Title: Working IX to V
Date: 2007
Publisher: Walker & Company
Publisher's web site: here
ISBN: 0-8027-1556-7
Length: 312 pages
Illustrations: Lots of black-and-white drawings. I can't find credits; does this mean they're drawn by the author?
Quote: "Like the writing of Studs Terkel, Barbara Tuchman, and other historians I admire, this book talks about people and livelihoods you won't hear about in other books."
After a series about Uppity Women (Uppity Women of Medieval Times, Uppity Women of the Renaissance, etc.), Vicki Leon turned back to the ancient Greeks and Romans to write this survey of what ordinary men and women were doing, how much they were likely to be paid, how they prepared for their jobs, how long they were likely to live, and a few outstanding examples of career success. As in the Uppity Women books, she tells the stories, here organized by job rather than individual names, in a lively conversational tone with a sense of humor.
Apparently readers' reaction was "That's nice if somebody needs a character to impersonate at toga parties, but since I don't go to toga parties..." because this book didn't sell as well as the Uppity Women series.
Who, outside the toga party community, needs this book? At least seven kinds of people...
1. College and high school readers looking for a book about ancient history that's actually fun to read. (Parental advisory: although this book is not about sex, Leon says things like "phallus" rather than "obscene image"...and there's a lot of violence.)
2. Guys who want a degree in a more job-related field than "Blue-Collar Studies," but would like to read about the history of working men, at least as an occasional change from all those kings and warriors.
3. Anybody who collects fun facts.
4. Anybody who wants to read about female gladiators.
5. Anybody who likes gross-outs. Ancient formulas for medicines, hair care products, and cleaning products have been translated, and they're quite disgusting.
6. Anybody who wants to begin to consider the question of how much social change has really been produced by technological innovations.
7. Anyone in search of light, episodic bathroom or travel reading.
What will Working IX to V tell you that you didn't realize you needed to know, until know? Here's a Top Ten List...
1. Why were phallic images so unavoidable in the ancient world?
2. Who were the first recorded pirates?
3. In view of what they're like today, how much more disgusting could hair care products have been?
4. Which of these jobs were done by soldiers, and which by slaves: (a) water carrier; (b) miner; (c) oarsman; (d) teacher; (e) gladiator?
5. Female gladiators?
6. How long did the Vestal Virgins remain virgins?
7. What was the original difference between a publisher and an editor?
8. Who was the first to observe that lead pipes were toxic, what alternative did he recommend, and what kind of reception did his recommendations get?
9. How were the original Olympic Games judged?
10. Who were the first recorded wine snobs, and what criteria did they use?
What's not to love about this book? It has a nice bibliography, but it could have used some endnotes--Leon provides few indications of exactly where she found each fun fact. I'd guess that this is because detailed notes would have raised the page count to 500 pages. She has been digging up fun facts from ancient history for a long time.
To buy it here, send $5 per book, $5 per package, and $1 per online payment to the appropriate address at the very bottom of the screen, for a total of $10 or $11, of which we'll send $1 to Leon or a charity of her choice. I think seven more books of this size would fit into the package. If your other choices are also older books by Vicki Leon, she or her charity will get $1 per book.
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