Theorizing the Social Dynamics of Roman Humor: Two Case Studies

Abstract

Humor, both verbal and visual, is culture-specific. This article examines two well-preserved tavern paintings to understand Roman acculturation, or attitude-formation, with regard to humor. Two complementary theoretical aprroaches, one from sociology, the other from literary theory, reveal multiple strategies employed to elicit laughter, including differences in social status, the carnivalesque, analogies between bodily and spatial representation, and oppositions between philosophical and colloquial speech.