This is a charming and accessible book that people interested in Ancient Greece and Rome. I deeply appreciated that Ryan has a PhD in the subject matter and utilized his expertise to write an informal and informative text for public consumption. It was fun and easy to read.

Well-written and full of great information. this book will answer so many of your questions about ancient Greece & Rome.

Really excellent, knowledgable, thoughtful and fun examination of things we have seen around us across the millenia. The author's combination of factual elements alongside his attitude of both appreciation and a little sarcasm make this a great read.
The events and how they are remembered via public art can change how we repeat history, Understanding how these are reflected can change how we remember and understand the story.
Great scholarship, easy reading style, highly recommend.

10 years of Latin and a lifelong obsession with classic studies has prepared me for this book and I am so glad that I got to read it. This is not just for classics nerds like me but absolutely for anyone looking for a warts and all look at Ancient Greece and Rome!

A very fun and informative guide! I love how the author takes quite entertaining and ridiculous questions and turns them into funny but serious answers. I hope we get more guides like this in the future!
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

A different and interesting book. Any question you may have had about the Greek or Roman lifestyle has most likely been asked and answered in this book. This is not your normal history of …. type of book. IT was an enjoyable read that had me laughing and asking more questions than I thought I ever wanted to really know.

As an historian, I tend to be very picky about general interest books, far more so than academic books. And I am thrilled to say, Naked States, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants has passed with flying colours! There are a lot of "daily guide to XYZ period" books out there, and they often end up feeling like a daily encyclopedia. Ryan covers a LOT of material without dragging or making it feel like a chore. He also answers a lot of those seemingly random questions about Greek and Roman that most of us are too afraid to ask! What I particularly enjoyed was the balance of tone and information- although it has something for everyone, whether you are new to the ancient world or long-immersed in it, but it stays light and engaging throughout! All in all, a fantastic history book.

This was an incredibly funny and informative book about both Ancient Greece and Rome and the only other author that I can attest to achieving both funny and informative when it comes to the Ancient World is none other than Stephen Fry. Garrett Ryan really digs into the questions we didn't know we had and hilariously explains the answers. I will definitely use this book as a reference for any random ancient world facts/answers to silly-sounding questions about the ancient world! Thoroughly enjoyed.
Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC

Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators and War Elephants by Garrett Ryan. This is an interesting book to read cover to cover or to delve into bite size chapters that perhaps catch your fancy. Interested in knowing when pants replaced tunics in Rome? Did they wear underwear? Why were statues in the nude and why in general were their penis’ not so large? There are so many interesting questions and answers given by Dr. Ryan a historian from U. of Michigan.
Additionally, there are videos on YouTube and a website www.toldinstone to enjoy as well.
There are plenty of footnotes as well as notes and a bibliography at the end for those interested in knowing more about early tanks in war- these are elephants as well as anti-“tank” weapons- flaming screaming pigs as just one example.
I see this as a book to read then pass on to others or leave in the bathroom for quests to read. It is nice to know that Roman women did shave their legs and how to lay siege to a city.
An enjoyable read.

Clever and humorous. Ryan combines fast facts with witty anecdotes to keep the reader laughing, all while feeling informed without becoming overwhelmed.

This was a fun one! If you like quirky, short excerpts about history, this is perfect for you. Chapters are relatively short and focused on one topic such as “Was the Oracle of Delphi High on Fumes?” and “Why Didn’t They Wear Pants?”

It’s written in a very humorous and casual style, with lots of footnotes to add information. Ryan is clearly well informed on the topic, but knows how to pare down the story to what we are really interested in: all the crazy sh*t and scandalous bits. I think would appeal to a wide audience and would be enjoyable to people who don’t typically read history as well!

For those interested in the life of Greece and Rome beyond senatorial politics and agricultural policy, Naked States offers an absolutely entertaining and unexpectedly detailed look at various aspects of Greco-Roman culture. At first glance, the text is simply a series of essays, written in response to questions — some specific, some general, but this is no dry catechesis. Ryan’s lively explanations run cut cross not only the world of the Greek city-states and the Roman realm, but make occasional forays into Persia and Egypt, as well, illustrating how no part of the classical world existed in a vacuum. The essays end with what the author cheekily frames as an ‘irresponsible short’ history of the classical world for anyone who needs a little context. In short, for those with any interest in the goings-on of Greeks and Romans, this is an absolute delight.

It’s almost impossible to do justice to the variety of content contained herein. Although Ryan’s approach isn’t as tightly organized something like the Gies‘ Daily Life in a Medieval Village, or Ian Mortimer’s wide-ranging social histories of England, it nevertheless succeeds in offering a panoramic view into Greek and Roman life, across classes. Each question opens an entire avenue of consideration: “Were gladiators really fat?” for instance, is answered in an essay covering the entire scope of gladiatorial games in Rome, with an extra focus on their diet. Given how much more information is available about the emperors and upper classes, there’s a slight preponderance of patrician topics, but this isn’t a book just about the aristocrats. Some of its more memorable offerings include a comparative study of how nudism was treated in the classical world, a history of how our delightfully composite calendar got that way, a consideration of slavery in Greco-Roman societies, a survey of how Roman buildings were treated as the western order gave way (plundered, mostly, even the emperor’s tombs), and a comparison of sporting events in both Greece and Rome. (The Romans found the Greek obsession with the Olympics a little weird, except for Nero — he insisted on hosting his own games, in which he ‘competed’ — and won in a chariot race despite falling out of the the chariot and finishing third). Ryan provides a skillful mix of useful, general info and more interesting-but esoteric content, with just enough humor to make it playful but not so much that it veers toward the trivial.

Recommended!

A fun, well-cited popular history book that will have wide appeal - brings a lot of information from varied sources together in an entertaining way. Could be just a taaaaad funnier.

Excellent book bound to be a classic

I loved this book. Garrett Ryan has created an easy-to-read masterpiece on ancient Greeks and Romans. He writes with a very conversational tone and great sense of humor, including some very clever passages that I would re-read. He discusses a broad range of issues from human sacrifice to why Greeks and Romans didn’t wear pants, supplemented with a good selection of graphics. I recommend starting the book with the appendix which is a short history of the classical world. Although many people will already have this knowledge, I didn’t and I found the appendix useful. The footnotes are great and a must-read. Ironically, it is in a footnote that Ryan suggests that readers check the footnotes for some great anecdotes. This is a wonderful book well worth reading. Thank you to Netgalley and Rowman & Littlefield for the advance reader copy.

This is a great little collection of essays that reads like an anthology of magazine columns about the daily lives of ancient Greeks and Romans. I think each topic was inspired by readers' question on a blog site where the author takes on history questions. The book does what it says - covers the events of the "extras" in the Greek and Roman movie, rather than dwelling on the big stars. Some of the chapters read like little stories, others just jump right in with the facts.

If I had to find a nit to pick, sometimes the author seems a little too accepting of ancient sources' literal truth. For example, a text that says so-and-so was eight feet tall is clearly wrong. Other times the author does caveat the ancient claims, and I will admit that saying "allegedly" with every statement would get a little old for the author and for the reader.

Given the large number of short topics, this isn't mean to be read in one or two sittings. This would be good as bathroom reading (no offense, Ryan!) or with more illustrations, as a coffee table book. In fact, that's my other nit There are a few public domain photos here and there, but a second edition could benefit from drawings of the different topics. Certainly there are still graphic artists illustrating books out there. Each chapter needs an illustration. That's the coffee table book I want to see.

I know it isn't this author's specialty, but the next book I want to see is the same kind of treatment of daily life in ancient Egypt.

In quirky Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators and War Elephants Historian Garrett Ryan candidly answers questions you were itching to ask, and then some. As a frequent traveler to Rome, I was thrilled to read this informative, witty and educational book, complete with photographs and illustrations on one of my favourite subjects...ancient Roman and Greek life. It is broken down into six parts and within these parts are numerous short chapters.

Learn about innovative "pockets" in clothing, the ban on pants in Rome, painful shaving, pets of the wealthy, surgical instruments and procedures (including liposuction), trepanation, delectable elephant trunks, where the first cookbooks were created, the importance and ostentation of luxurious social gatherings, how time was tracked, wages, dangers (pretty much everything), ability to rent out public torturers if one was too squeamish, mythical beasts, curse tablets, pankration, exercise, swanky carriages, game tickets, "barley boys", inflatable ladders, fighting strategy using scorpions and burning feathers, language including definite and indefinite articles and the end of antiquity. There is so much more, too, as the book brims with fascinating bits. Though educational, you absorb information without studying if you know what I mean. It sticks as it's just so darned interesting!

Roman and Greek History fans truly ought to seek out this dynamite book. Be sure to read...and enjoy...the Appendix! When next in Rome I will definitely see things differently and can hardly wait.

My sincere thank you to Rowman & Littlefield and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this fun and riveting book.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Prometheus Books for an advanced copy of this history book.

Garrett Ryan in his book Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants: Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans answers inquiries, with a little bit of Dad-Joke styling thrown in, about the times and happening of ancient Greece and Rome that people wanted to know but were afraid to ask. Or lacked a good classics teacher or historian to bother with their quest for trivia.

Broken into six categories, including Daily Life, Leisure, Society, Beliefs, Sports and Legacies, the question can be as simple as when did Romans wear togas and how, to were there professional athletes, and was divorce allowable. Answers range in length from a page, to more with plenty of information from classic texts, to current thought and studies, depending on the subject. The book is perfect to read straight through, or just to jump around in, depending on your mood, or if you like to learn a new fact everyday. The last third of the book is more historical , with sections on further research and sources, and a chronicle of the ancient world.

A very fun book, full of interesting facts and information. Perfect for a burgeoning classics student, a future Jeopardy contestant, or someone like myself likes to read books full of historical facts and information, that is as funny and well written as informative.