Hollywood must share the blame for this perception, not to mention the inability of the average moviegoer to distinguish Caesar from Croesus.

And then, now that I think of how Herodotus wrote of that unfortunate Lydian, perhaps it's natural for us to think of the ancients as unbearably serious, grave, and wise.

After all, if the Romans were really so colorful, energetic, and even silly, how come they're dead?