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Anthony Everitt

SPQR: A Roman Miscellany

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SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus.

A moreishly entertaining and richly informative miscellany of facts about Rome and the Roman world.

Do you know to what use the Romans put the excrement of the kingfisher? Or why a dinner party invitation from the emperor Domitian was such a terrifying prospect? Or why Roman women smelt so odd?

The answers to these questions can be found in SPQR, a compendium of extraordinary facts and anecdotes about ancient Rome and its Empire. Its 500-odd entries range across every area of Roman life and society, from the Empress Livia's cure for tonsillitis to the most reliable Roman methods of contraception.

334 printed pages
Copyright owner
Head of Zeus
Publication year
2014
Publisher
Head of Zeus

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  • Антон Терещукhas quoted7 years ago
    Sexual virility in a man was something to be proud of. Caesar had a reputation as a sexual omnivore, and both sexes were on the menu. When it was quipped that he was ‘the husband of all women and the wife of all husbands’, there was as much envy as criticism in the remark.
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    • Антон Терещукhas quoted7 years ago
      object of desire or in one kind of sexual practice was suspect. There was nothing wrong with sodomy, but you shouldn’t specialize in it (or anything else): a varied diet was best.
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      • Антон Терещукhas quoted7 years ago
        Nor did the Romans have any idea of sexual status, of being gay or straight. Sex was what one did, not what one was; in Rome it didn’t matter much whom you fancied—man or woman, boy or girl. Homosexual behaviour was widespread and generally acceptable. However, taking pleasure exclusively in one
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