great

I bought the book after hearing Dr Ryan discuss the it on a podcast. I was very disappointed. The FAQ become less and less interesting as the book goes on, especially if you know anything about antiquity. The endless footnotes which the author suggests that you read are annoying distractions. The book is well written and clever in many places, but just not that interesting

[BeckyisBookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun one. Lots of little factoids I wasn't aware of and I caught myself laughing and gasping a few times.

4 rampaging war elephants out of 5 "I'll never not laugh thinking about Augustus kissing Alexander The Great's corpse and breaking off his mummified nose"s

[Martina]

Antická kultúra už po stáročia vzbudzuje záujem všakovakých vzdelancov i laických nadšencov obdivujúcich jedinečnú architektúru či heroické, hoci miestami kontroverzné mýty plné prekáravých bohov a svojhlavých hrdinov, no buďme k sebe úprimní - nájsť detailné texty, ktoré by uspokojivo zasýtili našu zvedavosť, môže byť čas od času náročné.

Dostáva sa nám poriadna porcia kontextom obalenej chronológie i nekonečných radov vyčerpávajúcich dátumov kde-tu prepojených s krkolomnými menami, pod tiažou informácií zredukovaná do formy nezáživného balastu, no odpovede na to skutočne "pikantné", neraz ostávajú skryté. 

Čo si v antických časoch mysleli o víne a prečo ho riedili vodou? Existovala v starovekom Grécku antikoncepcia? A prečo bolo "nevyhnutné", aby trénovali či súťažili nahí?

Na tieto i mnohé ďalšie nezvyčajné, ba občas priam bizarné otázky, upriamuje historik Garrett Ryan pozornosť a v sérii odľahčených, esejisticky pôsobiacich kapitol ponúkajúcich panoramatický pohľad na grécky i rímsky život naprieč viacerými triedami, na ne s humorom odpovedá.

Dotýka sa problematiky spoločenského postavenia i viery, vojenských stratégií i politiky spojenej s intrigánstvom či každodenných problémov svetského života, pričom zároveň uvažuje o ťaživejších temách, ako napríklad otroctvo v grécko-rímskych spoločnostiach.

Nahé sochy, bojové slony a tuční gladiátori je publikáciou, ktorá môže byť kadečím. Prostou, vtipom pretkanou hrou na sto otázok a odpovedí, porovnávacou štúdiou rozpitvávajúcou rozdiely v prístupe k nudizmu či organizovaniu športových podujatí i akousi neformálnou zbierkou odborne-neodborných esejí približujúcich zaujímavosti klasického sveta, no predovšetkým je pútavým čítaním.

[Toby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and highly entertaining, Garrett Ryan’s wit and humor combined with his knowledge of and obvious passion for Antiquity are on full display in each easily digestible chapter. As a longtime fan of his YouTube channel Toldinstone I found myself reading the book in his trademark monotone yet endearing voice. The narrative parts found throughout the book amidst all the facts were incredibly well written and really helped to immerse me in the daily lives of the ancients and I could read another entire book composed solely of these narratives. I really could go on and on about how much I enjoyed this book but honestly you should just read it for yourself and see what I’m talking about!

[Marian · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNFed about halfway though. I gave up. Through many years of research on Rome and Greece individually, I kept pointing out more inaccuracies than I did find out anything new. The choice to mix Ancient Greece (largely not specific to any one city-state) and Ancient Rome within same paragraphs was confusing, overly muddled, and only served to make information less clear rather than add to the point at hand.

Pass.

[Shane Ver Meer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of toldinstone, and Garrett Ryan shines when he puts you in the shoes of a traveler through antiquity. The work is wonderfully concise without being shallow, though as he readily admits, this is still a collection of short essays. Additional reading is provided for those that are interested, and I would recommend this book to anyone who wonders about the less-frequently covered topics of Greco-Roman history. 5 out of 5 Carthago delenda estesses.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to the classical world

This was a leisurely read that answers many basic questions people have about life in the ancient world. Filled with fascinating anecdotes from meticulously researched sources, Garrett Ryan makes learning about ancient history approachable and fun. If you like his YouTube channel, this book is a must read!

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, digestible slices of Roman life. There's a fantastic amount of small details in here that I appreciated. The book attempts to answer a lot of questions about Roman life like "did they have pets?" and "why did they hate pants?". You know, the important stuff.

[Krista Kindschi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️ - Reads like a fun collection of essays about Ancient Greek/Roman fun facts. I really enjoyed it - it was a great way to learn about history while not feeling like I was taking in a dense history textbook. Would definitely recommend if you are are at all interested in the time period!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrifically readable, highly entertaining, and rife with witty wordplay—what's not to love?

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent book that explains how people in ancient Greece and Rome behaved, lived and fought. A really fun read that went too fast and is a must for history buffs.