The Classical Compendium

The Classical Compendium

From the lowdown on Julius Caesar’s love life to an ancient Roman recipe for roast wild boar, The Classical Compendium is a delightful hodgepodge of important and not-so-important facts, stories, jokes and assorted miscellany from ancient Greece and Rome.

It’s a treasure trove of trivia about ancient wonders, prophecies, and even sex and romance, with plenty of informative lists, like the list of military dirty tricks, which includes spiking a town’s drinking water with a laxative, the better to defeat the diarrhea-plagued inhabitants. On the list of ancient careers we find pig-igniters, who set fire to tar-coated pigs and then sent the squealing fireballs bounding toward charging battle-elephants. We also learn the various ways that a dog’s blood, gall bladder, urine and even the froth from a dog’s mouth were used to defend against magic, keep away evil spirits or simply cure warts. And we hear plenty of ancient gossip, including juicy anecdotes about Augustus, Socrates and Vespasian.

The Classical Compendium runs the gamut—from an inscription on the tomb of a dog buried on the isle of Lesbos to some graffiti on a wall in Pompeii. It’s a lively, entertaining romp through antiquity.

Hardcover: 192 pages

Publisher: Thames & Hudson Inc. ( September 28, 2009 )

Item #: 82-8830

ISBN: 9780500051627

Product Dimensions: 5.25 x 8.0 x 0.0 inches

Product Weight: 15.0 ounces