Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town

Name: Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town
Author: Mary Beard
ISBN: 9781847650641

Mary Beard

award won

score

Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town

Mary Beard

award won

score

Pompeii won the Wolfson History Prize 2008. The ruins of Pompeii, buried by an explosion of Vesuvius in 79 CE, offer the best evidence we have of everyday life in the Roman empire. This remarkable book rises to the challenge of making sense of those remains, as well as exploding many myths: the very date of the eruption, probably a few months later than usually thought; or the hygiene of the baths which must have been hotbeds of germs; or the legendary number of brothels, most likely only one; or the massive death count, maybe less than ten per cent of the population. An extraordinary and involving portrait of an ancient town, its life and its continuing re-discovery.

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