A highly engaging, well thought-out book. The author dares to have an opinion--very refreshing.
The upper classes were diminished by low birth rates and had to be augmented by people who, several generations ago, were slaves. Those of the upper classes who survived considered the burden of empire too great they simply could not provide the leadership or the administration necessary for such a great enterprise. Finally, the education system did not teach their upper-class students to wrestle with real-life problems, and completely avoided subjects like philosophy and science which could have given them the enthusiasm and the tools to beneficially modify their society.

I sense the beginnings of some of the unfortunate Latin traits which followed the Iberians to South America.

Were it not for the customer reviews below, I would have rejected this book for having three strikes against it: it was written in 1940, an English translation (groan) from French, and published by a university press -- a prescription for dated unreadablity. But not so! Though at first the typeface and writing style feel a little anachronistic (and the first chapter does NOT represent the richness to come), it quickly becomes charming and flowing. And what a bounty of fascinating detail is packed into its pages!
I wholly agree with what my unknown compatriots below have said. I can only add that I finished it with that rare, dejected feeling of "Oh, no! I've run out of book!"

Reading Jérôme Carcopino's timeless account of life in ancient Rome brings the reader back to the dark, narrow, crowded Roman streets, flanked on both sides by teetering, five-story tenements. Although written in a style of long ago, therein lies the charm of this book. Jérôme Carcopino has effortlessly summoned 1st and 2nd Century Rome back to life. And what a society of contrasts he evokes: on the one hand, the highly refined aspects of Roman society, epitomized by the public baths, the public parks, the theater, and the dinners hosted by the wealthy for their friends; on the other hand, he describes compellingly the dark side of Roman society, in particular, slavery and the gladiatorial games which entertained the Roman public with the appallingly casual slaughter of both man and beast. His detailed accounts depict horrific spectacles pitting man against man, man against beast, beast against beast -- and woman against dwarf. The most interesting part of his book, though, is his insight respecting the toxic impact slavery had upon Roman society, both upon the poor pleb in general and upon the Roman family in particular. This book is a must for anyone captivated by Roman social history.

This innovative and deliciously illustrated guide to the arts of Greece and Rome is composed in a light-hearted, humorous vein and provides as much entertainment as artistic edification. Furthermore, its unique exploration of Greek art through the prism of Roman culture offers a refreshing new perspective on the development of the wildly influential high classicism of the empire. In short, a delightful and beautiful book.

Beard and Henderson use as their primary focus - the temple at Bassae - to introduce the wide world of Classics and classical inquiry to the reader. It's a fascinating and enjoyable read. The use of Bassae as the focus of the introduction lends the text a cohesiveness that is so often lacking in introductory Classical works. They show how the discovery of the temple leads one to questions about history, Greek societal structure, morality, Greek cultural norms, the relation of Romans to Greeks (and Egyptians to Greeks), etc. Very very good book. Highly recommended.

Religions of Rome, volumes I &II by Doctors Beard, North and Price is an invaluable work that is a necessity for any student of Classical Civilization, as the Oxford Classical Dictionary and H.H. Scullard's Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic. Throughout my years of study in the university, I have come to rely upon the work as a base for any research that I would embark upon. In this vein, I have to state that the exhaustive Chicago footnotes and bibliography are of extreme help when one needs to seek further primary and secondary source materials. In terms of the book's writing, I declaim with confidence that this is one of the few works to be written by committee and is better off for its. The text reviews subject matter in detail while remaining concise with subject matter placed into collection via topic related to epoch. Again, this work is the basis of any Classicist library and shall serve one diligently thought out one's life.

This book was a delight. From its easy to find and useful information, to the illustrations peppered throughout. In clear and easy to understand language, this book answers questions and gives the reader enough information to continue questioning her doctor if she wants to know more. I can recommend this to anyone at just about any stage of pregnancy. (I found it about halfway through mine, and read it cover to cover in two days.)

Mary Beard's The Invention of Jane Harrison (Revealing Antiquity 14) perfectly illustrates the frightening, hilarious, and absurd situation occurring the world over in academia today. And the book's publisher is none less than Harvard University Press. Beard clearly has connections in high places.

Beard has unearthed-I use 'unearthed' here in its figurative sense-a lot of 'new'--or, 'recent,' 'current'--'information'--by which I hope to suggest 'information' as a new paradigm in the process of 'evolution'---about Harrison-by which I purposely refer to not 'Jane Harrison' 'herself' but to the constellation of thoughts, theories, and 'historical' ideas which we generally assume to be 'identical' with its 'subject'-by this I am suggesting that the unconscious 'assumption' of a biographical 'subject' by both 'author' and the 'assumed' reader is a fallacy--by 'fallacy,' I suggest not its 'original' meaning of 'guile' or 'trickery' but its present-day usage of a plausible 'idea' based around-I use 'around' in the figurative sense in this case--a false inference-with which 'she,'-- by which I refer to 'Beard'-who is not 'identical' to a living person but an abstract idea we agree to refer to as 'Mary Beard'--could have made remarkable use.

As 'Beard'-not the facial hair worn by men but the 'author'-is an Cambridge 'scholar'-in itself an 'elitist' conception worth challenging-'she,' by which I hope to suggest to the 'reader' 'author' 'Beard,' and not the conceptual formation which 'we' are using as our 'subject' and calling 'Jane Harrison'-might have made better use of if 'turned over'-in the figurative sense-her 'findings'-by which I intend to suggest that elements of existence-by 'existence' I do not make use of Sartre's conception of 'such' or imply an 'existential' 'imperative'-can be 'lost' and 'recovered' though perhaps, as man--men and women inclusive--are limited to five (5) 'senses'-'senses' being an idea formation worth 'investigating'--have always been, in 'fact' present but not until 'now'-not the moment I am writing, creating, and 'thinking' this--but the moment it is conceivably 'perpetually'--that is to say, 'infinite' but not in the theological sense--being absorbed in the literal--I use 'literal' literally here--sense--not to be mistaken for 'senses' above--by its presumed 'reader'-or 'readers'--

If the reader can stomach 150 very small pages (the rest is documentation) of useless, loopy backtracking, second-guessing text, and Beard's inability to write a straight sentence without multiple unnecessary qualifications, then this book, which can confidently assume nothing and finds its style clearly necessary and delightful, might find an audience, if said readers are willing to push through and come out the other side exhausted, none the wiser, and empty handed.

The Invention of Jane Harrison is primarily about Mary Beard and her thought processes, and presents Harrison--when it finally forgets itself and remembers to deliver her up-as a kind of stuffed partridge in an Edwardian museum display case. Pretentious, smug, and yet so nice and gentile, this book rightly belongs on no one's shelf. By taking on such an eminent subject, Beard mortally underscores her vacuity as a writer and thinker. ...Forget the logrolling praise this project has received. For cynical careerists only. Everyone else, run for the hills.

Jane Ellen Harrison, a pioneer for women in classical studies in British academic circles, has had a fluctuating reputation in and out of her profession. Her "Prolegomena" had a good reception among the scholars who dominated work in ancient Greek religion in the first half of the twentieth century, but its sequel, "Themis," had to wait decades for appreciation, by which time its use of social anthropology was beginning to show its age. Awareness of her work may be strongest among: (a) feminists; and (b) those interested in the myth-and-ritual "school" with which, along with Gilbert Murray and F. M. Cornford, she is generally associated.

A biography was announced not long after her death in 1928, but a full treatment had to wait for Sandra J. Peacock's "Jane Ellen Harrison: The Mask and the Self," in 1988, which revealed a good deal more than earlier sketches. These tended to be laudatory, or else dismissive remarks on the obsolete views of a dead colleague. (She had left no students in professional posts to defend their teacher, her male proteges having been part of the generation lost to World War I).

Beard attempts a re-evaluation of Harrison's life, career, and place in the history of classical studies. Parts of her presentation of academic infighting and jealousies will fascinate those already familiar with players, or interested in group dynamics, and evidently bore others, but these accounts, based on ample documentation, seem more solid than her speculations about Harrison's closely-guarded inner life. Beard's reflections on the muddled evidence and the myth-making process at work in official biographies will be of interest mostly to those already acquainted with the literature.

A major problem with Beard's argument is that so much of Harrison's posthumous reputation rests on people and movements outside the circle of professional classicists. E. S. Strong, her preferred rival for Harrison's position as a leading woman in the academic world of the time, was a hard-working archeologist specializing in early Italy. Besides the problem of associating with the Fascist regime during the years in which Harrison's posthumous public reputation was being promoted by her friends, Strong was not dealing with matters of great interest to a wide public. Harrison, with her analysis of Greek myth and religion in terms of basic human needs and anxieties, and her use of ancient popular culture and superstitions to re-interpret familiar classics, was surely a better candidate as a heroine whose work, while sometimes difficult to follow, was often exciting. I found Beard's work informative, and frequently very interesting, but too narrowly focussed to explain Harrison's continuing prestige.