Imperador de Roma

by Mary Beard

Mary Beard regressa à Roma Antiga para nos contar a história dos imperadores que governaram o Império Romano. Começando por Júlio César (assassinado em 44 a.C.) levando-nos ao longo de cerca de três séculos - e quase 30 imperadores - até Alexandre Severo (assassinado em 235 d.C.). Mas, este livro não é uma cronologia dos imperadores de Roma - o louco Calígula, o monstruoso Nero e o filósofo Marco Aurélio -, pelo contrário, Mary Beard coloca questões diferentes, mais vastas e mais profundas: que poder tinham de facto os imperadores? O palácio romano estava realmente tão manchado de sangue? Que tipo de piadas contava Augusto? O que realmente aconteceu, por exemplo, entre o imperador Adriano e o seu amado Antínoo?

Combinando o épico com o quotidiano, Mary Beard segue o imperador em casa, nas corridas, nas suas viagens e até no seu caminho para o céu. Apresenta-nos as mulheres e amantes do imperador, rivais, conspiradores e escravos, bobos da corte e soldados, e as pessoas comuns que lhe entregavam cartas a pedir esmola. E, derruba mitos que sempre demos como certos, entre os quais a perceção de que todos os imperadores eram orquestradores de extrema brutalidade e crueldade.

Neste extraordinário livro, com base em mais de trinta anos de ensino e escrita, Mary Beard oferece um relato da história de Roma, desde a sua fundação até à sua queda, como nunca antes foi apresentado.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Audiobook, Roman History, Politics, Historical

464 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2023

About the author

Winifred Mary Beard (born 1 January 1955) is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge and is a fellow of Newnham College. She is the Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, and author of the blog "A Don's Life", which appears on The Times as a regular column. Her frequent media appearances and sometimes controversial public statements have led to her being described as "Britain's best-known classicist".

Mary Beard, an only child, was born on 1 January 1955 in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Her father, Roy Whitbread Beard, worked as an architect in Shrewsbury. She recalled him as "a raffish public-schoolboy type and a complete wastrel, but very engaging". Her mother Joyce Emily Beard was a headmistress and an enthusiastic reader.

Mary Beard attended an all-female direct grant school. During the summer she participated in archaeological excavations; this was initially to earn money for recreational spending, but she began to find the study of antiquity unexpectedly interesting. But it was not all that interested the young Beard. She had friends in many age groups, and a number of trangressions: "Playing around with other people's husbands when you were 17 was bad news. Yes, I was a very naughty girl."

At the age of 18 she was interviewed for a place at Newnham College, Cambridge and sat the then compulsory entrance exam. She had thought of going to King's, but rejected it when she discovered the college did not offer scholarships to women. Although studying at a single-sex college, she found in her first year that some men in the University held dismissive attitudes towards women's academic potential, and this strengthened her determination to succeed. She also developed feminist views that remained "hugely important" in her later life, although she later described "modern orthodox feminism" as partly "cant". Beard received an MA at Newnham and remained in Cambridge for her PhD.

From 1979 to 1983 she lectured in Classics at King's College London. She returned to Cambridge in 1984 as a fellow of Newnham College and the only female lecturer in the Classics faculty. Rome in the Late Republic, which she co-wrote with the Cambridge ancient historian Michael Crawford, was published the same year. In 1985 Beard married Robin Sinclair Cormack. She had a daughter in 1985 and a son in 1987. Beard became Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement in 1992.

Shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Beard was one of several authors invited to contribute articles on the topic to the London Review of Books. She opined that many people, once "the shock had faded", thought "the United States had it coming", and that "[w]orld bullies, even if their heart is in the right place, will in the end pay the price".[4] In a November 2007 interview, she stated that the hostility these comments provoked had still not subsided, although she believed it had become a standard viewpoint that terrorism was associated with American foreign policy.[1]

In 2004, Beard became the Professor of Classics at Cambridge.[3] She is also the Visiting Sather Professor of Classical Literature for 2008–2009 at the University of California, Berkeley, where she has delivered a series of lectures on "Roman Laughter".[5]

Reviews

[Mark Porton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emperor of Rome by the wonderful Mary Beard is essential reading for lovers of Roman antiquity, but ALSO for those who are hanging out for an introduction to this incredible period of human history. This account covers the period from Augustus (27 BCE) to the teenage Elagabalus (reign ended 222 CE).

Usually, any account of the Emperors of Rome is chronological. You know, Augustus (the great), Tiberius (the miserable), Caligula (the nutter), Claudius (the unexpected), Nero (the ginga ninja – but also a nutter)….and so on. Well, Professor Beard here, tackles this lot of Emperors differently. That is, by Topic. Food, slaves, succession, administration and so much more.

The section on Imperial Dinners was brilliant. Caligula used to nip off with the wives of male guests, have sex with them, return the poor woman to the table and proceed to demean her and her husband. Elagabalus used to have colour themed dinners – the black ones were sure to scare the guests, he also introduced “whoopee cushions” to the world at his dinners – this gender fluid emperor was a genius!! Skin flint, Tiberius, served up yesterday’s leftovers for a ‘feast’ the following day – bahahaha. The fact is, Imperial dining is a particularly revealing lens into the world of the emperor from Sadism to generosity, luxury to terror. The imperial dining room was a site of danger as well as pleasure for the unsuspecting guests.

Poisoning had an uncanny close relationship to cookery.

There’s a chapter on the Job Description of an emperor. They had so much correspondence, it makes one wonder how they go through it. They probably had their minders reply to much of it. But one thing that struck me was the ‘light touch of power’ in the empire. There was only 1 administrator for every 300,000 people – amazing!

Succession was another wonderful chapter – the complexities involved. Also, the importance of adoption in determining who would be heir. Many, or most adoptions involved an emperor adopting an adult male as son. It does seem to me, that adoption (i.e.. selecting an individual with the right skill set) was far more successful in producing decent heirs than by birth. For example, the year of the 5 Good Emperors - Nerva (was appointed by the senate after Nero), Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, all adopted, were considered good, great, emperors. However, Marcus Aurelius allowed his biological basket-case of a son, Commodus, to take over after his death, and that ended in tears, to put it mildly.

The chapter on women was enthralling. Women of the Imperial House helped to both guarantee succession and simultaneously threaten to disrupt it. Messalina’s intrigues with one of her aristocratic lovers (for apparently she had many) who were apparently ready to stage a coup - resulted in her being put to death on her husband’s – Claudius – orders with him quipping – “Am I still Emperor, am I still emperor?” Brutal stuff.

The equally promiscuous daughter of Augustus, Julia, who was known for having a keen sense of humour only took on a lover when she was pregnant to her husband. She was quoted as saying “I never take a passenger on board, except when the hold is already full”. That is brilliant – I hope it’s true!

Interestingly, Mary Beard starts this book and ends it with a discussion on Elagabalus. He’s a little-known emperor. He reigned 218 CE – 222 CE. He was only a boy, aged 14 – 18 years during his reign. He was from Syria and came to be emperor due to some tenuous link with the royal bloodline. This young boy was responsible for a massive empire. Imagine that? I was squeezing pimples at that age and arguing with mum and dad about how long I could stay out with my mates - he was ‘large and in charge’ of an empire! He was also different, he dressed flamboyantly, much to the horror of the Roman Conservatives, he was a follower of the Sun God (hence the name), in fact he installed Elegabal as the chief deity, thus causing religious difficulties in Rome, not helped by his marriage to a Vestal Virgin!! Yes, a Vestal Virgin!!!! But importantly, Mary Beard paints a picture of a human being, a person, a young boy – probably gender fluid. Notably, he even asked one of his surgeons to cut him a vagina.

Mary Beard humanises these people. She brings them into your lounge room, she introduces us them as folks, and I love her for that. If you have even slightest inkling to know more about this crazy gang – read this. If you want an extra-sensory experience, listen to Professor Beard’s audiobook as I did – it is quite simply, magic.



Elegabalus……poor lad (my opinion) – executed to make way for Severus Alexander.

5 Stars

[Callum's Column · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Suetonius's imagination takes us right back to the very beginning of one man rule. It tells us so much about autocracy that the founding father of the imperial system [Augustus] was said to have summed up his career as a piece of theatre, as an act." Emperors of Rome have left an enduring imprint on the West, either through their ability to rule with stability or their rule with capricious incompetence. Nonetheless, all ruled as tyrants in some way or another, and although deified after death, they were mere mortals like the rest of us. They relied on a delicate apparatus of help—either free or unfree—to maintain power and to uphold their sham image.

Mary Beard weaves together the life of a Roman emperor with poise in this book. She does not focus on just one emperor but on the first thirty or so after Augustus' rise to princeps. She puts the man back into places he spent his time, what he ate, how he travelled around the empire, who he slept with, how he governed, and so on. Beard's analysis relies on classical ancient texts, modern scholarship, and archaeological evidence. Her assertions—that we simply do not know the truth in some instances or that ancient sources likely embellished the truth—are refreshing. Her prose also flows easily, making for an engaging read.

Beard concludes that autocracy of all ages as fake or a distorting mirror. We are witnessing it among the three most powerful nations—Russia, China, and America. One may say that America is not an autocracy. However, with the Republicans forfeiting their congressional powers to the current president and the increasing sway of unitary presidential theory, the President increasingly acts as an elected dictator. Almost everything the current president says is an idiotic falsehood spun by his toadies as another move in a game of 4D chess. Striving for truth is the antidote. As George Orwell apocryphally stated: "In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Emperor of Rome” explores the fact and fiction of these rulers of the ancient Roman world, asking what they did, why they did it, and why their stories have been told in the extravagant, sometimes lurid, ways that they have. It looks at big questions of power, corruption and conspiracy. But it also looks at the day-to-day practicalities of their lives. What, and where, did they eat? Who did they sleep with? How did they travel?”

“The old-style Emperor of Rome, who has been the focus of this book has left an enduring mark on the history and culture of the West. His statues have bequeathed a template for representing power, clad in battle dress or toga. His titles lie behind the modern language of autocracy, from emperor (imperator) to prince (princeps), Kaiser to Czar (both from Caesar). He is a figure who has given us an image of how to rule, as well as a warning of how not to.”

A few years ago I tried to read this author’s “Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern”. I thought that it would be a discussion of the lives of the Emperors as reflected in art. In turned out to be art history, and it bored me. Fortunately, this new book is what I had hoped to get from the prior book. It describes the job of Roman Emperor. It includes: how they lived, what they ate, how they decorated their homes, the exercise of power, class differences, their paperwork, who served them, cash flow, Emperors at play, how and where they traveled, how they looked and how they died. The book explores the various ways in which the lives of the Emperors are portrayed in books and art are a reflection of how the Emperor’s’ successors and subjects needed them to be.

I liked that this was not just a chronological slog through the lives of all of the Emperors, and I also liked that there are no battles. I’ve read plenty of books like that already. This book is dense, but I found it lively and fascinating. There are illustrations and an extensive bibliography that includes suggestions for places to visit.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Boudewijn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roman whoopee cushions

What does it mean to be a Roman emperor? How did the daily life for an emperor look like? Mary Beard explores the fact and fiction of the ancient Roman world in her excellent book and looks at the day to day practicalities of their lives. How did they eat? How did they travel?

And yes, as Mary Beard states, there is a lot of fiction and not that many facts. Most of the stories we receive through the ages, are told by those around the emperors. Most of them wouldn't always be objective, held a grudge or simply wanted to idealize their emperors for various reasons. For example, take some Roman senators: they have produced some meorable and occasionally hilarious tales. But this doesn't hide the fact that there was a frought relation between senate and emperors, a political fault line. Bloodshed, assassinations, hit squads from the palace. It is all there.

Mary Beard offers a revised account of the Roman emperor, Drawing from a wide range of ancient sources including works of literature, medical reports, sculptures and other pieces of artwork, as well as inscriptions and coinage, Beard offers a fascinating exploration of assumptions about how the emperors lived, dined and died. But Emperor of Rome is more than just a novel about emperors. Beard let's use see how stories about emperors reveal as much about Roman elites, women, and slaves, and the way in which the imperial system operated, as they do the emperor himself.

So what about those whoopee cushions? Roman Emperor Elagabalus was said to enjoy practical jokes at his dinner parties and often placed whoopee cushions under the chairs of his more pompous guests. But after reading this book, you know that you might need to take this with a grain of salt.

[John Bosco · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, a sequel to Mary Beard's incredibly popular book SPQR, follows the emperors of Rome, but not in a chronological way. Rather than tell the full history of one emperor and then the next. Mary Beard traces the more mundane and ordinary parts of each of their reigns. She covers spouses, slaves, interests, etc. of each emperor rather than just focusing on their military abilities and political mechanizations.

While this view of the emperors is interesting, the amount of information is a bit overwhelming, and it left me so inundated with facts that it felt more like Mary Beard has no self-editing and merely edited for grammar. A thematic approach is absolutely a valid alternative to chronological history, but without an rhyme or reason to how information was presenting, it feels more like stream of consciousness info-dumping. Because of this, it was a far less enjoyable read compared to SPQR.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Emperor of Rome tries to describe the life of the generic Roman emperor.  For instance, it covers topics such as what work did the representative emperor do on a daily basis? How did he travel? What role did he play on the battlefield?  In the majority of cases, Beard does an admirable job of answering such questions and painting a convincing picture of various elements of an emperor's life.  However, on a significant minority of subjects, she seems to base broad assertions on very limited data.  The overall narrative is, therefore, rather uneven. 

[ancientreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book like this probably has at least two kinds of reviewers: 1., experts in the field, who are in a position to evaluate the author's claims against their own knowledge, and who may, academia being what it is, have bones to pick; and 2., general readers hoping to inform themselves and, maybe, already familiar with the author's reputation and one or more of her other books.

I'm in the second category. What I know about ancient Rome comes from reading a few histories for general readers, including other books by Professor Beard. Are her theses here original and her insights fresh? I couldn't say -- but they were new to me, and so I found them illuminating.

Beard's overarching theme here is that "Emperor of Rome" was a persona -- a screen, almost, behind which the real individual remains unknowable. We have whatever relatively scant evidence survives after a couple of thousand years, and most of that is either indirect (what does Pliny's "Speech of Praise" actually tell us about its subject, Trajan? or does it chiefly tell us what one prominent Roman thought a good emperor ought to be?) or frankly unreliable (if you had your predecessor assassinated, your narrative about him would depict him as a Wicked Emperor; if he had adopted you and thus provided your claim to rule, your narrative would depict him as a Good Emperor). Apart from Marcus Aurelius's "Jottings to Himself" (as Beard calls what most of us know as his "Meditations") and some letters (which may have been written by aides), we have no personal writings by any emperor.

I did a great deal of highlighting, between the factual information and the insights that were new to me. Beard's prose is, as always, lively and engaging, with flashes of humor. She's not an apologist for the empire -- I'm pretty sure the conservative "greatness of Rome" nonsense makes her gag -- and she's alert to hints of what life under a man with (ostensibly) absolute power might have been like, in particular for people held as slaves but also for the mighty "enjoying" evenings with the likes of Eliogabalus. She also brought to my notice the surprising precarity of life as an emperor of Rome: since there was no provision for the transfer of power except by the death of the previous incumbent, a great deal of assassination went on.

It's most unfortunate that in the ARC, captions for the illustrations are represented by strings of Latin gibberish -- at least, I assume it's gibberish! -- so I can say nothing about how useful the figures are or what the captions may add to the information in the text proper.

Thanks to W.W. Norton / Liveright and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Pooja Peravali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many people can name an emperor of the Roman Empire even more than two thousand years after they lived, and are familiar with the stories of the excesses of their power. But what did being emperor actually entail?

In this book, historian Mary Beard argues that being emperor in many ways meant playing the part of ’emperor,’ in the way that the Roman people saw them – the person who wore the garment being sometimes interchangeable. It was an interesting thesis that really pointed out how different politics in Rome were, though as I read I noticed plenty of parallels to more recent history.

I thought the author did a good job of taking us into the alien past and showing us quite how alien it was. Her Rome is a slave society full of double-thinking and whole-hearted lip service to self-professed ideals, where an emperor is both all-powerful as well as a common man like any other. I liked how the book was not organized chronologically but instead by aspect of being emperor, so bridging the gap between different regimes and allowing us to see how things evolved and things stayed the same.

However, I wish that the book had been a little longer. This is popular history, not an academic study, and the author has a lot of ground to cover, but unfortunately this means she skims past some stories and ideas that could have been explored further. I also found the writing a little dry on occasion, and it was hard to keep track of the emperors and what they did sometimes because of their out-of-order treatment. The nature of being emperor means that they are supposed to blend into each other sometimes, but without much knowledge about some of these men, they blended confusingly at times.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Phillip Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emperor of Rome is the story of how the Roman Emperors established their position as the Supreme Authority in their empire. An emperor was as a God to his subjects and much propaganda and ritual was used to reinforce his status. The statues, the coins, the palaces, temples, and religious rituals were all part of establishing the image of Caesar as a God. The emperor and the Gods that he was descended from via the classical demigods like Aeneas were above reproach. If they were not given their proper worship it would mean the end of the world. I used to read many Joseph Campbell books and the Roman Empire is an example of the power of myth in political form.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bulgarian review first, followed by the English translation below

По същество и тази най-нова книга на Мери Биърд е едно приятно, ерудирано есе с импровизации. Този път на тема “публичният образ на римския император като институция преди влиянието на християнството и преди разпада на старата римска империя и възникването на Византия”.

Култът към личността на живия император и плавното му преливане в посмъртно обожествяване, както и погледът към невидимите колелца на автокрацията в канцеларии, градини, палати, пиршества и дори в изкуството са тематично представени. Куп любопитни анекдоти (често със спорна автентичност) доукрасяват нишката на “сюжета”.

Допирните точки със съвременността са доста особени и по-скоро водят до поводи за преосмисляне, отколкото до директен резерв от “мерки за прилагане”. Биърд за пореден път посочва колко пълна с пропагандата на деня, неточна информация и лични пристрастия е познатата ни история в оцелелите източници. Истината рядко е очевидна и понякога липсва напълно, а диренето ѝ е труден процес, който малцина историци се осмеляват да предприемат - и скептичната Биърд е от тях.

Мери Биърд решава да се захване не с отделните личности, а с голямата картина и с тълкуването на външните прояви, видими за всички. Тематичният подход обаче за пореден път е и голямата ѝ слабост. Пълният и отказ от линейна структура носи елемент на хаотичност и загуба на фокус, както и липса на усещане кои всъщност са били тези императори.

Мери Биърд говори за “императора” като сборна институционална фигура, за която всъщност само си мислим, че знаем достатъчно, разчитайки на често недостоверни или косвени свидетелства. Но тази сборна фигура в един момент се оказа за мен дим и мъгла, крайно смътна, плод по-скоро на субективните интерпретации на Биърд. Не че не съм съгласна с голяма част от тях! Но в изобилието от думи структурата отново и отново се губи, те все повече замаскират или са самоцелни, отколкото да разкриват и образоват. А и в тях също прозират липси и пропуски (може би с цел пестене на обем), както и ненужни общи приказки. За сметка на това в различните глави присъстват несекващи повторения на едни и същи събития и анекдоти - защо просто не вмъкна нови? Или смята читателя за толкова неопитен, че да загуби нишката без изрично натъртване?

Есеистичният, нелинеен подход е много удачен за вече подробно запознатите с имперската хронология и е ценен с обърнатата си перспектива. Обаче за тепърва прохождащи в темата, подозирам, книгата ще е малко озадачаваща, или просто ще мине пред очите им като бърз, повърхностен, но ярко ефектен сериал на “Нетфликс”.

Биърд за пореден път решава да приключи разказа си с 235 г. сл. н. е. (доколкото изобщо има хронология, според мен такава отсъства). Не съм съгласна с нито един от твърде кратко изложените мотиви за такова решение.

Но книгата в крайна сметка е есе - приятно и елегантно, не особено изчерпателно, порядъчно субективно избирателно.

За да бъде истински добра, книгата трябваше да е или много по-кратка (подробна статия), или доста по-дълга (за да подплати някои от съвсем общите, смътни и повърхностно засегнати или гъмжащи от повторения подтеми).

——
Потресващата корица на “Изток-Запад” с триръкия римлянин със стик за селфи е пълен позор, за който издателството очевидно отказа да поеме каквато и да е отговорност, което е тревожен сигнал за царуващите там качество и етика предвид широката им палитра от научнопопулярни заглавия (с изключение на идеологическата им платена линия “Катехон”, където етиката под формата и на независимост така или иначе вече почти отсъства). За щастие нехайството им не се е разпростряло до превода - той е добър.

——
▶️ Цитати:

🦅”Хиляди хора в цялата империя, свободни и роби, се трудели за императора и неговия двор: някои - обект на жестока експлоатация, размирни и недоволни, други - сравнително доволни или дори горди от работата, която изпълнявали. През цялата история се наблюдава един неудобен факт: абсолютизмьт - или тиранията, диктатурата, или както и да го наричаме - винаги е зависил от хора на всички нива, които го приемат, приспособяват се кьм него или дори го намират за удобна система, в която да устроят живота си. […] Единовластието се крепяло не на насилието или тайната полиция, а на доброволното съдействие и сътрудничество - съзнателно или поради наивност, добронамерено или не.”

🦅“…от Древен Рим не можем да извлечем много уроци за себе си - в смисьл че не можем да се обърнем към него за готови решения за собствените си проблеми. Римляните не могат и няма да ни дадат отговорите на нашите въпроси. От друга страна, когато изследваме техния свят, това ни помага да видим нашия по различен начин.”

At its core, Mary Beard's latest book is yet another enjoyable, erudite essay with improvisations—this time on the theme of "the public image of the Roman emperor as an institution prior to the influence of Christianity, the collapse of the old Roman Empire, and the rise of Byzantium."

The cult of personality surrounding the living emperor and its smooth transition into posthumous deification, alongside a look into the invisible cogs of autocracy within offices, gardens, palaces, banquets, and even art, are presented thematically. A host of curious anecdotes (often of questionable authenticity) further embellish the thread of the "plot."

The touchpoints with modernity are rather peculiar, serving more as prompts for re-evaluation than as a direct reservoir of "actionable measures." Beard points out once again how thoroughly filled with the propaganda of the day, inaccurate information, and personal biases our known history is within the surviving sources. The truth is rarely obvious and sometimes entirely absent, while the search for it is an arduous process that few historians dare to undertake—and the skeptical Beard is one of them.

Mary Beard chooses to tackle not individual figures, but the big picture and the interpretation of external manifestations visible to all. Yet this thematic approach proves once again to be her major weakness. Her complete rejection of a linear structure brings an element of chaotic disorientation and a loss of focus, leaving the reader without a real sense of who these emperors actually were.

Mary Beard speaks of "the emperor" as a composite institutional figure about whom we only think we know enough by relying on often unreliable or circumstantial evidence. However, at a certain point, this composite figure turned out to be mere smoke and fog for me—extremely vague, and more a product of Beard’s subjective interpretations. Not that I disagree with many of them! But in the abundance of words, the structure is lost time and again; they increasingly serve to obscure or exist for their own sake rather than to reveal and educate. Furthermore, gaps and omissions bleed through them (perhaps to save space), along with unnecessary platitudes. On the other hand, the various chapters feature relentless repetitions of the very same events and anecdotes—why not simply introduce new ones? Or does she deem the reader so inexperienced as to lose the thread without explicit hammering?

This essayistic, non-linear approach is well-suited for those already thoroughly familiar with imperial chronology, proving valuable for its inverted perspective. For newcomers to the topic, however, I suspect the book will be somewhat baffling, or will simply pass before their eyes like a fast, superficial, yet brightly flashy Netflix series.

Beard once again decides to conclude her narrative in 235 AD (insofar as there is any chronology, as I find it completely absent). I disagree with every single one of the overly brief motives presented for such a decision.

Ultimately, the book remains an essay—pleasant and elegant, not particularly comprehensive, and decently subjectively selective.

To be truly great, the book needed to be either much shorter (a detailed article) or considerably longer (to properly substantiate some of the entirely general, vague, and superficially touched upon or repetition-riddled subtopics).

[Brok3n · Rating 4 out of 5]

What we know about what we know about the Emperor

Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World is the second book by Mary Beard that I have read -- the first was SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. I have, however, read a bunch of books about Roman history. (I think the first was Isaac Asimov's The Roman Republic, which I read as a high-school student sometime in the 1970s.) Beard's work is quite distinct from most Roman history for popular audiences, though, because instead of telling you "This happened, then this happened, then this..", she tells you "Here are our sources of information. This is what they may mean."

SPQR focused more on the Roman Republic than the empire. And by far the main lesson was, "Our sources are scanty... We really don't know for sure much of anything about the early history of Rome. Most of what other popular historians claim to be certainly true is probably wrong." Emperor of Rome, though is different, because there are vast troves of documents, inscriptions, and works of art from the Roman Empire, and much of that corpus focuses on the Emperor. Thus Emperor of Rome has a bit the feel of "lamppost science", which comes from an old joke about looking for your keys where the light shines, even if you know you lost them somewhere else. Beard makes it clear that she is not more interested in the Emperor himself than in any other Roman, but that she is using his prominence as a light to illuminate the rest of the Romans.

On 1-Sep-100 the prominent Roman Pliny made a speech in the Senate praising then-Emperor Trajan. A written record of this speech survives, now known as the Panegyric. In it Pliny paints a comically flattering portrait of the Emperor. Beard uses this information cleverly. She doesn't take it as anything close to an accurate character sketch of Trajan. Pliny is telling Trajan what he thinks Trajan wants to hear. But there's a pony in there! The Panegyric reveals what Pliny thinks Trajan wants to hear! It reveals what the Romans thought an ideal Emperor ought to be. That is, in its own way, more interesting and useful information than knowing the personality of one Emperor.

Perhaps Beard's strongest conclusion is that the Emperor's main job was to put on a show. In an epilog, she writes

Autocracy ... upturns the 'natural' order of things and replaces reality with sham, undermining your trust in what you think you see.

I have often insisted that ancient Rome has very few direct lessons for us, in the sense that we cannot turn to it for ready-made solutions to our problems. The Romans will not, and cannot, give us the answers. But exploring their world does help us to see our own differently. While I have been writing Emperor of Rome over the last few years, I have thought hard about the view of autocracy as fundamentally a fake, a sham, a distorting mirror. It has helped me to understand ancient Roman political culture better -- and has opened my eyes to the politics of the modern world too.

I thank NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for an advance reader copy of Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World. This review expresses my honest opinions.

Blog review.

[Katya]

Mary Beard é irrepreensível. Nos domínios da antiguidade clássica é uma voz de peso: moderada, realista, humilde (q.b) e extraordinariamente capaz de levar uma narrativa por diante de forma segura, sem se tornar enfadonha ou redundante. Acredito que esse domínio provém, claro, do talento inato, mas, sobretudo, do talento trabalhado e da paixão que alimenta uma vida dedicada ao estudo aprofundado de um tema — estas últimas perfeitamente evidentes na construção de uma obra como Imperador de Roma.

(...) as histórias aparentemente escandalosas das excentricidades do imperador encerram alguns horrores da autocracia — diferentes, mas igualmente medonhos. O terror do poder sem limites é um deles.

A citação acima resume muitíssimo bem a essência deste livro. Beard não traz nada de novo acerca da biografia deste ou daquele imperador de Roma, o que nos traz é uma leitura heurística e integral sobre o cargo, ou o papel, se preferirem, do Imperador de Roma enquanto chefe de uma autocracia, enquanto dictator, enquanto general, conquistador, administrador de um império que se estendia, no seu apogeu, da Escócia ao Saara, de Portugal ao Iraque, com uma população estimada, fora de Itália propriamente dita, na casa dos cinquenta milhões de pessoas.

Este infindável desdobrar de facetas é o foco primitivo deste livro em que a historiadora desmonta, tanto quanto possível, os mitos, as obras e os escritos que nasceram de uma governação feita de muito improviso, de uma multiculturalidade e de uma mescla de fações, estratos sociais e crenças para nós já difíceis de imaginar em coexistência, e que originaram a sociedade ocidental tal qual a vivemos, criando um paralelo algo desconfortável de assumir:

Por todo o império, muitos milhares de pessoas, escravas e livres, trabalharam para o imperador e a sua corte, algumas exploradas de forma terrível, amotinadas e insatisfeitas, outras suficientemente felizes, ou até mesmo orgulhosas, por fazerem aquilo que faziam. É um facto desconfortável que, por toda a História, a autocracia — tirania, ditadura ou o que quer que lhe chamemos — tenha dependido de pessoas de todos os estratos que a aceitaram, que se adaptaram ou que até a consideraram um sistema confortável sob o qual viver. (...)
Aquilo que sustenta a autocracia não é a violência ou a polícia secreta, é a colaboração e a cooperação, sejam estas cúmplices ou ingénuas, bem-intencionadas ou não.

E se é verdade que a nossa história e cultura têm as suas origens num regime absoluto, também é certo que não se extingue aí a sua influência. Da mesma forma que os romanos, tendemos a viver certezas que mais tarde se revelam falaciosas, tendemos ao egocentrismo, à violência, à soberania (em vários planos), tendemos a viver complexos paradoxos que vão alimentando a descendência geracional e novos mundos cada vez mais intricados, pactuando, ora ativa ora passivamente, numa construção conjunta de civilização:

(...)o palácio imperial era tanto um perigoso antro de víboras, como um covil de traidores, e um lugar onde centenas de homens e mulheres, escravos e livres, viviam as suas vidas, tinham os seus empregos, faziam amigos e arranjavam companheiros, quer se insurgissem contra a exploração de que eram alvo ou tivessem orgulho no seu trabalho (ou as duas coisas).

O microcosmos (outrora macrocosmo) do império romano, e as figuras dos seus dirigentes, explicam muito do que continuamos a perpetuar seja a nível pessoal, social, cultural ou político. Muitas vezes de forma consciente, outras de forma inconsciente, vamos alimentando a mesma linguagem de poder (seja visual, artística, filosófica ou outra):

Na história do Ocidente, praticamente não há um ditador ou um dinasta que, ocasionalmente, não tenha utilizado as imagens que os imperadores romanos inventaram para si mesmos para exaltar a sua própria posição.

Recorrendo à ideia de legitimidade romana, vamos alimentando as mesmas ambições, as mesmas frustrações e recriando, nos nossos pares, as várias figuras do passado que tanto admiramos como tememos:

Uma análise atenta a estas histórias ajuda-nos a ver com clareza as ansiedades que rodeavam a governação imperial em Roma. Era mais do que a capacidade para matar. Nada travava o poder do imperador. Ele pervertia os sentidos e prosperava num caos malevolente.

Menos pragmáticos do que os romanos, logo menos conscientes, menos atentos, ainda mais centrados no nosso umbigo, vamos sendo silenciosamente guiados por líderes despóticos e megalómanos cujo modelo é perfeitamente identificável e para os quais a nossa resposta permanece idêntica ao que sempre foi:

Na nossa simpatia para com os rebeldes, é fácil esquecer que (...) praticamente não há indícios de uma resistência significativa ao poder de um homem só enquanto tal.

Imperador de Roma é tudo isto. É um compilar de temas e fontes sobre os ditames de ser imperador, é um estudo sobre o universo que o rodeia e as pessoas que mantêm as engrenagens em andamento, é uma visão privilegiada sobre o mundo romano e as estruturas de poder primordiais e uma interpretação muito pertinente da ciclicidade histórica.
Em tudo, é um livro típico da pena de Beard — tanto uma reflexão sobre a história clássica como uma admoestação para não esquecer o passado sob pena de o levar a repetir-se.


[Sei que depois disto não fica bem desatar numa algaraviada sobre os problemas de edição, mas também não fica bem passar por cima do assunto sem mais. Assim, este aparte é dispensável a quem leia — mas vai cá ficar como descargo de consciência. Afinal, se o não é, uma plataforma como o GR deveria ser uma ferramenta tida em conta pelo mercado editorial português.
Aquilo que tenho a dizer, no entanto, não é bonito. Não me adianta refletir que o mercado nacional editor e livreiro é pobre (inclua-se aqui pobre de espírito também, tacanho, imberbe); não adianta frisar que, ao passo que os profissionais de tradução, revisão e edição qualificados se afastam da área (falo com conhecimento de causa), outros chegam a ela munidos de muita soberba e pouco talento; como também não adianta reconhecer que os leitores portugueses são poucos e pouco exigentes. O problema aqui divide-se, essencialmente, em duas categorias: regulamentação e investimento/financiamento. Enquanto a edição, e suas subordinadas, permanecer uma atividade não regulamentada, não existem proibitivos — o que explica o uso desregrado de IA, a contratação freelancer, a exploração profissional, a desvalorização do trabalho intelectual, o desrespeito pelo original produzido na tradução, etc. Da mesma forma, enquanto atividade não financiada, esta permanecerá muito pouco rentável, e sem investimento público permanecerá um negócio nas mãos das livrarias, e um joguete nas mãos de uma legislação castradora e arcaica. Enquanto esta for a realidade, este mercado será dominado por bestsellers, leitores da moda e aspirantes a profissionais, e vítima mortal de cortes nas despesas — veja-se a quantidade de traduções e revisões a quatro e seis mãos/olhos que por aí circulam. Enquanto assim for, as pessoas — isto inclui muito editor — continuarão a confundir (e muitas vezes a dispensar) autor, tradutor, revisor e editor; original, original traduzido, produto de revisão técnica, revisão editorial, revisão literária ou revisão de provas e livro.
Embora estando a falar numa realidade geral, no caso de Imperador de Roma essa realidade generalista desagua em múltiplos pequeninos problemas. Os mais graves e muito irritantes: a tradução literal (falsos amigos semânticos) — o fatídico «em termos de» chega a figurar três e quatro vezes por página!; a preferência por vocábulos galicistas ou anglicistas — como «massivo» ao invés de «maciço»; a falta de revisão científica (embora o meu latim — que foi sempre macarrónico — já esteja muito esquecido, não posso defender que traduzir as expressões latinas em função da tradução da autora, que é britânica, seja, num país cuja língua oficial se insere no (sub-)grupo das românicas ou latinas, nada menos do que o cúmulo do ridículo).
Isto, e só isto, é responsável pelos dois meses consumidos nesta leitura. Com a devida vénia a Beard, nem mesmo as qualidades que lhe admiro foram suficientes para me levar a fazer vista grossa aos problemas que grassam na área e neste seu produto em particular. Embora não seja a mais terrível das edições, foi das mais irritantes, originando este longo desfiar das minhas desilusões.
Reforço que tenho em grande apreço as profissões ligadas ao livro (do tradutor ao designer topográfico) e que estou convencida de que muitas destas falhas são fruto da falta de condições profissionais. Quase metia as mãos no fogo em como reforçando os mecanismos de financiamento e instaurando normas profissionais se veria imediatamente diversas melhorias no setor (pelas quais é fácil fazê-lo, mas não podemos responsabilizar arbitrariamente o leitor/consumidor).]

[Shahin Keusch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Mary Beards more big picture history. This is not a chronological history of the Roman Emperors. Instead it looks at what it meant to be an Emperor, how they lived, how thry made decisions, how the people saw them and there role and so much more.

Her books and her BBC series are always highly recommended

[bookstories_travels🪐 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tenia muchas ganas de leer a Mary Beard de una vez, y he empezado a hacerlo por todo lo alto, con un ensayo sobre el imperio romano centrado en la figura del emperador y en su papel dentro del mismo, poniendo el foco en diferentes aspectos relacionados con su día día, con lo que suponía ser emperador y todo el aparato que le ordenaba.

Desde la llegada de Octavio Augusto al poder tras el asesinato de su padre adoptivo Julio César, veremos cómo se consolida en la antaño República, el gobierno “de un solo hombre”, y como lentamente la figura del emperador va consolidándose hasta ostentar ella todos los poderes del imperio. Pero lo interesante del análisis de Beard es que no se centra en las biografías de los predecesores de Augusto, y que fue lo que hicieron o dejaron de hacer durante su reinados y como fueron sus auges y finales. La profesora británica nos habla de los aspectos más mundanos que rodeaban al organigrama político y social que parapetaba la figura del emperador en su día a día. Así descubriremos el difícil juego de equilibrios por el que se paseaban los gobernantes romanos, como parte de su trabajo se balanceaba entre demostrar una imagen regia y poderosa, pero a la vez tener pequeños actos que demostrasen cercanía con el pueblo y los ejércitos, mientras intentaban seguir las leyes y preceptos de lo que se pensaba que debía ser un gobernante. Un juego de espejos plagados de falsedades e ideas preconcebidas mantenidas durante siglos en las que entraba en funcionamiento todo un grupo de personajes como esclavos, libertos, senadores, hijos y herederos, esposas, amantes, patricios y bufones, que ayudaban a sostener el aparato, y a veces resultaban vitales para su sostenimiento y derrumbe.

Nos encontramos ante una biografía de emperadores que no es exactamente una biografía. De hecho, creo que al principio ese fue mi problema, que yo me pensaba que me iba a encontrar con un ensayo en el que se nos dieran la vida de los emperadores romanos, de forma vital, y a partir de ahí se nos habla de otros aspectos relacionados con la política imperial. Pero no . Mary Bread se centra en cómo era los famosos banquetes romanos y hasta que demostraba algo tan trivial como una cena en palacio; en que pasaba cuando los gobernantes se iban a la guerra o de viaje; el significado que podían tener sus espléndidas mansiones como la célebre Villa Tívoli de Adriano; analiza como de desarrollo la imagen de los emperadores a través de un ambicioso e innovador programa consistente propagar por todos el imperio sus imágenes, a través de estatuas, joyerías y pinturas, siguiendo una serie de parámetros estéticos que ayudaban a que los emperadores tuvieran la imagen concreta que querían demostrar al pueblo; como podían influir en su gobierno, las personas de las que se rodeaban; o a qué responde la idea que tenemos de muchos emperadores aún hoy en día, que muchas veces respondía como dichas imágenes beneficiaban a sus sucesores directos. Todo en la vida de los emperadores estaba perfectamente milimetrado, y muchas veces, pese a todo el poder que tenían en vida, el como pasarían a la posteridad era más orquestado por quienes les rodeaban que por ellos mismos. O por aquellos que les seguirían en el trono imperio según su conveniencia. Esa parece ser la ironía de los emperadores romanos, que ni siquiera su inmenso poder podía garantizarles que en el futuro fueran denostados o alabados.

En cierto modo, la historiografía romana es un bombón envenenado. Sabemos muchas cosas gracias a biografías y restos arqueológicos, pero también mucho de lo que se ha dado por seguro durante siglos de estudiosos no tiene porque ser exacto y real. , Muchos de los biógrafos romanos escribieron sobre hechos y personajes que se pasearon por Roma, siglos antes de sus propios nacimientos, y sus escritos responden muchas recogen muchas veces todo tipo de rumores y mitos que no tienen porque ser verídicos, y que, por norma general, fueron fabricados Para desprestigiar a los implicados y beneficiar a sus enemigos o a aquellos para los que trabajaban dichos escritores. Y, por supuesto, hay aún muchas cosas que se nos escapan de las manos. Mary Bread es totalmente consciente de ello, y todo su libro se centra en desmontar muchos de los mitos que envuelven a los emperadores y acercar sus figuras a lo que realmente debieron ser, humanizarlos al hablar de ellos de una manera desprejuiciada, desde la óptica de centurias de distancia. toda la lectura está impregnada de un sesgo muy intimista, que nos acerca al mundo romano y a las altas esferas del imperio demostrándonos que al final tanto el rico como el pobre, el poderoso y el humilde, eran hijos de su época y de cómo su historia se ha transmitido (o no transmitido) a través del tiempo. De alguna manera, tras leer “Emperador de Roma” uno se siente más cercano a este periodo histórico gracias al intimismo y excelente trabajo de catedrática Bread.

El estilo narrativo de la profesora Bread es de lo más ameno y didáctico. Se nota mucho que es profesora, una mujer que ha estudiado mucho el imperio romano y que ha dado muchas clases sobre el tema desde diferentes vertientes. Escribe con un estilo llano y sencillo, muy ameno y accesible para el lector que tenga poca idea sobre este periodo histórico y los personajes que van a pasearse por las páginas de este ensayo. La autora lo presenta de una manera amena, y en el principio insiste en que no es necesario que nos quedemos con todos los nombres y exactamente con el quien es quien que nos presenta, que lo importante son los hechos generales de los que nos habla. Pero aún así, explica tan bien y tan claro que no es difícil manejarte bien entre tantos nombres y fechas, incluso que no tengas ni idea de historia romana. La lectura se hace, por lo tanto, nada pesada o enciclopédica, y si muy interesante y llena de todo tipo de curiosidades y de datos que nos acercan al mundo del imperio romano lejos de cualquier idea preconcebida. Por lo tanto, su acercamiento historiográfico, resulta refrescante e interesante, del cual se puede aprender mucho. si a todo esto le sumas la gran cantidad de fuentes arqueológicas, literarias e historiográficas que usa, nos encontramos con un repaso y análisis del poder romano, accesible y entretenido. Quizás, cuando empecé a leer, se me hizo un poco bola, porque no era exactamente lo que esperaba. Me imaginaba que iba a tratarse de una biografía lineal de los emperadores romanos, y que a través de sus vidas se iba a sacar a colación diferentes aspectos como la religión o arquitectura. No me esperaba que cada capítulo tratase de uno de esos temas concretos, y que realmente los emperadores fueran la excusa para hablar de ellos. Pero aún así, una vez que hice los reajustes necesarios y me adapté a esto, he disfrutado mucho de esta lectura. Gracias a esto, nos encontramos ante una lectura diferente del mundo romano totalmente alejada de lo que habitualmente se ha estudiado y presentado, bien documentada e increíblemente profunda. Que nos demuestra que aún de un tema tan tratado como este imperio aún se pueden decir muchas cosas y, sobre todo, de una manera novedosa. Y que respecto a historia no hay nada escrito sobre piedra, que todo lo que queremos conocer puede no ser tal como se nos ha presentado por académicos y literatos a través del tiempo.

[Infosifter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this for anyone who would like to know more about ancient Rome but doesn't want to wade through academic tomes in impenetrable language broadly sprinkled with untranslated Latin phrases. Interesting information and lively writing.

[Óscar Moreno (OscarBooker) · Rating 4 out of 5]

La verdad es que es un libro fantástico que disfruté mucho de inicio a fin. Si te gusta el tema creo que es un básico.

Lo único que podría mencionar que no me encantó fue que en algunas partes lo sentí repetitivo.

¡Muy buen libro!

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gdybym odkryła Mary Beard mając lat naście to jak nic dziś mogłabym się pochwalić dyplomem z historii i zawodowo zajmowałabym się Cesarstwem Rzymskim. Gdyby arcy nudne, suche podręczniki szkolne nauczyciele historii wymienili na książki brytyjskiej klasycystki to historia byłaby jednym z najbardziej obleganych kierunków studiów. Ale koniec z tym gdybaniem - czas przejść do faktów! A te są następujące - “Cesarz Rzymu” to pozycja bezbłędna, doskonała, absolutnie fascynująca i porywająca. Tę opowieść o władcach antycznego imperium czyta się z pełną ekscytacją i oszołomieniem, momentami niedowierzaniem czy wręcz aż zdębieniem na wieść o kuriozalnych ekscesach i kaprysach, niebotycznych wydatkach i bogactwach ówcześnie rządzących przy których fanaberie dzisiejszych influencerów milionerów wyglądają bardzo skromnie i niewinnie. Tylko nie pomyślcie sobie teraz, że książka Beard to tylko i wyłącznie wykaz dziwactw cesarzy - nic z tych rzeczy!

Autorka po raz kolejny dzieli się z czytelnikami swoją gigantyczną wiedzą i zaraźliwą pasją i obszernie przybliża zarówno życie codzienne jak i zawodowe starożytnych władców nie szczędząc przy tym barwnych anegdot i kąśliwego inteligentnego humoru. Historyczka przy okazji dementuje sporo powtarzanych od dekad i twardo zadomowionych się w popkulturze jak i “historii” błędnych mitów i stereotypów.
Co również dodaje smaczku i atrakcyjności tej pozycji to regularne odnoszenie się, podkreślanie analogii i wpływów antycznej historii na wydarzenia dekad, wieków późniejszych - w tym i tych najnowszych. Pojadę frazesem, który frazesem w rzeczywistości nie jest - ale historia kołem się toczy. Wszystko już było, zmieniają się tylko miejsca i nazwiska. Zwrócenie uwagi na tę powtarzalność historii przez Beard sprawia, że czytelnicy bardziej angażują i przejmują się tak odległymi zdarzeniami, te “prastare” historie są im bliższe, są w stanie w nie uwierzyć - a nie traktują jak fantastykę.

“Cesarz Rzymu” to kolejna historyczna książka, którą najchętniej wciskałabym każdemu siłą - tak wielkie wrażenie na mnie wywarła i tak wybitnie satysfakcjonującym i wzbogacającym doświadczeniem czytelniczym dla mnie była. Mary Beard pisze językiem tak barwnym i przystępnym, jak najbardziej zrozumiałym i dla historycznego laika, że z pełną świadomością jestem gotowa polecić tę książkę jako start dla osób, których dotychczasowe spotkania z pozycjami historycznymi sięgają wyłącznie czasów szkolnych i nudnych, zniechęcających, a wręcz obrzydzających historię podręczników szkolnych.

Najnowsza publikacja brytyjskiej historyczki ląduje w ścisłej trójce najlepszych i najważniejszych książek przeczytanych w tym roku, a i miejsce na regale z książkami życia ma zapewnione.

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[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Beard delivers. Her central tenant is important: we should indeed analyze the institution of emperor rather than focus exclusively on the myriad imperial biographies. Heard is particularly effective at helping to set explain why we can’t always take Seutonius’ sensationalism (for example) at face value. On a personal note, I particularly enjoyed reading this book while recently visiting various Roman ruins in Tunisia.

[Andrew Reece · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professor Mary Beard Explores The Extravagant Palaces And Lavish Lifestyles Of History's Most Colorful And Influential Roman Emperors.

In Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World, Mary Beard's sprawling sequel to SPQR: A History of the Roman Republic, she challenges her audience to keep pace with her as she embarks upon an unforgettable journey that visits the far corners of the fabled Roman empire, and invites her reader to experience all of the breathtaking sights, the exotic palaces and lavish villa retreats, the noteworthy edicts and legislations, and perhaps most vibrantly, the servants and senators, the slaves and freedmen, the empresses and entourages which comprised these emperors' magnificent courts.

The introduction, Dinner with Elagabalus, provides a general overview of the twenty-nine colorful Roman rulers examined by Professor Beard in her study, which reads similar to an informal roundtable discussion on not only the emperors themselves but also the principles of ruling and the concepts related to Roman emperorship such as 'governing by correspondence' and apotheosis. The author also introduces her readers to the literary works referenced throughout the book such as Gaius Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars, Cornelius Tacitus' The Annals and The Histories, and Cassius Dio's Roman History, in addition to the rather cryptic Historia Augusta, a work allegedly written by six different authors but in reality only composed by a single person who wrote it a century later than its attestations claim.

Chapter 1, One-Man Rule: The Basics begins with an interesting discussion of Pliny the Younger's Speech of Praise, which in addition to extolling the noble attributes of the Roman Emperor Trajan and thus distancing him from his tyrannical once-removed predecessor Domitian, also served as a way for Pliny to eloquently advertise to the other senators his familiarity with the ruler and provide examples of their special relationship. Beard then segues into a short analysis of the Roman republic's history and the manner in which its conquest-based political system led to a power vacuum at the top of the social hierarchy, paving the way for magnates such as Julius Caesar, Marcus Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius to form the first Triumvirate, ultimately causing the republic's expiration and the birth of the imperial age with Gaius Octavius' victory at Actium in 31 BCE. She covers everything from how Octavian's sweeping military reforms nationalized the army and irrevocably attached it to the state to explaining the nuances of Augustus' Res Gestae, the emperor's politically motivated, inscribed account of his reign's highlights and notable accomplishments.

The author limns how Augustus Caesar effectively utilized the Roman Republic's existing political structure and provided himself a solid foundation with which to strengthen his unique form of one-man rule, whereby retaining formerly influential ranks such as consul and quaestor he increased their privileges and prestige while drastically reducing their actual powers. These positions became largely ornamental and were still the object of fierce competition amongst the Roman élite, but the important political victories and military triumphs were reserved for the emperor and the imperial family. Augustus was a capable politician and shrewd character judge who effectively administrated in the areas of politics, religion, and military affairs to achieve a unified Roman state, and the author has conducted admirable research in her thought-provoking observations which describe this first of the Roman princeps' adept bureaucratic methods.

The problematic issue of the imperial succession ranked amongst the Roman emperors' most difficult challenges to overcome - with all of their power and influence, all of the money and manpower at their fingertips, many of these autocratic rulers' greatest matter of impetus was simply begetting a male heir, and in Chapter 2, Who's Next? The Art of Succession, Professor Beard canvasses this complex topic by analyzing multiple hereditary and adoptive scenarios and revealing exactly how the succession worked in different sets of circumstances. The actual situations which involved the transfer of power to an emperor's lawful-born son were few and far between, with Vespasian's son Titus succeeding him in 79 CE and Commodus succeeding his father Marcus Aurelius in 180 CE, as well as Caracalla succeeding Septimius Severus upon the latter's death in 211 CE. Power transfer to a non-filial blood relative was also quite rare, with the obvious example of Julius Caesar designating his nephew Gaius Octavius as his successor who inherited his estates upon the former's assassination in 44 BCE, and Domitian gaining the Roman empire following his brother Titus' death from a mysterious illness in 81 CE.

An important aspect during the régime change between emperors was the Roman senators' readjustment to establish a favorable rapport with the new ruler and if necessary, distance themselves from his predecessor's deeds and administrative policies. Senators such as Pliny the Younger and Cassius Dio would compose speeches and other forms of rhetoric that occasionally exaggerated the truth by removing themselves from particularly despotic rulers like Domitian and Commodus and demonizing these controversial men, but the truth of the matter such as in Pliny's situation had actually involved a prosperous political career serving during Domitian's reign, which lasted fifteen long years from 81-96 CE. Pliny's famous speech Panegyricus thus possessed a dual purpose which ostentatiously advertised to the Roman Senate his privileged status with Trajan just as it shrewdly separated the senator, however fallaciously, from Domitian's tyranny.

Dinner at the imperial table was an almost universally extravagant affair that was undertaken with ceremonious pomp and circumstance and was often accompanied by dangerous political intrigues, but all of it was subject to the emperor's whim which could suddenly shift like a fickle summer breeze and a wrong move would, and often did, result in an attendant's sudden loss of prestige, or even worse. The intricacies of eating supper with a Roman emperor are explored in great detail in Chapter 3, Power Dining, which features a number of exceptional photos of various famous Roman dining areas and feast rooms that match perfectly with Professor Beard's in-depth descriptions and effectively complement the main text. She begins with Pompeii's House of the Ephebe, a secluded dinner area furnished with a triclinia arrangement of three recessed couches accentuated by a water cascade and sheltered from the elements with an elegant pergola, before moving on to Nero's famous triclinium feasting suite which included a stage for theatrical performances and a huge, tank-fed water fountain that surrounded the actors' platform and the diners to dramatic effect.

The author showcases the emperor Hadrian's picturesque outdoor dining room at his estate in Tivoli which is believed to have been inspired by Egypt's Canopus Canal, a dazzling area built around a tranquil pool of water that overlooks carved pillars and breathtaking sculptures depicting the Greek and Roman gods, as well as Domitian's opulent dinner chamber at his Flavian palace located on Rome's Palatine Hill, whose grandeur was such that it inspired the Roman poet Publius Papinius Statius to compose seventy lines of verse as both an homage to the room and an elaborate thank-you to his imperial host. Gaius Petronius' first-century-CE literary work the Satyricon is also referenced by Professor Beard, who uses the elaborate dinner parties hosted by the Trimalchio character as a source of reference for the exotic dishes and scandalous conduct which was no doubt a part of that era's social milieu.

In Chapter 4, What's in a Palace?, Beard explores the Roman empire's assortment of extravagant palaces and other scenic locales in suitably grandiose fashion, visiting such scenic vistas as Tiberius' villa at Capri, Nero's Golden House, and Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, among others. The chapter is vividly brought to life with photos of the Auditorium of Maecenas, Hadrian's Muse and caryatid statues, and many others, alongside simplified floor plans and a theoretical reconstruction of the Domus Aurea. The author highlights the role of service tunnels in these colossal palace compounds, which were subterranean routes used by the imperial staff so they could remain hidden from the view of the emperor and his nobles during their lavish feasts and elaborate celebrations, and she includes photographs of various passages and ramps taken in locales such as Rome's Palatine Palace and Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli.

Among the chapter's many interesting topics is the emperor's social obligation to perform the salutatio, an informal morning greeting during which the ruler met with petitioners seeking assistance with problems or for the granting of favors, and was also conducted by those ranking élite in the patrician and equestrian classes possessing sufficient influence. The Roman emperor's salutatio was only undertaken with the créme de la créme of the upper aristocracy, and by many accounts it was a time-consuming affair that required much of the emperor's patience and attention. Beard cites Antoninus Pius as having needed the fortification from eating an entire loaf of his favorite bread before subjecting himself to the rigors of the imperial salutatio, and occasionally the petitioners became so numerous that the lines would extend outside into the Palatine Palace's forecourt.

A Roman emperor's followers were a numerous and diverse assortment of individuals hailing from many different backgrounds and walks of life, and in Chapter 5, Palace People: The Emperor in his Court, the author brings this vibrant group to the forefront of her book as she discusses the people who made the emperors' extravagent lifestyles possible. The lyricist Statius composed a two-hundred-line poem called a consolatio dedicated to a freedman known only as the father of Tiberius Claudius Etruscus who rose to considerable rank after winning his freedom during the administration of the emperor Tiberius. This remarkable man eventually became the chief financial officer during Vespasian's reign in a rank known as a rationibus and was formally awarded equestrian, or knight status by that emperor. Beard emphasizes the vertical mobility that was possible within the Roman social order and utilizes Etruscus' father alongside other men such as the writer Phaedrus and the philosopher Epictetus as shining examples of this.

Beard analyzes the paradox of the emperor's reliance upon freedmen to staff his administration's most important political and financial positions in lieu of members of the Roman aristocracy due to the nobles' inherent danger of using their closeness to the emperor to stage uprisings and coups d'état. Oftentimes these talented individuals who had been placed in vital rôles generated jealousy and resentment amongst the patrician and equestrian classes, with one prime example being Claudius' freedman a rationibus Marcus Antonius Pallas, who had had such influence over the emperor that he reputedly had been able to convince Claudius to marry Agrippina the Younger, and also had found a solution to a difficult legal problem which had been plaguing the empire for some time. Occasionally the emperor did choose his staff from the Roman nobility to avoid discontent such as when Trajan selected Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, an equestrian, for his a studiis, a bibliothecis and ab epistulis - after serving in these rôles Suetonius went on to compose a number of works, the most famous of which is his The Twelve Caesars, a set of short biographies chronicling the lives and reigns of the first twelve Roman emperors that is popular for both its humor and accessibility to new readers.

Whether he was meeting with needful petitioners, governing his provincial administration by correspondence, or making important legal decisions that decided the empire's fate, the Roman emperors were constantly attending to their myriad duties and responsibilities as they ensured the imperial wheels remained in perpetual motion, and in Chapter 6, On the Job, Professor Beard examines the emperor hard at work as he conducted his necessary affairs of state. As previously mentioned, the Roman ruler Trajan and the gifted statesman who became known as Pliny the Younger shared a special relationship that afforded the senator many privileges and opportunities, one of which was to be awarded the honor of holding the praetor rank over the Pontus-Bithynia province and ruling it in the emperor's name circa 110 CE. Pontus-Bithynia was fifteen-hundred miles away from Rome, and as was the case with all provincial governors, Trajan was necessitated to 'govern by correspondence' a term by which the author refers to the long distances imperial messengers had to traverse in order to relay the letters written to and from the emperors and their praetors.

The Roman mail delivery service which enabled the emperors to remain in contact with their distant territories required the messenger's ready access to horses, food, and lodgings that brought about the imperial practice of vehiculatio, which the author defines as 'requisitioned transport'. In towns and cities that fell on imperial mail routes the emperor's courier would be issued a permit, which he would present to requisition surplus resources from their owners by the exchange of a promissory writ for future reimbursement. This method of transport had high tendencies for fraud and abuse, and became so controversial that it was eventually abolished during the reign from 96-98 CE of the emperor Nerva. The emperors and their families actually owned sizeable properties abroad in remote imperial provinces, as evinced by Beard's meticulous research which reveals Livia Augusta and Germanicus' jointly held Egyptian papyrus marshes, Nero's confiscated North African farms, and Marcus Aurelius' mother and sister's clay pits nearby Rome.

A great deal of Chapter 7, Time Off? concerns the emperors' different ways of spending their leisure time in either the Colosseum, which was a staging place for brutal gladiatorial contests and other Roman festivities or the Circus Maximus, an gigantic circuitous track at the foot of the Palatine Palace that hosted horse- and chariot-racing for enormous crowds of people. The Roman Colosseum was the most visible symbol of the emperor's power and authority, but the gladiatorial games it exhibited were conducted far and wide throughout the empire. Gladiators were big business. The schools where the combatants trained were located in distant, far-flung imperial provinces, and traveling gladiator troupes became widespread and lucrative forms of entertainment that consistently drew large crowds wherever they went.

The 500-meter track of the Circus Maximus was such a draw to the Romans who eagerly flocked to view its dramatic races that the emperors were periodically forced to send soldiers (or worse) to pacify the crowds who began congregating days before the events were scheduled to begin. Its center portion was known as the spina, and it served as a decorative area in which elaborate sculptures and works of art were placed, much to the audience's wonderment. The Circus Maximus' 150,000-250,000-spectator-capacity made the Roman Colosseum's 50,000 appear droll and commonplace, and its arena space was twelve times greater than its counterpart, with 64 days out of the year dedicated to the stadium's spectacular relay contests.

Readers should hardly be surprised to learn that the adventuring exploits of Hadrian, known as The Restless Emperor, are featured front-row-center in Chapter 8, The Emperor Abroad - Hadrian was renowned for the prolific travels he undertook with his family and his male companion Antinous, with the latter having the honor of being the subject of various Egyptian-themed statues and other artwork to both celebrate the emperor's fascination with the exotic Roman province and to eulogize his close friend's untimely death from drowning in the Nile River circa 130 CE. That year's famous Egyptian sojourn was immortalized by the exquisite carvings etched by the empress Sabina and the poet Julia Babilla onto one of the monolithic Colossi of Memnon statues located near Luxor, Egypt.

Chapter 9, Face to Face discusses the practice of immortalizing the Roman emperors in sculpture and coinage, beginning with the most famous of them, Gaius Julius Caesar. Caesar was according to the writings of Cassius Dio the subject of a massive effort to expand his public image by proliferating statues of himself in cities and temples throughout the imperial territories. By the time of Augustus' reign however this lofty endeavor had been realized into an actual process which involved the development of an 'imperial template' which was sent out of Rome to the empire's far corners to any settlement who desired to exhibit the emperor's likeness. Beard provides a representation of such a template which diagrams the different locks of Augustus' hair into an 'official' pattern to be used by sculptors.

Mary Beard's Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World is an enthralling historical exposé on the single most important person in the fabled Roman empire - the emperor himself. Her fascinating book is very much hewn from the same substance as its prequel entry, SPQR: A History of the Roman Republic, so those readers who enjoyed it can expect more of the same high-quality scholarship and attention to detail that made the first book so special. This title is so smartly written and accessible that it seemed to end much too quickly in the reviewer's own humble opinion, yet the level to which it has been coordinated and organized speaks to the author's considerable abilities, and it is assuredly filled with sufficient depth and dimension to warrant multiple readings - the reviewer completed it twice and is currently debating going through a third iteration because he found it such an enjoyable experience. If there is any single volume to recommend to newcomers to Roman history, Emperor of Rome certainly stands at the head of its class. Thank you so very much for reading, I hope that you enjoyed the review!

[Connor Sampson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd never read a Mary Beard book before and I was genuinely excited to see what I'd been missing. The result was disappointing; I only made it about a hundred pages in before deciding to give up and go back to books I actually enjoy.

Quite simply, it's not very good. I get the feeling as I read it that Mary Beard just regurgitated whatever knowledge was on the top of her mind when writing, meaning that some subjects lack any sort of proper research or discussion, they're often just punctuated by the low hanging fruits of the famous stories about emperors. The book doesn't reference any facts or claims, just having a chaotic "further reading" section at the end which lists texts generally related to what she was rambling about; this means that none of her claims can ever be pinned down.

The writing isn't particularly elegant, and often feels like a first draft. When asking whether senators and emperors always got along, the book states "One answer is: no". Its an odd phrasing, and leaves me wondering what other answer didn't get in there. Could it have been "yes"?

Finally, there's a strongly patronising tone to the book. No one in this history was ever intelligent, or cunning, recoueseful, or decent. It's sometimes a subtle attitude, but it's there. It's generally accepted that Augustus was a very competent politician who pulled off the very dangerous feat of creating the position of Emperor over a people who did not like kings. This book does not discuss that; it merely spends a couple of pages vaguely insisting that his path to emperor probably wasn't based on any plan, was probably a mess, and probably had a lot of hidden failures. Sure, there's likely some truth to this, but we get no discussion of his actual plans? Of the actual founding principles of one man power in a book on emperors? It's all like this. No imperial paintings could hold meaning through metaphor, no battle was won through skill, no emperor was more competent than another.

The book makes a point of ignoring chronology, and suffers from it. Instead of a developing position of rule, heavily influenced by the personality of the individual wielding absolute power, we get a bland and generic position; empty ruins decorated only by a grab bag of surface level anecdotes.

Quite disappointing, and I can't help but feel that this book thrives based on its name, not it's actual merit when compared with other books in this genre. To be entirely honest this is probably a two star book, but I'm giving one star because it should have been so much more.

[Bruce Katz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Not a history of the empire or the emperors but a consideration of what was involved in holding that position (with full acknowledgement that some held it for a very short time): "The magnifying lens of these stories," Mary Beard says early on in the book, "helps us to see clearly the anxieties that surrounded imperial rule at Rome. It was more than the capacity to kill. The power of the emperor stopped at nothing. It warped the senses, and it thrived in malevolent chaos."

Eminently readable, the book fleshes out this intriguing summation: What were the actual responsibilities of the emperor? How might he have spent the day? The night? What kind of support system did he have: secretaries? mid-level managers? people to answer his mail? How did he interact with the senate? plebeians, slaves? women? lovers? How did he keep up his Image? Did people really believe he became a god upon his death? What did he do during war? Did he fight or just take credit for the successful battle? Were all the battles even real? What was the true extent of his powers?

"Emperor of Rome" explores all these questions and many others. The book is filled with anecdotes and moments of humor (of a poem written by -- or for -- an emperor, Beard writes, "As verses go, these are not unlike those in a modern greetings card." Or this, on how emperors tried to raise funds: Vespasian’s tax on urine, for example, a key ingredient in the laundry and tanning industries, is still just about remembered in the old-fashioned French word for urinal, vespasienne (how the tax was actually levied, if it ever was, we have no clue).

Unsurprisingly, because this is Ancient Rome, we read about intrigues and rivalries, poisonings ("In the ancient world it was impossible to distinguish a nasty case of appendicitis from a nasty case of poisoning, or the effects of doctored figs from the effects of dysentery") and, um, let's say dysfunctional family dynamics, like this sad end to the throne Geta shared with his brother Caracalla: Geta, clinging to his mother, became the victim of his brother’s hit squad, his last words really did state the poignantly obvious, ‘Mummy, mummy, I’m being killed’. Beard also does away with many of the myths (in the sense of widely held but mistaken beliefs) that have made their way into our cultural memory, like this: "The truth was that in the first two centuries CE most people in the Roman empire would never have met a Christian. And any violence against them was local and sporadic."

As always, Mary Beard is a delightful and entertaining guide to a vanished world. Or perhaps it is not entirely vanished. Along with the ruins and statues, jewelry, pottery, and poems, something else lingers: Ancient Rome has very few direct lessons for us, in the sense that we cannot turn to it for ready-made solutions to our problems. The Romans will not, and cannot, give us the answers. But exploring their world does help us to see our own differently. While I have been writing Emperor of Rome over the last few years, I have thought hard about that view of autocracy as fundamentally a fake, a sham, a distorting mirror. It has helped me to understand ancient Roman political culture better – and has opened my own eyes to the politics of the modern world too.

[David Eppenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me rating a book 3 stars means I got my money and times worth from the book. This is a good book on the subject of what being a Roman emperor meant and what was entailed in that position. Of course if the reader doesn't have a serious interest in the various aspects of the Roman Empire and its history then this book would not be a good selection for you. I suspected that the book would probably not address my particular interest in Roman history but that didn't stop my curiosity. I have always been interested Roman history but more from an urban planning point of view. I find it fascinating that a city like Rome could have achieved a population of near or above a million inhabitants in the time that it existed and not only survived but flourished. It had no fire departments, no police, no hospitals or serious medical knowledge let alone facilities and yet it wasn't constantly afflicted with chaos, anarchy, or disease. About the only admirable facility that it did have was clean water and public baths. However I have long suspected that those public baths had to be rather a nasty facility depending on how or if they were regularly drained and cleaned. Nevertheless I have yet to discover any history of rampant plagues or epidemics in the history of Rome. How did they do it? my search for an answer must continue as this book failed to help answer my question though it did fill gaps in my knowledge and raised further questions about this great city and it is worth reading for those that might be suitably interested.

What the author attempts to do is to comb the bits and pieces of ancient history that bear on the office of Emperor of Rome. She tells us how Rome went from a republic to one man rule (thanks Julius) and then to being an empire led by an emperor (Octavius transformed into Augustus and then et al). Her history spans from the last 50 years of the pre Christian Era to the 4th century. She ends her history about the time the office of emperor becomes chaotic and less meaningful both militarily as well as politically. The reader will be informed about how these men lived, how they became emperor, what their lives were like and how the office functioned. It was interesting to imagine the necessary bureaucracy required for an enterprise as large as the Roman Empire to function. Yet even though lacking even the most basic tools like pencils and paper and efficient reliable mails the Roman government functioned. I finished reading this book in greater awe of this society than before I started reading. I also ended with another even greater question. How did the socially accepted practice of public bathing or even private bathing fail to survive the fall of Rome. If bathing had survived the Fall then maybe the Dark Ages wouldn't have been so dark or at least not as dirty and diseased. I found the book interesting and worth the time and money I devoted to it. Enjoy.

[Jennifer Downie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping that Emperors of Rome would follow the illustrious first novel of Mary Beard’s I read, SPQR. Admittedly I finished SPRQ in a beautiful piazza of Rome so am sure that elevated my mood and therefore my rating.

But Emperors of Rome was far more dry in comparison. Usually I enjoy a smattering of trite gossip, but the lives of the emperors were, ironically, just not that exciting. I struggled to carry on when reading about their eating habits. Though one of Beard’s points was exactly that: the role of a ‘good’ emperor, who issued decrees and conducted correspondence on behalf of the people, was quite dull.

I like to think that why I nearly died of boredom, went to heaven, and became a Roman deus is because I’m a woman of the people. SPQR was excellent because it detailed the plight of the peasant as well as than the opulence of the emperor, ultimately providing a fuller picture of Roman society.

Ultimately SPQR was on a bigger scale, which made it a more epic read. Yet we should still give praise to Mary Beard, as whatever subject matter she faces, she tackles with aplomb. I dread to think the type of writing that most of us would produce, given the task to write on such a dry subject matter.

[Carlos Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

一段時日沒有關注羅馬史的新書，瑪莉‧畢爾德(Mary Beard)的這本《羅馬皇帝》上市時，是有些詫異的。自從看過她的紀錄片跟《SPQR》後，基本上她關於羅馬史的作品只要不是太偏藝術的，我都會購買 (例如聯經那本《十二凱撒》)，繁簡書市對她的作品，引進的也是相當的多了。

本書書名雖為《羅馬皇帝》，但它並非個別或者某幾位的傳記。畢爾德的這部作品，是要向讀者分析：何謂「羅馬皇帝」。其實，因為「皇帝」這個譯名的關係，中文使用者似乎容易望文生義，對這個身分有著一種混淆與誤解。正確地來說，「羅馬皇帝」的地位與頭銜，還有權力基礎等，跟中國那種有傳統理論與社會體系加持而穩如泰山的「皇帝」相比，是處於一種持續變化形態的狀況。由凱撒跟奧古斯都打造的個人獨裁與專制體，要持續兩三百年後，在戴克里先/君士坦丁手上發展為成熟體，真正的完全體則是後人稱之為拜占庭的時代了。畢爾德這次的主題，則是「前半段」時期的羅馬皇帝，也就是從奧古斯都開始，到塞維魯王朝結束為止。選擇這個時段，一來是史料跟考古等相對充分，二來是正如前面所述的，這是一個同性質的草創發展期，往後一點又是另外一個時代了。奧古斯都的統治時代跟君士坦丁是不可以同一而論的。

接著，畢爾德利用這個時期的諸位皇帝生平，來向讀者們說明他們的權力本質、統治手法、面對的困境與挑戰、宮廷鬥爭、生、老、病與死等各種狀況。作者並非是枯燥的轉述傳記，而是試著用她輕快的筆法向讀者「說明」。個人喜歡畢爾德的原因，主要是在於她的文風，在掌握專業與可讀性之間，拿捏得相當好。不論是一般讀者或者是專業研究者，都應該能夠滿意，算是這類型歷史作品的一個標竿了。其實，如果有讀過她的《SPQR》的話，基本上就不用太擔心，這本書也是相同風格的。

順便一提。這部作品裡面，畢爾德常常面臨的一個困境是，史料的不足與可信度問題。眾所周知，宮廷內部的各種情事一向是諱莫如深的，而那些經歷千辛萬苦殘存下來的史料，記載的內容又有多少可信呢？特別是那些「暴君」，有時一比較發現，他們遭到指責的罪行往往是那麼的「公式化」，畢爾德在書中就多次質疑這點。(其實可以對比下中國史的那些「暴君」，似乎也會有類似的傾向) 這時候，就又可以發現我欣賞作者的一個地方，「她喜歡引導讀者去思考，而不是純接受她的觀點」。在整本書中，常常都可以見到畢爾德的質疑與問題，對於現代流行「獨立思考」的讀者來說，無疑是一種福音。


總而言之，畢爾德這本《羅馬皇帝》又是部喜歡本主題的讀者必看的佳作，看看作者吐槽羅馬人愛把皇帝封神的這個行為，是真的很有趣的，跟大家推薦。(她講了一個笑話：克勞狄封神上了天堂，其餘眾神開會討論要不要接納他，正傾向同意時，奧古斯都跳出來說：「這傢伙你別看他斯文儒雅，其實殺人不眨眼，不可！」於是克勞狄就被打到冥界去了。然後我心想屋大維你最好有資格說這話。)

[Brittney · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a baby history genre reader, I loved this. The author had a great approach. She made a point to not lose you by slipping in little tidbits and fun facts to bring you back to the narrative. She humanizes a lot of wacky historical figures and told you really specific but interesting things about the shit you just don’t think about. It was giving Mary Roach but make it history. Highly recommend.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally a disappointment and too casual in tone. While it does give some interesting context and fills in some gaps of what a Roman emperor did on the job, the rating was brought down by unwelcome biases and errors. Rather than list them here, please refer to an excellent Goodreads review here: socraticgadfly

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emperor of Rome is an in-depth look at the office of Emperor during Rome's imperial period, both at how the rulers perceived themselves and the expectations and perception of them by those in the larger Roman society. I read SPQR by Mary Beard earlier in the year and honestly Emperor of Rome is probably my favorite thing that I've picked up from her and one of the more valuable books on Rome that I've read.

Beard splits the book into sections concerning imperial power as seen via travel, dining, the structure of their palaces and the people who served directly under them. Instead of being a succession of names and dates, it's more focused on the common themes about the emperors and how the various emperors fit into that. As such, it's a lot more accessible of a survey and a lot more interesting (at least to me).

I would recommend this to those interested in Roman history (obviously) but maybe less well versed in the structure of Roman imperial power. I've generally been interested in Roman history for a long time and I found I learned a lot from it as someone who is curious but still not really an expert.

[jula · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 — dammit i wanna be a roman augusta

[Selena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Beard's fresh take on the history of the Roman empire immerses us in what it was like to be, around and living under Emperors of Rome. The book covers the reign of 26 emperors from Julius Caesar's adopted heir, Augustus (ascended 27 BCE) through to Severus Alexander (assassinated 235 CE). It includes famous names such as Nero, Claudius, Caligula, Marcus Aurelius as well as unfamiliar ones such as teenager Elagabalus. It's not a chronological account but a look at aspects of Emperors' lives. How they ate, where they lived, how they worked, how they travelled around their empire, how they relaxed, how they projected themselves and used their image, their quirks of character and their legacy. Through this, we learn how Rome itself worked and the impact of Emperor on its citizens. It ranged from life or death, to sweeping tax cuts to dictating what could be sold in cafes. One-man rule also had its downsides. I was amused by tired responses to officials who were tempted to refer to the Emperor's judgement for everything.

This is the first Mary Beard book I've read and it's history at its most engaging. I very much liked her conversational style. She's a marvellous communicator and storyteller. Beard makes good use of memorable as well as less known anecdotes and myths to paint lively pictures of the characters involved. But she makes sure to pick apart fact from fiction. She draws on all manner of resources - art, inscriptions, ruins, letters (both private and official) and records, down to Roman graffiti. It reminds me of the BBC values to "inform, educate and entertain" and Beard succeeds on all fronts. She manages the delicate balancing act of presenting comprehensive research and rationale in a captivating read. I was fortunate to have this as my holiday reading while visiting Roman ruins in Turkey and Beard brought it all to life for me. Despite the Emperors' aspiration to become gods, Mary Beard paints very human portraits. Of course, there's opulence, murder, sex, vanity, rumours and plotting. But there's also wisdom, humour and relatable moments of humanity. A fantastic read.

Many thanks to the publisher for a proof copy. I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished article. It looks like this will have plenty of illustrations which I was missing and referenced in the text, as well as useful maps and dramatis personae. I'll certainly be buying the completed book and will be adding more Mary Beard to my to-read pile.

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does not attempt to provide a comprehensive history of the Roman emperors, but only covers a period of roughly 300 years from Julius Caesar, who became dictator of Rome in 48 BC to Alexander Severus, who was assassinated (an absurdly common fate for Roman emperors) in 235 AD. Rather than telling a sequential narrative history of each ruler, Beard instead aims to describe the office of emperor—what Roman emperors did and what they meant to the people of the empire. Each chapter therefore covers a particular aspect of life for an emperor. There are chapters on what meals would have been like, life in various palaces, job duties, travel, leisure time, issues of succession, and the notion of deification.

Despite this topically organized skeleton the overall effect feels somewhat scattershot and random, stuffed with short anecdotes rather than giving any overarching story or making the case for any specific thesis.

Having said that, I definitely feel like I learned a fair amount and some of these anecdotes are indeed interesting. For instance, the surprising use of whoopee cushions during fancy dinners. Or that the meaning of Caligula is actually “little boots” (Beard says it’s more akin to “Bootikins”) because he used to dress up in military garb as young boy. Of course this explains why he was not thrilled with the moniker as an adult.

One of the important points that Beard makes here is that we should be skeptical about the trustworthiness of the historical record in this era. We need to consider that much of what was written about each emperor was likely said by someone whose primary concern was self-preservation, with an eye to justifying or legitimating the rule of the current dictator. And this was often done in part by disparaging the previous emperor —who was often dispatched by his successor.