SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Book Reviews

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Historian's look at rome until 212CE. At least two chapters end in mid sentence - very irritating but that is on Itunes not the author. Overall an interesting read but it does jump around topically and chronologically though the author is clear about that she intends that.

Amazing Historical Novel. Count put this book down. It wasn’t just a history of Rome but of World History. The author helps us realize how much of an impact Rome has on how we live today!

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. I always wanted to learn about Rome's beginnings. But the historical guesswork and the research confusion became too much. I gave up about midway. Ed Kelley

Boring. This book has received excellent reviews by The Economist, NYT and others; in my case I recommend you download a sample before purchasing. I found SPQR extremely boring, the author wanders around without a clear and compelling storyline; I frequently found myself looking topics up in wikipedia and others to actually understand the ancient history of Rome.

Read this Before/During a Trip to Rome. I don't usually read non-fiction, but I picked this book after sifting through a slew of other titles. I appreciated her style of meandering into the pre-history of Rome and through to the beginning of the Christian Era and the rise of Constantinople. Her writing is almost conversational-very accessible. She questions previous assumptions about the Roman Empire & delves into experiences beyond the wealthy classes (palace intrigue) to explore the experiences of slaves, women, the conquered, etc.. Starting this before/during my visit to Rome allowed the magnificent architecture, art, and museum visits to be enlivened by what I was reading in the book.

Aaaaaargh!. Disjointed, mind numbing, politically correc. I only read the sample, mercifully

Very negative tone. I wanted to read a book to learn more about Rome and appreciate its empire, but Beard has a negative tone constantly jabbing the Roman leaders and historians. She has so many negative qualifiers I couldn’t figure out if she even likes Rome. Couldn’t finish it.

I like it. I like it

Et Immortales Populus. Mary Beard blows up the idea of the Rome you thought you knew versus what a detailed accounting tells us. The drama of Rome is an unending list of tabloid worthy scandals. As Mary Beard points out, the turmoil that plagued Rome to its end may lie in the roots of its fratricidal founding. And now the themes from our daily headlines are just repeated stories from ages ago. Indeed, when contrasted against the current state of affairs we are reminded how history echoes itself if not wholesale repeats. As always, what we learn from history could save us today. In one example, the way in which Rome had a more inclusive citizenry that pulled from its collective territories could be held up against the machinations of the far right today. At every turn Mary Beard reminds us that history is written by the victor and therefore we must examine Rome’s story with some incredulity and a healthy level of curiosity to seek out supporting or competing narratives. It’s in the gaps of the known stories that Mary Beard’s work shines. The experiences of the Everyman of Rome matters as much as those of the Emperor for her. Even if we don’t have a lot of written down.

All talk, little facts. The only good thing about this book is the pictures, the rest is Mary’s opinions.

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