Found writing style to be awkward and disjointed. Moreover, unlike so many, she questions - interrogates - the sources, discovers improbabilities and absurdities in various tellings, bringing a fresh, skeptical eye to all she surveys. Prof Beard's SPQR is an excellent social history but not a good introduction to Roman History. Well written account of about 1000 years of Roman history. That is the choice faced by Britain and Europe today.
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome is one of three books we picked up to provide an overview of Roman history in advance of our week-long trip to the city. Toward the latter portion of the book, there are also sections covering topics that are not necessarily time-bound such as the typical pursuits of the average Roman after working hours with funny quotes in their drinking establishments that literally sound like the same thing you’d hear today. I say "covered" as so little is described regarding the political development of the empire. The book is well written, but needs a title that reflects content that is mostly full of uncertainty.
Fortunately, the writings of Cicero and others are abundant, controversial, in ideological conflict amplified by cryptic clues from the graves. So this book is a good read for anyone traveling to any part of the former Roman Empire’s territories. a blog about travel, life, and the pursuit of the unknown, Bermuda, Caribbean, Mex-Caribbean-CtrlAmer.
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome is a monumental work by the historian Mary Beard. I should have known better to go as far as I did. I've never read a book so boring.
Beard opens with the same observation as this reader.
You can get much of that from a fat Western Civ textbook. Her love for him is deeply annoying.
What makes Beard’s review of Rome unique and gained her book accolades is her ability to pull back the covers on the myth and hero-worship that can accompany Rome and make it more real. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later?
If you look down on one side, everything looks reassuringly familiar: there are conversations going on that we almost join, about the nature of freedom or problems of sex; there are buildings and monuments we understand, with all their troublesome adolescents; and there are jokes we 'get'. Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2018.
Lucky are the students of Mary Beard. The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. There is a lot to unpack in this lengthy and dense book. I suggest reading The storm before the storm by Mike Duncan.
One will not learn that much about the history of Rome from this book. While Beard did the best she could to make that clear-cut, even with those attempts, it can get a bit hard to follow who did what. What she touches turns to light. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard, book review Diversity, some have concluded, drove Rome's economic ambition and imperial success (Getty) Getty Images I also think that Beard does a fine job of incorporating sources into her history that add to and bring life to the historical events and peoples that she covers. Having the timeline handy that is at the end of the book with while you read will be very helpful as otherwise it is very easy to get lost in the overwhelming list of names of emperors and prominent citizens. Disabling it will result in some disabled or missing features. Purchases made through the link provide a small commission to us at no cost to you.
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If you're already familiar with the subject, it's probably a good read. Profile Books, £25. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, An excellent Social History, but a Poor Introduction to the Chronology, Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2017. SPQR is prefaced by the barely historic and mythical origins of the Roman Kingdom and the Western Empire that would fall.
A downside of reading an electronic version. Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2018.
I chose to focus less on that and more on the themes emerging.
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For those interested in an overview of ancient Rome as interpreted through clear eyes and a healthy dose of reality from someone who has spent 50 years studying the Romans and knows her subjects, this is a must-read. Probably the most challenging part of reading it for me is that in the hundreds of years this book spans, there were countless leaders, many of whom had similar names and nicknames. This could have been terribly dry, but she blends ancient anecdotes with images from coins and archaeological digs and other sources in an engaging manner.
[Disclosure: This review includes affiliate links. The divide "had begun to raise the eyebrows of onlookers". Want more on Rome? Any book that has the name Barrack Obama written in its first few pages is most likely a horrible book. Another long Rome tome in a crowded market seems unnecessary. There is an interesting discussion throughout the book about the role slaves played in ancient Rome, the ways in which they could be freed and enter mainstream society and even gain citizenship. There are a lot of similar sounding names ending in "-us". She has also had her fair share of controversies for her outspokenness on various topics of modern society.
(As an aside, some white nationalist groups have recently tried to co-opt this by using it in some of their materials, not unlike the way Hitler tried to hearken back to some Roman traditions as a way to gain historic legitimacy.).
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2018.
I probably can't add much to the other reviews, but did want to contribute a five-star rating for this excellent book. Monumental….
There is a lot in this book about HOW the historians know what happened, or rather the often conflicting evidence of what happened and why. By the middle of the first century BCE, the richest families lived in plush houses while the poor rotted in slummy, grim dwellings. The English translation is “The Senate and People of Rome,” and represents the two main pillars of society. For a broad overview it doesn't avoid nuance. Her magisterial new history of Rome, SPQR…is no exception…. Finding SPQR amidst the modern city is extraordinarily difficult. For those with an interest in reading more about the specific rulers during this time period, you’ll probably enjoy that level of detail for some of the less-renowned emperors. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard Liveright A british college student named Megan Beech recently published a poetry collection called When I Grow Up I Want to Be Mary Beard . Beard informs and entertains without ever patronising her readers.
The diversity, some have concluded, drove the city's economic ambition and imperial success. Know all about it. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I don't think I've made it a hundred pages. One needs to go no further than the time interval she selected - from some obscure incident in Roman history, to the moment all the citizens of Rome were granted Roman citizenship.
For example: Cleopatra couldn't have killed herself by putting an asp to her breast because: "Suicide by snakebite is a hard feat to pull off, and anyway, the most reliably deadly snakes would be too hefty to conceal in even a regal fruit basket.
Unfortunately, I did not discover that until I finished the book.
", The author delicately nudges us to think about our current crises as she considers Roman conversations (and angst) about national identity, asylum, democracy, empire, power, revolution, "barbarism" and conquest. Furthermore, Cicero is according to the author by far the most important Roman since there is a lot of written documents about and by him. As I write this, we should have just returned home from that trip; alas, we had to postpone it to an unknown future date as a result of the current pandemic. Eventually they get assassinated.
First, for those wondering what on earth SPQR means: this is an abbreviation what was commonly used in ancient Rome (and is still used today in the city of Rome) and stands for “Senatus Populusque Romanus” in Latin.
Emperors spend most of their time at debauched orgies. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users.
Order at £22 inc. p&p from the Independent Bookshop, Diversity, some have concluded, drove Rome's economic ambition and imperial success (Getty). The end. Later when they conquered much of the known world, the Romans were brutal and xenophobic and yet, in time, the subjugated were offered full citizenship rights and legal protection. I also love the philosophy that is intertwined with the historical events, and I appreciate learning about what we know through ancient sources and historians in comparison to what has been discovered through archaeological digs and finds.
Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates. Note: This review is by my husband Jim. Mary Beard writes a blog/column for TLS (Times Literary Supplement) that you can find here. If you're like me you may have spent quite a few years accumulating some vague and confused ideas of Roman history: It all starts with twins reared by a wolf. From the title I was expecting a high level overview of Roman History.
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary BeardMy rating: 2 of 5 starsFlying in the face of other reviews for this book, I can honestly say I lost precious hours reading this book that I will never get back. There is no real history here. 2,471 global ratings | 1,490 global reviews, Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2015. If you're starting from scratch, you'll come up empty.
Some established "facts" and dates turn out to be spin, whispers, afterthoughts and yarns.
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