Aldrete helps tell garbage story of great cities

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UW-Green Bay Prof. Greg Aldrete of Humanistic Studies just returned from a week in Rome being filmed for a documentary series called “Trashopolis.”

The series tells how issues of sanitation and garbage have influenced the development of great cities. Aldrete was the on- screen expert for the episode on ancient Rome. Highlights included descending to shoot in front of the outlet of the oldest continually operating sewer (2,600 years old) built by the Romans, and climbing a 100-foot garbage pile of broken clay: Roman olive oil containers.

Aldrete, on sabbatical to pursue his history research, is a Founders Association award winner and nationally renowned as a scholar of everyday life in ancient Rome.

His book Daily Life in the Roman City: Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia was recently released in paperback by the University of Oklahoma Press. The original, hardcover edition published by Greenwood Press (2004) has become widely used as a textbook in Roman civilization courses.