The Classical Compendium: A Miscellany of Scandalous Gossip, Bawdy Jokes, Peculiar Facts, and Bad Behavior from the Ancient Greeks and Romans (review)

Philip Matyszak's enthusiasm and respect for his sources shine in his latest book, The Classical Compendium, a delightful companion to his earlier books, Rome on Five Denarii a Day and Athens on Five Drachmas a Day. The Compendium is a catalogue of the "quirky [and] the bizarre" (5); Matyszak notes that the ancient authors liked "nothing more than a good yarn, and then to recycle that yarn at dinner parties" (50)—and with the Compendium, so can the modern reader. Whether cited at dinner parties or in the classroom, this little book does indeed enlighten and entertain.

Matyszak divides his topics into ten categories, including "Incredible Wonders and Journeys," "Perilous Prophecies," and "Criminal Records." Each chapter is subdivided into anecdotes ranging in length from a single line to two (facing) pages—the stories are self-contained, so that the reader can open the book anywhere and find a complete incident or two in front of him. My favorite chapter is "Going in Style," with its lists of famous last words, anecdotes of heroic last stands, and the odds on what sort of death an emperor faced upon accession (8 percent chance of assassination by family or courtiers, but a 24 percent chance of death at the hands of his own soldiers).

While Matyszak does not clutter up the book with footnotes, he provides many citations to quotations throughout. A number of the tidbits go unreferenced, but this is a by-product of the compilation; Matyszak acknowledges that as both an author and an editor (5) he has had to choose from an overwhelming amount of material collected by himself and "dozens of friends and colleagues [who suggested] favourite anecdotes and memorable events" (188). Indeed, they sifted through thousands of pages of gallimaufry, sources including Plutarch, Pliny, Valerius Maximus, the Philogelos (an ancient Greek joke book), and Xenophon. He notes that "given the thousands of pages of miscellanea already compiled in Antiquity, the challenge was to decide what should be left out, rather than to seek material to put in" (188).

Quibbles with the book are very minor. For example, while the book is generously illustrated throughout with detailed line drawings, there is nothing to illustrate silphium, a plant made extinct owing to its alleged contraceptive properties; Matyszak notes that the seed of the silphium, the "love plant," resembled a heart, and here surely a drawing would be welcome. Another is an editorial suggestion: the story of Antinous (159) should be shifted to 158, so that Matyszak's section on "Four Whodunnits" (156-159) is not broken three-fourths of the way through by a passages on Draco and crucifixion.

Overall, Matyszak has once again presented a fascinating look into the customs of the ancient world, and his little book holds stock for both the general reader and teachers alike. The latter would find the Compendium handy in lessons especially as a means for their students to find connections and parallels between the interests of the ancients and their own modern experiences. This is one of Matyszak's goals; he notes that he includes "facts" that are "extraordinary today, [but] the people of the time thought nothing of them" (5). Indeed there is a kinship with modern tabloids and entertainment television with the weird and strange tales from antiquity, and ancient readers who marveled over the Blemmyae (people with no heads whose faces are set in their chests, 22), rubbing oneself with a puppy to cure illness (48), or the man-eating, giant gold-mining ants of India (125) would probably understand modern fascination with Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, alien abductions, and determining the paternity of children on lunchtime television before a live studio audience. There is nothing new under the sun, and the Compendium provides an excellent opportunity in the dining...