the empty distractions of the brave new world:
Festivals and Ceremonies or Laughter in Ancient Rome: On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up
Pliny the Younger: capio aliquam voluptatem, quod hac voluptate non capior (“I take some pleasure that I am not taken by this pleasure”).
Cicero was known to flee Rome during the festive season (in Arpinati… me refeci ludorum diebus (I have refreshed myself in Arpinum… during the days of the games))
