This edited volume examines the phenomenon of pseudoarchaeology from a variety of perspectives. The engaging and stimulating essays, written by a diverse group of scholars, scientists and writers, explore issues including:

• the differences between real and pseudoarchaeology
• pseudoarchaeology's increasing popularity and how the media, especially TV, has contributed to this
• the warping of genuine archaeology to fit national and other agendas
• pseudoarchaeology's potential risk to the genuine academic field of archaeology.

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This edited volume examines the phenomenon of pseudoarchaeology from a variety of perspectives. The engaging and stimulating essays, written by a diverse group of scholars, scientists and writers, explore issues including:

• the differences between real and pseudoarchaeology
• pseudoarchaeology's increasing popularity and how the media, especially TV, has contributed to this
• the warping of genuine archaeology to fit national and other agendas
• pseudoarchaeology's potential risk to the genuine academic field of archaeology.

...

The reigns of the Julio-Claudian emperors were characterized by murder and debauchery. This book presents a narrative of these reigns, ranging from Augustus to Nero, with passages in original Latin from Tacitus, Suetonius and Seneca. The text accordingly exposes Augustus' adulterous affairs; the depraved Tiberius; the extravagance and madness of Caligula; the ineffective Claudius; and Nero's artistic pretensions. Featuring a comprehensive introduction, detailed notes and an appreciation of each writer, the volume is essential reading for students who have completed an introductory Latin...

Why did the Romans turn out in their tens of thousands to watch brutal gladiatorial games? Previous studies have tried to explain the attraction of the arena by theorizing about its cultural function in Roman society. The games have been seen as celebrations of the violence of empire or of Rome's martial heritage, or as manifestations of the emperor's power. The desire to watch has therefore been limited to the Roman context and rendered alien to modern sensibilities. Yet the historical record reveals that people living in quite different times and circumstances (including our own) have...

What soldiers do on the battlefield or boxers do in the ring would be treated as criminal acts if carried out in an everyday setting. Perpetrators of violence in the classical world knew this and chose their venues and targets with care: killing Julius Caesar at a meeting of the Senate was deliberate. That location asserted Senatorial superiority over a perceived tyrant, and so proclaimed the pure republican principles of the assassins.

The contributors to The Topography of Violence in the Greco-Roman World take on a task not yet addressed in classical scholarship: they examine...