Why did the Romans begin the year in January, forbid certain foods or follow strange marriage customs? Plutarch collects such questions about Roman religion and custom and offers possible answers. This edition prints Philemon Holland’s vivid Elizabethan translation, with F. B. Jevons’s introduction on Italian cults, taboos, sympathetic magic and the eating of beans.
Called the earliest formal treatise on folklore, it is a delight for students of Roman religion and comparative custom. Download the free EPUB.