A day in old Rome: a picture of Roman life

About this book

The work is a scholarly survey that treats a single day in Imperial Rome as a lens through which to examine the city’s social fabric, architecture, and customs. In its opening, William Stearns Davis explains that his study rests on a “fairly exhaustive” reading of Latin authors, from Horace and Seneca to Pliny the Younger, supplemented by modern handbooks and the illustrations of Jakob von Falke. He positions the volume as a lengthier counterpart to his earlier “A Day in Old Athens,” noting that Rome’s greater complexity demands a more extensive treatment. The detailed contents list that follows outlines a systematic exploration of everything from the city’s streets, housing, and dress to its food, slavery, and civic institutions, promising a richly illustrated, chapter‑by‑chapter portrait of Roman life.

Davis writes in a measured, academic voice characteristic of early‑20th‑century scholarship, blending factual description with occasional personal acknowledgments. The prose is dense but clear, and the abundant headings and illustrations make the material accessible to readers who enjoy a fact‑driven, encyclopedic approach. It will appeal to students of classics, history enthusiasts, and anyone interested in a comprehensive, source‑based picture of everyday Roman society rather than a narrative novel.

Opening lines

To acknowledge all the modern books upon which the writer has drawn heavily would be to present a list of almost all the important handbooks or discussions of Roman life and antiquities. It is proper to say, however, that such secondary sources have been mainly useful so far as they reënforced a fairly exhaustive study of the Latin writers themselves, especially of Horace, Seneca, Petronius, Juvenal, Martial, and, last but nowise least, of Pliny the Younger. …

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