What made the Greeks laugh?

Por cortesía del poeta irlandés Peter Sirr, un reciente artículo de Mary Beard en The Times, colgado en el blog Texts and Translations (cfr. la columna de la derecha, de Revistas de traducción):

"In the third century BC, when Roman ambassadors were negotiating with the Greek city of Tarentum, an ill-judged laugh put paid to any hope of peace. Ancient writers disagree about the exact cause of the mirth, but they agree that Greek laughter was the final straw in driving the Romans to war". (ver más en http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article5759723.ece?&EMC-Bltn=9EJE8A)