Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Roger Pearse · 11-30-2009, 11:54 AM

I came across a curiosity this evening: an atheist guidebook to ancient Rome. Has anyone read it? Who is the author?

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Toto · 11-30-2009, 02:03 PM

Walking Tours of Ancient Rome: a Secular Guidebook to the Eternal City (or via: amazon.co.uk)

Secular is not necessarily atheist.

Roger Pearse · 11-30-2009, 02:22 PM

Also here: http://books.google.com/books?id=6bOLJ3LSRq0C

Quote:

This guidebook is designed for tourists and scholars who are interested in exploring first-hand the grandeur and magnificence that was ancient Rome through a Humanist, secular, and freethinking lens. Twelve walking tours are designed around districts of the city. Two appendices also describe day trips that are possible from the city center: the ruins of Rome's port city of Ostia and the remains of the emperor Hadrian's splendid villa at Tivoli.

Toto · 11-30-2009, 02:30 PM

This is the author:

Dr. Gary Devore

He's an archaeologist and a classicist, and a specialist in sexuality and gender issues, currently a lecturer at Stanford in the US and the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia.

You say more on your blog here. The US Amazon link leaves out any mention of him calling himself a Humanist, but I see from the introduction that this is part of his reason for writing the book.

The book is previewed on Google books.

Thanks for posting this.

spin · 11-30-2009, 06:12 PM

Thing is, you get to Rome and you see these ugly books on Rome for the American tourist christian. You see these sawn off doubledecker buses labeled Roma "Cristiana" chauffeuring around cooking weiners from one sacred spot to another. You get "visit the prison where Paul was incarcerated", "see the Via Appia with the church of Quo Vadis", that's beside the Vatican and all the gi-normous barns filled with artworks including Bernini kitsch.

Christian tourism is in your face in Rome (though the educated Roman knows all about the classical past). Christian tourism is big money with relatively little work or need for scholarship. Christianity is an obvious facet of Rome being the home of the catholic church and its historical claims, but it is also the home of the Roman empire, and a vast trove of artefacts that unveil a non-christian Rome.

A secular guide to Rome must be a welcome relief. (There are some good ones in Italian.) And the writer certainly has a lot of good material available to him. (One doesn't find things like the Septizodium in many tourist books on Rome.)

spin

squiz · 12-02-2009, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spin

A secular guide to Rome must be a welcome relief.

I agree. I once went on a tour of the catacombs given by a monk.

11-30-2009, 11:54 AM	#1
Roger Pearse Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: N/A Posts: 4,370	Gary M. Devore, A walking guide to ancient Rome I came across a curiosity this evening: an atheist guidebook to ancient Rome. Has anyone read it? Who is the author? All the best, Roger Pearse

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11-30-2009, 02:03 PM	#2
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	Walking Tours of Ancient Rome: a Secular Guidebook to the Eternal City (or via: amazon.co.uk) Secular is not necessarily atheist.

11-30-2009, 02:30 PM	#4
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	This is the author: Dr. Gary Devore He's an archaeologist and a classicist, and a specialist in sexuality and gender issues, currently a lecturer at Stanford in the US and the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia. You say more on your blog here. The US Amazon link leaves out any mention of him calling himself a Humanist, but I see from the introduction that this is part of his reason for writing the book. The book is previewed on Google books. Thanks for posting this.

11-30-2009, 06:12 PM	#5
spin Contributor Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: nowhere Posts: 15,747	Thing is, you get to Rome and you see these ugly books on Rome for the American tourist christian. You see these sawn off doubledecker buses labeled Roma "Cristiana" chauffeuring around cooking weiners from one sacred spot to another. You get "visit the prison where Paul was incarcerated", "see the Via Appia with the church of Quo Vadis", that's beside the Vatican and all the gi-normous barns filled with artworks including Bernini kitsch. Christian tourism is in your face in Rome (though the educated Roman knows all about the classical past). Christian tourism is big money with relatively little work or need for scholarship. Christianity is an obvious facet of Rome being the home of the catholic church and its historical claims, but it is also the home of the Roman empire, and a vast trove of artefacts that unveil a non-christian Rome. A secular guide to Rome must be a welcome relief. (There are some good ones in Italian.) And the writer certainly has a lot of good material available to him. (One doesn't find things like the Septizodium in many tourist books on Rome.) spin

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