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Rating: 
Summary: A Discovery of Ancient Social Stucture.
Review: This book makes me think. What was it like to live in ancient Pompeii? What did people actually do with those dramatic and imposing, architectural masterpieces called houses?
Wallace-Hadrill attempts to find some answers to these questions from the physical evidence coupled with literary reference and historical facts.Trained as a biochemist, I enjoy Mr. Wallace-Hadrill's attention to detail, propensity to stick to the facts and willingness to say so when his investigations lead into blind alleys. There are many things about life in ancient Pompeii, which there is no way to know at this time. But there are others, which can be discovered, and they paint a picture of a rich and vibrant society very different from our own, and yet as closely related as a grandfather to a grandson. This book is not a fast read. It is not a novel. It is not emotional in the common sense of the word. But it is wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: A Discovery of Ancient Social Stucture.
Review: This book makes me think. What was it like to live in ancient Pompeii? What did people actually do with those dramatic and imposing, architectural masterpieces called houses?
Wallace-Hadrill attempts to find some answers to these questions from the physical evidence coupled with literary reference and historical facts. Trained as a biochemist, I enjoy Mr. Wallace-Hadrill's attention to detail, propensity to stick to the facts and willingness to say so when his investigations lead into blind alleys. There are many things about life in ancient Pompeii, which there is no way to know at this time. But there are others, which can be discovered, and they paint a picture of a rich and vibrant society very different from our own, and yet as closely related as a grandfather to a grandson. This book is not a fast read. It is not a novel. It is not emotional in the common sense of the word. But it is wonderful.
Rating: 
Summary: B-O-R-I-N-G
Review: This book was published by Princeton University Press and is apparently someone's thesis. It is strictly a scholarly effort and not for the casual reader. For instance, the author writes the following in the "houses and urban texture" chapter: "The strong correlation between house size and occurrence of atria and peristyles comes out clearly in their distribution across the size quartiles (Fig. 4.16). The little shops...typify the first and much of the second quartile, and most of the three-to-five room houses, do not have space for either an impluviate atrium or collonaded garden..." If you are seeking a cure for insomnia, purchase this book. Otherwise I recommend Pompeii (by Peter Connelly), and if you're interested in Athens and Rome, The Ancient City also by Connelly. Both excellent efforts to be enjoyed by all ages.
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Summary: Yawn
Review: This is a dreary, pedantic and repetitious bore. The author repeats his theme in every chapter about 10 times. The pictures are not that interesting and not very good quality.
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Summary: ACADEMIC TREATISE, NOT CASUAL READING
Review: This was published by Princeton University Press and reads like a college thesis. I was surprised at how ponderous this is as Wallace-Hadrill has contributed some engrossing commentary on PBS and A&E videos on this subject. Recommended for academia, not for the casual reader. For instance, consider this paraphrased sampling from the "houses and urban texture" chapter. The actual sentences were much longer: "The strong correlation between house size and occurrence of atria and peristyles comes out clearly in their distribution across the size quartiles (Fig. 4.16). The little shops...typify the first and much of the second quartile, and most of the three-to-five room houses, do not have space for either an impluviate atrium or collonaded garden..." The writing, while informative, is so plodding as to cure insomnia. There are other more interesting books out there. For general reading, especially for kids, I recommend Pompeii (by Peter Connelly), and if you're interested in Athens and Rome, The Ancient City also by Connelly.
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Summary: A fine piece of scholarship, but also an intriguing read
Review: Wallace-Hadrill's book begins with specific facts and shows how these lead to interesting questions. For example... because bed widths varied, and tended to be quite narrow, we can't be sure whether people slept alone or in pairs; in fact, we can't even be very certain how many people lived in a given household because we don't know about sleeping arrangements in detail (some slaves may have slept in or near the master's quarters, and not in separate slave quarters, for example). He points out that Roman houses had formal and informal areas, rather than the men's and women's quarters typical in earlier Greek homes, or the segregation by age that one might see in 19th century England, for example. These "dry" facts actually suggest quite a lot about how people interacted, and how the spaces in homes were used. Of course, this isn't a novel... several recently published novels provide vivid descriptions of "what people did in those houses", complete with fictional characters (often based on people who actually lived in Pompeii). But Wallace-Hadrill's book is an extremely interesting read even though it is a work of scholarship, rather than something intended as entertainment. People who would like to have backgound information for a visit to Pompeii will find that this book helps them understand what they see when they visit. I found the floor plans, and the descriptions of use of space, really interesting: an upper class Roman house combined public and private space in ways that are quite different from modern American suburbs, but in some ways, rather like some modern Italian cities!
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