A Cultural History of Leisure in Antiquity

A comprehensive exploration of the history of leisure during the age of antiquity.

In Antiquity (500 BCE-500 CE), leisure was always more significant than simply a short break from the hardships of everyday life. Leisure served to teach citizens about their various social roles and helped them construct identities, mainly by establishing and maintaining boundaries between social groups. Educated elites cultivated the concepts schole and otium to denote dignified free time, which the gentleman was able to devote to morally valuable pursuits. Festivals and public games were accessible for large and diverse audiences, and also functioned as an effective tool to forge political loyalty to rulers and the ruling classes. Is it useful to apply the term ‘leisure’ to the ancient world? What do we need to take into account to write a cultural history of leisure in Antiquity?

A Cultural History of Leisure in Antiquity, focusing on Greece and Rome, presents an overview of key themes and trends in this period, with essays on: Ideas of leisure; The performing arts and their audiences; The cerebral arts and their publics; Sports and games; Holydays, holidays and tourism; The world of conviviality; The world of goods; The world of nature; Representations of leisure.