The Stuff: The author wishes to portray Roman culture and character based on the writings of Roman poets and playwrights. Despite her awareness that this strategy leaves out vast swaths of the Roman world, including women, slaves, artisans, and the disadvantaged, she confines her study to the lettered, leisured male.
Proceeding roughly chronologically, she begins with two early comedic playwrights, Plautus and Terence. Never heard of them? Never fear.
“The comedy of each age,” Hamilton writes, “holds up a mirror to the people of that age.”
I hope that two thousand years from now, sociologists/historians don’t watch sitcoms and think they have anything to do with the reality of the present day.
She discusses Cicero at length, Horace’s odes to the good life, the tortured love poetry of Catullus for his ”Lesbia,” and Juvenal’s biting Satires.
Of course, this is not everything, but these are the long poles in the tent.
Thoughts:
Using these, and other writings, particularly of the Stoics, Hamilton compares and contrasts the Roman character with the Greek. Both fought many wars. In Greek literature, no one wants to die—fair enough. Romans, on the other hand, are all too willing to die. No Greek would have written anything like “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” (“Sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country.”), but the Roman Horace did.
Another topic she discusses at length is the differences between the “classic” and the “romantic” Romans. The classic Romans adhere to facts and measurable things. The romantic Romans indulge in the poetic and the not-quite-so-literally-true.
Hamilton acknowledges that Rome was at war for most of its existence and indulged in the games, where condemned people or professionals were killed for public amusement. One of Rome’s great legacies is law and a sense of justice.
“The little town on the seven hills conquered the other little towns around because her citizens could obey orders,” Hamilton writes.
…maybe.
It is tough for me to recommend this or pitch against the wall. I enjoyed reading this. There is a lot of good information, and the quick survey of centuries of Latin literature was engaging. Still, I can’t get around Hamilton’s outdated thinking and conclusions.
So. A conditional recommendation. If you’re interested in classical literature, yes. And take Hamilton’s musings cum grānō salis (with a grain of salt).
Bio: Edith Hamilton (1867-1963) was an American classist and educator specializing in the teaching of Latin. Her books, especially The Greek Way and The Roman Way, popularized classical culture. They were written in a style easily accessible to the everyday reader.
Title: The Roman Way
Author: Edith Hamilton (1867-1963)
First published: 1932
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
Interesting. It’s nice that you alert readers to what’s good and what’s to be taken with a grain of salt.
Thanks. I read her “Mythology” when I was a kid and absolutely loved it. She was my favorite —for a while. Then I discovered Nancy Drew or something.
I was a devout Nancy Drew reader!
Nancy was so much fun!
It sounds like a very interesting book but I feel your reservations are warranted. 1932 also seems
a bit dated. Thank you for a very good review.
Thanks for your kind words, Thomas. Yes, and I’m bummed. As a kid, I read her book “Mythology” and loved it. I’ve probably read it half a dozen times over the years. It was my first introduction to Norse mythology.
But I can’t buy what she’s selling in this book, even if I enjoyed reading some of the old writers again.
Interesting. I do understand and agree with your criticism. On the other hand, I suppose that poetry and plays make up a large part of the evidence we have about the culture back then? So it makes sense to use that as a starting point.
Yes. But it doesn’t speak to the material remnants we have. It is a narrow focus and speaks to only one aspect of the culture as if that were all the Romans said or did. Granted it was an important part. She draws her conclusions about all of Rome from that aspect. I don’t see it as fatal, but limiting.