Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans: Visual Representation and Non-Elite Viewers in Italy, 100 B.C.-A.D. 315

How did ordinary people living in Roman Italy understand and use visual art? That's the question that Clarke aims to answer in this dense but fascinating work of art history. A Regents professor at the University of Texas, Austin, Clarke has already written several books on ancient Rome (The Houses of Roman Italy; Roman Black-and-White Figural Mosaics; etc.), and the depth and breath of his knowledge shine in this latest work. Ninety-eight percent of Roman society was composed of slaves, ex-slaves, foreigners and freeborn workers, and in the book's first section, Clarke considers how imperial Romans portrayed these non-elites in their artwork. But the most interesting sections come later, in parts two and three, where the author analyzes the works that ordinary Romans made in public spaces (like taverns) and in their own homes. The book is packed with information about Roman customs, social structures and history. But for all its scholarship, Clarke's prose is impressively readable, mostly because the author deliberately eschews jargon and makes clear, reasonable connections between Roman habits and our own. Discussing the non-elite use of portraiture, for example, Clarke writes that""many of us have a place in our home....where we exhibit photographs of family; it's a way to tell guests, through pictures, something about ourselves."" This is a fine and absorbing work; despite its high price, it deserves a wide audience of readers.