The Comic History of Rome.

About The Comic History of Rome

The Comic History of Rome (1851) is a humorous look at the people and events of ancient Rome from its Foundation to the Assassination of Julius Caesar. It was published by Bradbury and Evans, with text by the English humorist Gilbert Abbott à Beckett and comic illustrations by John Leech, famous for his illustrations for the novella A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens. In his introduction, à Beckett wrote that, "The writer of this book is animated by an earnest wish to aid, as far as he is able, in the project of combining instruction with amusement." Largely, however, to modern eyes the humour lies not in à Beckett's somewhat dated text but rather in Leech's illustrations, which, with their top-hat and toga wearing patricians directly lampoon Victorian society.