The Long Shadow of Antiquity : What Have the Greeks and Romans Done for Us?

Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Introduction: Knowing yourself -- 1. The bare necessities: Food and shelter -- You are what you eat: Food and drink -- Come to my banquet: The social experience of dining -- Combine these ingredients: Cookbooks -- A roof over your head I: Apartments -- A roof over your head II: Private homes -- It makes the world go round: Money -- 2. From the cradle to the grave: The family and the journey of life -- First steps: Childhood -- Learning your lessons: Education -- Tying the knot: Marriage -- The game of love: Sexuality -- Respect your elders: Old age -- In memoriam: Burial -- Counting out time: The calendar -- Fun for all: Holidays and festivals -- 3. Living the good life: Entertainments and leisure activities -- Looking good: Athleticism and the perfect body -- Faster, higher, stronger: Sports and athletic competitions -- Superstars: Champion and celebrity athletes -- The adoring mob: Fans and spectators -- A roll of the dice: Games and gambling -- A soothing soak: Baths and bathing -- Going abroad: Travel and tourism -- 4. Power to the people: Systems of government -- Man, the political animal: Politics and the ancient city -- The great experiment: Athens and the birth of democracy -- Democracy part I: The good -- Democracy part II: The bad -- Democracy part III: And the ugly -- Government by representation: The Roman Republic -- Looking backwards to go forwards: The Founding Fathers and Classical Antiquity -- The Empire strikes back: Another Roman model of government -- 5. Understanding and shaping the material world: Architecture and science -- The two most influential buildings in the world -- Mapping where we live: City planning -- The bones of a city: Infrastructure -- Putting it together: Building methods and design elements -- Theaters for entertainment, arches for boasting.

I've got a question: The first scientist-philosophers -- Practical and not-so-practical science: Engineers and inventors -- A healthy body and a healthy mind: Medicine -- 6. Understanding and shaping the spiritual world: Superstition and religion -- Better safe than sorry: Superstitions -- Unnatural powers: Magic and witchcraft -- Keep away from me: The evil eye -- It's all in the stars: Astrology -- The supernatural: Ghosts, werewolves, and vampires -- A world full of gods: Greek and Roman religious beliefs -- You can have only one God: The rise of Christianity -- How to worship: Prayer, sacrifice, priests, and divination -- A visit to church: Christianity borrows from paganism -- Gods or devils? The demonization of paganism -- 7. Words, ideas, and stories: Language, law, philosophy, and literature -- The building blocks of language: The alphabet -- Dead languages live again: The influence of Greek and Latin -- A few words about words: Some classical words and phrases -- And justice for all: The law -- Thinking big thoughts: Philosophy -- Universal archetypes: Classical myths -- From epic to slapstick: Poetry and theater -- The joy of reading: Novels, biographies, and advice manuals -- Retelling old tales: Modern versions of ancient stories -- 8. You can't escape the past: Popular culture and antiquity -- Down the hole: Rediscovering antiquity -- Antiquity invades the silver screen: Film and television -- From awe to consumerism: The diminution and domestication of antiquity -- A day in the life: The ancient world lives on -- 9. Ancient and modern parallels: Environmental problems, celebrities and fashion, and globalization and cultural assimilation -- Environmental issues: Deforestation -- Ancient attitudes toward natural resources -- Pollution and climate change -- Celebrities and cults of personality -- Celebrities in the ancient world.

The celebrity power couple phenomenon -- Fashion and status -- Hair and status -- The battle of the beards -- Dressing for difference and embodying virtue -- One world, one culture: Hellenization and Romanization -- Familiarity and otherness: The past really is a strange land -- Bibliography -- Index.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.