This innovative volume draws on recent research in archaeology, ancient history and the history of medicine to discuss how people in the ancient world understood and dealt with illness and death in the urban environment.

War as Spectacle examines the display of armed conflict in classical antiquity and its impact in the modern world. The contributors address the following questions: how and why was war conceptualized as a spectacle in our surviving ancient Greek and Latin sources? How has this view of war been adapted in post-classical contexts and to what purpose? This collection of essays engages with the motif of war as spectacle through a variety of theoretical and methodological pathways and frameworks. They include the investigation of the portrayal of armed conflict in ancient Greek and Latin Literature, History and Material Culture, as well as the reception of these ancient narratives and models in later periods in a variety of media. The collection also investigates how classical models contribute to contemporary debates about modern wars, including the interrogation of propaganda and news coverage. Embracing an interdisciplinary approach to the study of ancient warfare and its impact, the volume looks at a variety of angles and perspectives, including visual display and its exploitation for political capital, the function of internal and external audiences, ideology and propaganda and the commentary on war made possible by modern media. The reception of the theme in other cultures and eras demonstrates its continued relevance and the way antiquity is used to justify as well as to critique later conflicts.

This innovative volume draws upon recent research in archaeology, ancient history, and the history of medicine to evaluate a wide range of topics including:
* views of ancient disease causation
* public and private health measures
* how the natural and urban environment affected the well-being of the individual
* how the city was organised to protect the health and safety of the living
* how the living sought protection from the polluting influence of both the diseased and the dead.
Lucid and accessible, this work is the first to unite the study of death and disease in antiquity, providing valuable insights into how these factors shaped the ancient city. It will appeal not only to classical scholars and students, but to all those interested in the history of death and disease.

eBook available with sample pages: 020345295X

An original study of the role and rituals of death in Roman civilization.

Death never ceases to fascinate the living and in roman society, where the mortality was high, people were forced to confront the brevity of life and the impact of death. What did death mean and symbolize to the Romans? What does 'roman death' tell the modern reader about ancient society? This accessible and engaging book ranges from suicides, funeral feasts, necromancy and Hades to mourning, epitaphs and posthumous damnation. Impressive in its broad scope and fascinating in the level of detail, Valerie Hope presents the first survey to study death in ancient Rome in such an approachable and authoritative style.

A catalogue and discussion of the social meaning and family relationships behind the funerary monuments of Roman France. Hope aims to reconstruct the stories associated with monuments from their inscriptions, artworks, dimensions, type and location. The catalogue entries, which include descriptions and inscriptions, are preceded by a discussion of the gender, age, social status and title of the dead, funerary monuments of soldiers and people with other occupations, such as gladiators, freedmen, family tombs as well as consideration of the Roman way of mourning and commemorating the dead.

War as Spectacle examines the display of armed conflict in classical antiquity and its impact in the modern world. The contributors address the following questions: how and why was war conceptualized as a spectacle in our surviving ancient Greek and Latin sources? How has this view of war been adapted in post-classical contexts and to what purpose? This collection of essays engages with the motif of war as spectacle through a variety of theoretical and methodological pathways and frameworks. They include the investigation of the portrayal of armed conflict in ancient Greek and Latin Literature, History and Material Culture, as well as the reception of these ancient narratives and models in later periods in a variety of media. The collection also investigates how classical models contribute to contemporary debates about modern wars, including the interrogation of propaganda and news coverage. Embracing an interdisciplinary approach to the study of ancient warfare and its impact, the volume looks at a variety of angles and perspectives, including visual display and its exploitation for political capital, the function of internal and external audiences, ideology and propaganda and the commentary on war made possible by modern media. The reception of the theme in other cultures and eras demonstrates its continued relevance and the way antiquity is used to justify as well as to critique later conflicts.