Product Description
This volume honours the Dutch epigraphist and ancient historian H.W. Pleket. Ten essays reflect his wide range, from early Greece to the Roman Empire, and his taste for comparative economic and social history. They explore such issues as: what was funny about ancient jokes, and why?; why did the Roman state legislate to curb the behaviour of its obscenely rich and powerful elite, if it never really expected such laws to be obeyed?; why did it oppress the poor and lavish public child support on them?
