The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans

Carlin Barton's 1993 study of Roman shame, honor, and violence — examining the gladiatorial games, Roman facial expressions, and the culture of humiliation — arguing that Rome was a culture obsessed with honor and haunted by shame.

Provides the most psychologically penetrating account of Roman honor culture — The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans demonstrates that the gladiatorial spectacle was not mindless entertainment but a complex cultural mechanism for managing shame and honor, and that Roman public violence reflects a specific emotional economy.