A Day in Old Rome: A Picture of Roman Life

by Dr. William Stearns Davis

Overview

This book tries to describe what an intelligent person would have witnessed in Ancient Rome if by some legerdemain he had been translated to the Second Christian Century, and conducted about the imperial city under competent guidance.
The year 134 after Christ has been chosen as the hypothetical time of this visit, not from any special virtue in that date, but because Rome was then architecturally nearly completed, the Empire seemed in its most prosperous state, although many of the old usages and traditions of the Republic still survived, and the evil days of decadence were as yet hardly visible in the background. The time of the absence of Hadrian from his capital was selected particularly, in order that interest could be concentrated upon the life and doings of the great city itself, and upon its vast populace of slaves, plebeians, and nobles, not upon the splendid despot and his court, matters too often the center for attention by students of the Roman past.
At the time of original publication in 1925, William Stearns Davis was Professor of Ancient History, University of Minnesota.
Richly illustrated throughout.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787207486
Publisher:	Muriwai Books
Publication date:	07/31/2017
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	377
Lexile:	1320L (what's this?)
File size:	27 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

William Stearns Davis (April 30, 1877 - February 15, 1930) was an American educator, historian, and author.
Born in 1877 in the presidential mansion of Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts to William Vail Wilson Davis, a Congregational minister, and Francis Stearns, Davis was largely educated at home until he entered Worcester Academy in 1895. In 1897 he matriculated at Harvard.
Fascinated by maps and by historical figures, he had begun writing stories for himself while still at home. He now turned this experience and his desire to humanize history to writing historical novels, the first of which, A Friend of Caesar, was published in the year he graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He continued at Harvard, being the first first-year graduate student to receive the Harvard Thayer Graduate Scholarship, and earning his A.M. in 1901 and his PhD in 1905. During these same years he continued publishing historical fiction.
In 1904 he began his formal teaching career, beginning as a lecturer at Radcliffe College while finishing his doctorate. He continued thereafter at Beloit College (instructor, 1906-07), Oberlin College (Assistant Professor of Medieval and Modern European History, 1907-1909), and finally at the University of Minnesota (Professor of History, 1909-1927). His steady output of non-fiction in both history and the historical background to contemporary world affairs began with his time at Minnesota. Professionally, he was a member of the American Historical Association.
In 1911, he married Alice Williams Redfield of Minneapolis. He retired from teaching in 1927, moving back to New England and taking up residence in Exeter, New Hampshire, with the intention of devoting all of his time to writing. However, he died of pneumonia following an operation at the age of 52 on February 15, 1930.

Born in 1877 in the presidential mansion of Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts to William Vail Wilson Davis, a Congregational minister, and Francis Stearns, Davis was largely educated at home until he entered Worcester Academy in 1895. In 1897 he matriculated at Harvard.
Fascinated by maps and by historical figures, he had begun writing stories for himself while still at home. He now turned this experience and his desire to humanize history to writing historical novels, the first of which, A Friend of Caesar, was published in the year he graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He continued at Harvard, being the first first-year graduate student to receive the Harvard Thayer Graduate Scholarship, and earning his A.M. in 1901 and his PhD in 1905. During these same years he continued publishing historical fiction.
In 1904 he began his formal teaching career, beginning as a lecturer at Radcliffe College while finishing his doctorate. He continued thereafter at Beloit College (instructor, 1906-07), Oberlin College (Assistant Professor of Medieval and Modern European History, 1907-1909), and finally at the University of Minnesota (Professor of History, 1909-1927). His steady output of non-fiction in both history and the historical background to contemporary world affairs began with his time at Minnesota. Professionally, he was a member of the American Historical Association.
In 1911, he married Alice Williams Redfield of Minneapolis. He retired from teaching in 1927, moving back to New England and taking up residence in Exeter, New Hampshire, with the intention of devoting all of his time to writing. However, he died of pneumonia following an operation at the age of 52 on February 15, 1930.