BMCR 2009.05.37: Dolansky on Parkin, Roman Social History: A Sourcebook. Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World

Tim G. Parkin, Arthur J. Pomeroy, Roman Social History: A Sourcebook.
Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World.  London/New York:
Routledge, 2007.  Pp. xvii, 388.  ISBN 9780415426756.  $37.95 (pb).

Reviewed by Fanny Dolansky, Brock University ([email protected])
Word count:  1751 words
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Table of Contents
(http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0711/2007007663.html)

Preview (http://books.google.com/books?id=uGiTnAsB4SsC)

Roman social history: a sourcebook assembles a diverse collection of
Latin and Greek sources ranging from the well-known and easily
accessible, such as Seneca's Letters and excerpts from the Digest, to
the more obscure, including medical treatises of Galen and homilies of
John Chrysostom, in addition to a valuable selection of inscriptions
and papyri. In compiling these sources, Parkin and Pomeroy have sought
to provide a comprehensive picture of Roman social life, one that
incorporates the experiences of slaves, peasants, and labourers, and
focuses less on the lives of the elite, who ultimately comprised a very
small proportion of the total population.

The material is organized thematically around important topics for the
study of the social history of the Roman empire during its first two
centuries, and grouped under nine rubrics which form the chapter
headings: social classes; demography; family and household; education;
slavery; poverty; the economy; the legal system and courts; leisure and
games. Each chapter begins with a short introduction that neatly
summarizes its theme and establishes its importance for the study of
Roman society, followed by an overview of the different subtopics to be
addressed by individual or groups of entries. A brief explanatory note
precedes each entry to provide some context and guidance. References
and suggestions for further reading are listed at the conclusion of
each chapter and provide students with up-to-date and relevant works
predominantly in English. Supplementary materials include a map of the
city of Rome and three maps of the empire that track travel times,
olive and vine cultivation, trade routes and natural resources, plus a
series of useful appendices on life expectancy, population figures for
the early Imperial period, and Greek and Roman weights, measures, and
coinage.

The volume is designed to be "the complete introductory resource" for
students of Roman social history. Although many sourcebooks already
exist on various aspects of Roman social history, including several
useful ones in the Routledge sourcebooks series, it is the authors'
expressed hope that, because of its extensive range of materials and
reliable translations, the present collection "will be useful in
popularising the field as a unified whole" (2) rather than remaining
compartmentalized into several distinct subfields of study. I am
skeptical, though, how much this volume (or any other) can contribute
to achieving this goal from a curricular perspective since relatively
few departments seem to have the luxury of offering introductory
courses on both ancient political history and social history. It is far
more common to supplement introductory Roman history offerings with
upper-level courses on specialized topics such as Roman slavery or the
economy, for which Parkin and Pomeroy's volume could be a very good fit
even though this was not their intent. A course on the Roman economy,
for example, could make substantial use of much of the content of the
chapters on poverty and the legal system, in addition to the lengthy
chapter on the economy itself. And for those who already teach a course
specifically on Roman social history or are contemplating it, Parkin
and Pomeroy have compiled a valuable resource that will serve both
students and instructors well.

The greatest strength of the collection is its diversity both in the
topics addressed and the sources used for illustration. The chapter on
poverty, for example, covers a range of pertinent matters from
alimentary schemes for the upkeep of children and the perils of urban
life, to the diet and employment opportunities of the poor. The sources
on these subjects similarly range widely from the familiar, such as
Pliny's Panegyric and Martial's Epigrams, to the lesser known including
the speeches of Dio Chrysostom and epistolary fiction of Alciphron.
Parkin and Pomeroy have gathered together an impressive spectrum of
texts on each major theme, blending the commonplace with the obscure to
reveal the richness and vividness of the surviving evidence. The
inclusion of a substantial amount of material from little-known
literary authors and the corpora of inscriptions and papyri -- works
that generally are not readily available in translation -- makes the
collection especially useful for undergraduate students who likely
would not otherwise have access to these items. The inclusion of less
conventional and familiar sources, such as the jokes about book-smart
students from a fifth century CE anthology or a recipe for
contraceptives from the PGM, introduce readers to new and interesting
texts, and increase the collection's overall value and appeal.

For the sake of consistency and reliability, all the translations are
Parkin and Pomeroy's. These very readable translations nicely convey to
students with little or no Latin and Greek some qualities of the
original languages, for instance in the terseness and formality of
legal codes and decrees, or in the "rough and ready Latin" (330) of a
character in Petronius' Satyricon who is eager for upcoming
gladiatorial games. The authors have also neatly captured the word play
characteristic of some epigraphic texts in the funerary acrostics for a
Sabine goat seller named L. Nerusius Mithres (ILS 7542) and a beloved
North African wife named Urbanilla (CIL 8.152). Where it is essential
for the meaning, Latin and Greek terms have been retained with an
explanation conveniently placed in brackets afterwards, and a lengthy
glossary of terms precedes the entries for the chapter on the family
and household. The addition of a similar glossary, though one covering
technical vocabulary for the entire volume, would have made it even
more user-friendly.

This book makes an important contribution to the teaching of Roman
social history, yet there are aspects that detract to some extent from
its overall utility and benefit to students, as well as areas that,
despite the volume's comprehensiveness, are either absent or merited
further attention. It is hoped that if the opportunity should arise to
issue a revised edition, some of the present considerations might be
addressed in an effort to increase the volume's pedagogical worth even
more so.

Though few people read a sourcebook cover to cover, in doing so to
complete this review I was struck by the lack of uniformity in the
explanatory notes that precede entries. Some are prefaced by a fairly
thorough introduction that includes the date of the text (if it can be
ascertained), the context in which it was written (if known),
interesting or important points to note or be wary of, useful
cross-references and comparanda, and one or two essential items of
bibliography. Yet other entries contain only some of these elements and
others none. This inconsistency is frustrating and poses potential
problems for students when utilizing sources for their own research,
especially the absence of dates and information about the type of work
from which a particular entry was excerpted. Although Parkin and
Pomeroy aim to illustrate predominant themes in the study of Roman
social life, surely there were changes over time in behaviour and
attitudes about which students should be aware in part by being
attentive to the date and context of authors' views.

These concerns regarding dating and context could easily be remedied by
providing either the date at composition (if known) or a date related
to the entry's content, and by ensuring that each entry is preceded by
a brief comment on its genre, reliability, or other notable features.
One or two bibliographic items could routinely be included for each
entry or students could simply be directed to the list of references at
the end of each chapter. My preference, however, would be toward the
former and largely to follow the model of another Routledge sourcebook
-- Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland's immensely useful Ancient
Rome--[[1]] in which the majority of entries cite a short list of the
most important bibliography on the topic. This has proven extremely
helpful for students who can be overwhelmed by the scholarship
available on a particular topic and uncertain where to begin. Dillon
and Garland's volume also contains a chapter of short biographies for
the ancient sources in the collection which I have found useful in
helping students appreciate the importance of considering date,
context, and genre when assessing the information in a textual excerpt.
An outline of ancient sources such as this would also be of benefit
since Parkin and Pomeroy make excellent use of some late material,
drawing especially on patristic authors such as Cyprian and John
Chrysostom, whose works are surely unfamiliar to the majority of
Classics and Ancient History undergraduate students.

While most of the entries are moderate in length, in the chapters on
the family and household and slavery the excerpts from legal sources,
particularly the Digest, tend to be quite long and sometimes span
several pages. Such lengthy excerpts seem excessive and unlikely to be
read in full and processed by students. They also lend the study of
these aspects of social history the appearance of being primarily
legalistic in nature and thereby overshadow other approaches and
elements of appeal. In the chapter on the family and household, for
example, there are few glimpses of the joys of family life we find
described in the Letters of Cicero and Fronto or the challenges of
raising teenagers outlined by Apuleius in his Apologia, and only
minimal record of the immense importance of slaves in the rearing of
freeborn children and overall maintenance of domestic life. Similarly,
in the chapter on slavery, the voices of the jurists' dominate and
slaves are scarcely heard despite the numerous inscriptions by slaves
that survive and the literary works of former slaves such as Phaedrus
and Epictetus that offer invaluable insights regarding social
relations.

A few additional areas received limited attention yet are important
when seeking to present as comprehensive a picture of Roman social life
as possible. Patronage and the role of collegia are both touched upon
briefly but would seem to merit further discussion which would enhance
the existing information in the chapters on social classes and the
economy. Surprisingly, the final chapter on leisure and games includes
no mention of gambling, prostitution, or the theatre, and religion
barely makes an appearance in the volume despite its importance in
nearly all aspects of social life.

Yet notwithstanding these minor criticisms, Parkin and Pomeroy's
sourcebook is an extremely useful collection for the study of Roman
social history, particularly for its diversity of topics and wide range
of literary, epigraphic, and papyrological source materials. It will be
a valuable resource for students, instructors, and anyone interested in
accessing the 'other side' of Rome's history and evidence for the
day-to-day experiences of the majority of Romans in the early empire.


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Notes:


1.   Dillon, M. and L. Garland. Ancient Rome: from the early Republic
to the assassination of Julius Caesar. London and New York: Routledge,
2005.