Invisible Romans by Robert Knapp

Invisible Romans is a book about the people, who were not members of the rich and powerful elite (hardcover 2011, paperback 2013). The author - Robert Knapp - is Professor Emeritus of ancient history at the University of California, Berkeley.

Following a brief introduction, the main text is divided into nine chapters, which cover nine categories of invisible Romans. Each chapter is divided into several shorter sections by subheadings. Here is the table of contents:

1. Ordinary People - Men

2. Ordinary People - Women
3. The Poor

4. Slaves

5. Former Slaves: Freedmen and Freedwomen
6. Soldiers

7. Prostitutes

8. Gladiators
9. Bandits and Outlaws

At the end of the book there are nine short sections:

** Sources

** Further Reading
** Who’s Who and What’s What

** Abbreviations

** Note on Translations
** Acknowledgements

** List of Figures

** List of Illustrations
** Index

There are two sets of illustrations: 32 black-and-white figures are placed throughout the book, while 30 colour pictures are placed in a block in the middle of the book.

During the first century AD, the population of the Roman Empire was ca. 50 million, but the elite comprised less than one million - or less than one per cent - of the total population. We know (some members of) the elite fairly well, but Knapp does not want to write about them. His topic is the unknown majority, “the Romans that history forgot.” He wants to study and understand not only their lives but also their thoughts, their hopes and dreams, what he terms their “mind world” – a noble ambition, which is difficult to fulfil.

The short section about sources is placed at the end of the book, as you can see from the list above. Perhaps it should have been placed in the beginning of the book, because here the author explains his choice of sources, and the reader needs to understand this choice from the start.

Elite sources are avoided, but they are not entirely absent: Cicero is quoted on outlaws (pp. 306, 308-309); Tacitus is mentioned, because he reports that the Roman senator Pedanius Secundus was murdered by his slaves (pp. 142-143, 145-146); and Horace is mentioned, because his father was a freedman (pp. 182-183).

Sources about poor people in Rome are avoided as well, because the capital was not a typical place, as explained on page 101: 

 

“Rome and its population was an aberration in the empire both for its size and for its political importance as the immediate milieu of the governing class.”

To find information about the invisible Romans Knapp uses a number of untraditional sources, such as “Interpretation of Dreams” by Artemidorus, “Carmen Astrologicum” by Dorotheus of Sidon, and “The Golden Ass” by Apuleius.

Epigraphic material is used as well, for instance the tombstone for Aurelius Hermia, a butcher from Rome, and his wife Aurelia Philematio. I like this tombstone. The author seems to like it as well: the inscription is quoted two times (pp. 55 and 188); and a black-and-white picture of the tombstone appears on page 62 (figure 3).

[For more information about this tombstone see Mary Beard, “Reading the Romans,” British Museum Blog, 25 April 2012.]

Knapp got some good reviews. On the cover of the paperback version there are excerpts from three positive reviews of the hardcover version:

** The Scotsman: “Hugely ambitious … entertaining as well as informative.”

** The Daily Express: “This unusual and scholarly book is rich with revelation.”

** The Irish Examiner: “A good, lively read. Knapp shows the Roman world to be more colourful and varied than we might expect.”

I agree with most of this, but not everything. This book is informative but not entertaining, as the Scotsman claims; it is scholarly but not a lively read, as the Irish Examiner claims. The project is worth while, but the author is not entirely successful.

Tristan Taylor (from the University of New England, Australia) reviewed the book for the online magazine Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2012.07.03). In general, his review is positive, but there are some critical remarks:

 

(1) Knapp could have used legal sources more than he does. As an example Taylor mentions Lives behind the Laws by S. Connolly (published in 2010).

 

(2) Knapp fails to use his own illustrations in full, because there are no cross-references from the colour illustrations to the text (or the other way).

The review ends with the following words: 
 

“All in all, this is an elegantly written, stimulating and revealing introductory account of the ‘mind world’ and practical lives of those largely ‘invisible’ to us in the elite sources.”

Knapp is aware of the problem mentioned in Taylor’s review. Regarding legal sources (page 320), he claims they do not throw much light on the topic: “the interaction of invisibles with the law is not as fruitful as one would have expected.”

Regarding Jewish literature (page 321) and archaeological evidence (page 323), he admits this material was not used to the full extent: 
 

“Perhaps another [scholar] more versed in the material will be able to add to or correct the observations I make.”

I like this book, but I have to mention a few minor flaws. I mention them here to show how carefully I read the book:

(A) The question of literacy is mentioned on page 204, but this important topic not discussed again. For more information, see Literacy in the Roman World (1991).

(B) The evidence from Vindolanda – the Roman fort near Hadrian’s Wall in northern England – is mentioned on the same page, but this unique evidence is not discussed again. For more information, see Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: Vindolanda and its People (1994).

(C) There is a chapter about one group of entertainers, the gladiators who performed in the amphitheatre, but two groups are missing: the actors who performed in the theatre and the charioteers who performed in the circus.

(D) Knapp thinks a complete Roman legion consists of 6,000 men (page 198). It is a common misunderstanding. A more accurate figure is ca. 4,800 men.

My conclusion: this book is good, but not great. This means four stars, not five.

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Robert Knapp,

Invisible Romans:

Prostitutes, Outlaws, Slaves, Gladiators, Ordinary Men and Women…

The Romans that History Forgot,

Profile Books, hardcover 2011, paperback 2013, 371 pages

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