Roman Joke Book Found

Professor Mary Beard has discovered a manuscript entitled Philogelos / The Laughter Lover, dating to the third or fourth century CE. Within it are 260 jokes which Beard argues are surprisingly similar to modern tastes, including “An ancient version of Monty Python's dead parrot sketch sees a man buy a slave, who dies shortly afterwards. When he complains to the seller, he is told: "He didn't die when I owned him." The Guardian has more examples and more of Mary’s comments.