Mary Beard 
Laughter in Ancient Rome 
On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up

What made the Romans laugh? Was ancient Rome a carnival, filled with practical jokes and hearty chuckles? Or was it a carefully regulated culture in which the uncontrollable excess of laughter was a force to fear—a world of wit, irony, and knowing smiles? How did Romans make sense of laughter? What role did it play in the world of the law courts, the imperial palace, or the spectacles of the arena?




Laughter in Ancient Rome explores one of the most intriguing, but also trickiest, of historical subjects. Drawing on a wide range of Roman writing—from essays on rhetoric to a surviving Roman joke book—Mary Beard tracks down the giggles, smirks, and guffaws of the ancient Romans themselves. From ancient ‘monkey business’ to the role of a chuckle in a culture of tyranny, she explores Roman humor from the hilarious, to the momentous, to the surprising.  But she also reflects on even bigger historical questions. What kind of history of laughter can we possibly tell? Can we ever really ‘get’ the Romans’ jokes?

Table des matières

Preface


1. Introducing Roman Laughter: Dio’s ‘Giggle’ and Gnatho’s Two Laughs


PART ONE

2. Questions of Laughter, Ancient and Modern

3. The History of Laughter

4. Roman Laughter in Latin and Greek


PART TWO

5. The Orator

6. From Emperor to Jester

7. Between Human and Animal—Especially Monkeys and Asses

8. The Laughter Lover


Afterword

Acknowledgments

Texts and Abbreviations

Notes

References

List of Illustrations and Credits

Index

A propos de l’auteur

Mary Beard is Professor of Classics at Cambridge University. Her many books include The Roman Triumph and The Fires of Vesuvius.