Aurelia Posted May 22, 2009 Report Share Posted May 22, 2009 Lovely stuff - but it might not be wise to read it before going to bed... Was the cradle of civilization also the birthplace of atrocity? Historians have been researching the most extreme forms of torture in the ancient world. Among other things, they have found that, back then, "sitting in the tub" was actually a pretty nasty way to kick the bucket. A new book, "Extreme Formen von Gewalt in Bild und Text des Altertums" (Extreme Violence in the Visuals and Texts of Antiquity) by Martin Zimmerman, a professor of ancient history in Munich, looks at current research into the kinds of violence that inspired "loathing, dread, horror and disgust." Full review here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted May 22, 2009 Report Share Posted May 22, 2009 (edited) Lovely stuff - but it might not be wise to read it before going to bed... Was the cradle of civilization also the birthplace of atrocity? Historians have been researching the most extreme forms of torture in the ancient world. Among other things, they have found that, back then, "sitting in the tub" was actually a pretty nasty way to kick the bucket. A new book, "Extreme Formen von Gewalt in Bild und Text des Altertums" (Extreme Violence in the Visuals and Texts of Antiquity) by Martin Zimmerman, a professor of ancient history in Munich, looks at current research into the kinds of violence that inspired "loathing, dread, horror and disgust." Full review here. It's not hard to find many serious and careful scholar reviews on the social and cultural implications of the use of torture all along history. Schulz's article and (as far as I can tell) Zimmerman Edited May 22, 2009 by sylla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 It's not hard to find many serious and careful scholar reviews on the social and cultural implications of the use of torture all along history. Schulz's article and (as far as I can tell) Zimmerman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formosus Viriustus Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 No doubt this is a sensationalistic sales strategy, playing on people's morbid fascination with torture and other macabre practices. But irrespective of whether this is quality material or not, I bet that there will be plenty of people interested in buying a copy... I have to agree with you on this one, Aurelia. True, the newspaper article is pretty worthless. It mixes up battle casualties and descriptions of bloody battles with torture practises. And if that picture gallery really comes from the book, I do fear the worst. But maybe this is not the case. Maybe it's just a number of third rate pictures that were lying around somewhere at Der Spiegel's under the general heading 'torture'. Two pictures are scenes from the Middle Ages and one is just a photo of the Colosseum. Four of the six look like 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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