Roma Underground: El lado oculto del Imperio

by Paco Álvarez

320 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2025

Reviews

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Antes de nada, quiero que conste lo mucho que he disfrutado el libro. Lo he encontrado ameno, divulgativo y lleno de curiosidades sobre aspectos bastante poco difundidos de la Antigua Roma (como el precio del alquiler, el sueldo de un legionario, la vida cotidiana en la Urbe, etc.) y nos presenta a anónimos romanos, con nombre o sin él, de aquí o de otros lares; todo ello contado con un estilo personal bastante cercano, que aquel que haya leído alguno de los anteriores libros de Paco sabrá reconocer.
Sin embargo, le encuentro algunas pegas a lo aquí defendido. Adoro a los romanos y su historia como el que más, pero no ignoro ciertos aspectos de su sociedad que, vistos desde la perspectiva actual, me horrorizan. El autor también hace otro tanto en muchos de los temas más espinosos, pero no en todos, y en algunas ocasiones -y no me puedo creer que vaya a decir esto- tiene demasiado glorificado al pueblo de los Quirites, o no es capaz de reconocer la brutalidad y la violencia en la que vivían inmersos. Su derecho, su idioma, su forma de vivir en la calle e incluso algunos trazos de su religión (hablo de la pagana), perviven todavía en nosotros, pero al mismo tiempo eran capaces de mostrar una brutalidad indómita, un gusto por lo morboso, lo violento y lo atroz que en nuestra sociedad occidental actual, por suerte, está bastante mitigado con respecto a otros tiempos. El autor, en algún pasaje, invalida el testimonio de algunas fuentes antiguas por considerar el acto relatado excesivamente cruel sin motivo aparente. Eso, claramente, sólo lo puede decir alguien de nuestra época y hemisferio. Si el hecho nos parece tan horrible es porque, como sociedad, hemos evolucionado los últimos quince siglos, debido principalmente al auge de una religión que el autor, a ratos, parece denostar y señalar como algo menos avanzado que su idea de la romanitas, y eso pese a ser tan herederos de ella, como españoles que somos.
De todos modos, como he dicho al principio, he disfrutado del libro (me lo he leído en un santiamén) y me alegra no coincidir en absolutamente todos los puntos con el autor. Creo, de hecho, que está bien que haya voces como la suya, que contrarresten ciertas tendencias culturales imperantes, más difundidas dentro del panorama editorial español.
¡Espero el siguiente con ganas!

[El Segoviano]

HE CONOCIDO AL AUTOR A TRAVES DE UN PROGRAMA RADIOFONICA DE LA COPE, DE LOS FINES DE SEMANA, QUE SIEMPRE HABLABA DEL MUNDO ROMANO Y ME PARECIO UN ELEMENTO INTERESANTE.
APROVECHE LA PASADO FERIA DEL LIBRO PARA HACERME CON UNO DE SUS LIBROS, ERA EL ULTIMO QUE QUEDABA, POR CIERTO, Y ES UNA ESPECIE DE ENSAYO SOBRE EL MUNDO ROMANO MENOS CONOCIDO, AQUEL PROTAGONIZADO POR LA GENTE QUE COMO HOY PODRIA DECIRSE NO SALE HABITUALMENTE EN LA FOTO.
ES EL MUNDO DE LOS POBRES EN ROMA, CENTRO DEL IMPERIO, DONDE LA GENTE SE LLEGABA A VENDER COMO ESCLAVO PARA PODER COMER. ESO DA IDEA DEL GRADO DE MISERIA QUE SE VIVIA EN EL IMPERO, O ERAS SOLDADO,EN CUYO CASO TENIAS PAGA Y COMIDA ASEGURADA, GLADIADOR, O ESCLAVO,, CON LO CUAL DISPONIAS DE UN TECHO Y LUGAR DONDE DORMIR Y COMER. OFICIALMENTE PUNTO APARTE ERAN LAS GRANDES FAMILIAS PUBLICAS QUE ESO ERA OTRA COSA.
LIBRO INTERESANTE QUE OFRECE UNA IMPRESION POCO CONOCIDA DE ESE MUNDO, AL MENOS PARA MI.

[Fonch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, despite Mr. Pennel , John Wayne, and my admired friend Professor Manuel Alfonseca (who, by the way, has written the book of the year, which I can already tell you will be one of my next reviews on Goodreads and on my YouTube channel —please take this opportunity to subscribe, it's called The Bibliophile 's Corner), and despite the fact that there's no need to apologize, I humbly do so and ask for forgiveness for the number of overdue reviews I have. There are so many that, due to how quickly time passes—Cronus is an implacable deity—I can't mention them all because I have little time, as I have to be on my friend the YouTuber 's live stream at 4:30 PM. Quillo Barrios, and then, taking advantage of the fact that my mother has to visit a sick friend in the hospital who has suffered two cardiac arrests, and that my father and sister have to attend a lecture at the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Valladolid, I will take the opportunity to record a video and upload it to my channel. Therefore, I am following the advice a very dear friend gave me when she was my friend, to follow the advice given to her by the mother of Stephen King, and to write a little bit every day. This review must be written before November 8th and uploaded to my channel, because otherwise I promised the author I would lose my Roman citizenship, be sold into slavery, and work in the terrible laundries, prisons , and Lathomias , so my honor is at stake, and I, as a Spanish gentleman descended from these Romans, hold my honor in high esteem, even though I am a great coward.
The author and I, Paco Álvarez el Romano, know each other thanks to the virtual sea of social networks on the internet, and I, at least, profess a deep admiration for the author, which is why I committed to reviewing this book that I am going to review for you Roma Underground : The Hidden Side of the Empire|232527182] It should be mentioned that this book is part of an interesting tetralogy that the author has written about Roman civilization, whose titles are We Are Romans: Discover the Roman Within YouCrónica rosae : Scandals in Classical Rome We Romans Are Crazy and, he also has a book critical of peripheral nationalisms The Flat Earth and Nationalism ( Edaf Essay). These books are written with the aim of showing the pride of being Roman and also to answer the question that the Popular Front of Judaism in the Monty Python film (a parody of the Sicarii and the Zealots) asks: What good has Rome ever done for us? And, it is interesting to see Paco Álvarez el Romano's view of hostile intellectuals and thinkers such as, for example, Simone Weil or [ author:Karl Popper|349707] who always put Greek civilization before Roman cruelty. It is also interesting to compare, in a friendly way, the views of Paco Álvarez el Romano with those of the brilliant medieval historian [author :Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez de la Peña|15032652] , author of the books Compasión : Una historiaIniquidad : El nacimiento del Estado y la crueldad social en las primeras civilizaciones (Historia y Biografías)Imperios de crueldad: La Antigüedad clásica y la inhumanidad, whose novel 1077 El Invierno del Rey Mendigo we highly recommend, who is quite critical of the civilizations of the Ancient Age, which he accuses of being empires of cruelty, with some redeemable and even worthy figures from the Axial Age. The thesis of Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez de la Peña, which I share, is about what Christianity improved and what the ancient world was like before the coming of Christ, along similar lines to the fantasy and science fiction writer Gene WolfeDominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. I have always been a fan of Augustine of Hippo and his disciple Paulus Orosius and it is tempting to see what Rome was like before his conversion, and after it, and this is seen in the work [ book:City of God|25673], however, I as a providentialist and follower at least in the original objective of Leopold von Ranke have mentioned that one of the great enigmas has been the rise of Rome and its fall (on this topic see my review of The Dark Angel by Mika Waltari) which has intrigued historians and which I dealt with in the Samuel Bronston film directed by Anthony Mann , The Fall of the Roman Empire, but there is another no less trivial question, and that is why, having so many civilizations—Egypt, Assyria (which with the Prophet Jonah refrained from its great evils), Achaemenid Persia (Cyrus II was Yahweh's champion to free the Jews from captivity in Babylon), Greece (Athens was praised by Paul himself Saul of Tarsus (39483986) and Sparta were allies of the Jews in the war against the Seleucids . Why weren't these civilizations the ones that received the light of the Gospel, and instead Rome? Perhaps God saw something good in them, and I agree with Paco Álvarez el Romano on this point: Rome's great contribution was improving and surpassing the Greeks in law. That's why books like those published by Paco Álvarez el Romano are so important, and also because we are very similar to them.
Before beginning this review, in honor of the book's author, the review will be written not only in English, Spanish, and Polish, but also in Latin. It looks great, and it will be very entertaining, although unfortunately I don't know if the hyperlinks will be visible. I am very grateful to the author for the wonderful book presentation he gave at the Margén bookstore in my city, where I had the pleasure of meeting Carlos De Miguel, authorCarlos De Miguel of these gems, El ocaso de Roma El joven Constantino which have been commissioned by Soraya and María José of the El Árbol de las Letras bookstore. The presence of my namesake, Don Alfonso, was also very gratifying and helpful, as it allowed me to recall some things I had forgotten about the book.
This book is divided into ten chapters, in addition to a Preface, an Introduction, an Epilogue, and a Bibliography. It attempts to do what my university professor, Doña Henar Gallego Franco, set out to do: tell the story of the most anonymous, most needy Romans , those who will not go down in history, especially the humblest, even marginalized, Romans. This is something that 20th-century historiographical trends, particularly the Annales school, already proposed . It focuses not on great men or the upper elites, but on what G.K. Chesterton would have called the common man , especially the marginalized and the most disadvantaged, the proletari and the capitecensi . However, do not expect a learned and solemn manual of Roman history. The author's aim is precisely to write a lighthearted, breezy story, in the style of Cleopatra's nose, that seeks to educate and instruct the common people without boring them. Hence, the author introduces many anecdotes, jokes, and clear references to contemporary popular culture. It reminds me of the novel Escipi¢n by Ross Leckie , where the protagonist , Bostar , a former companion and tutor of Hannibal, wishes to instruct two young Romans. These young men are only interested in revelry and attractive women, much like our own Lamine Yamal, and to instruct them, he begins by telling them the story of the * scortiae *, or * pornai *, and the *hetairas*. It proved to be an effective method. It also reminds me of when the actor Robin Williams plays with the dinosaurs in [Mrs . Doubtfire|9861746] because the documentaries on the network where he works are very boring, the producer sees him and decides to give him the show. Readers approaching these books for the first time will feel something similar. As my mentor Alberto Marcos Martín used to say, it's not just about writing a history book, but about making it enjoyable and attractive to the reader unfamiliar with history, and that a historian shouldn't just be a historian, a scholar, or an erudite person , but also an artist and a great writer, and that's what Paco Álvarez el Romano has proven to be. If you're looking for something more serious and academic, the author also provides a comprehensive and specialized bibliography at the end of the book for a more formal, educated, and knowledgeable audience.
The author came up with the idea for this book while on YouTube , hence the almost Warhallian , underground , and pop-art-tinged cover. The first question the author asks himself is how to tell the story of everyday Rome using primary sources and without resorting to satirical authors like [Marcus. Valerius Martialis|456940]JuvenalLucian of SamosataTerencePlautus because the author didn't want it to be a Valle-Inclán-esque grotesque or a caricature like the Martes y Trece sketches and monologues. Because if it were up to these authors, according to my learned colleague, Rome would have collapsed a very long time ago. Other disciplines don't help us either, like epigraphy and numismatics, and archaeology can help, but not always because they are very unreliable, although they do offer some reliability. I must be honest, I was expecting methods like carbon-14 dating, uranium dating, or dendrochronology, but everything is simpler. Above all, what Paco Álvarez el Romano does is bring out the most traditional side of life, highlighting what these people of antiquity might have in common with us. His focus isn't solely on Rome, but on the entire Roman world, and he recounts what they shared with us. He tells us how the poor lived, how in some cases it was more profitable for them not to wake up from their slumber. The themes of Hypnos, Thanatos , Oneiros , Phantasos , and Morpheus before he became Neo's mentor in The Matrix are quite striking . For the author, it was sometimes far more advantageous to be a slave, who, depending on the master, might be better cared for than a free man, than to belong to the proletari or the capitecensi . It should be noted that the majority of Spartacus's forces were not slaves but free people living in utterly miserable conditions. Above all, he speaks of how difficult it was to survive, and of the high mortality rate, including infant mortality. These people were like us; they enjoyed drinking, sex, and pleasures that, as an inscription by the author stated, might wear them down, but they make existence more tolerable and bearable. There is a great deal of social concern and much criticism. The author, Paco Álvarez el Romano, cannot stand hypocrisy, and his great unease with the situation in Spain and the rest of the world with politicians is evident, and he transposes this to Roman times. There is criticism of both Marcus Licinius Crassus and the hypocrisy of those who pretended to be Stoics but who, in reality, live in a world of appearances and hypocrisies, for example Marcus. TulliusCiceroSeneca. This double standard was also criticized by the historian Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez de la Peña. Crassus lived and made his fortune by burning houses. Something that has been decisive in the election of the newly elected mayor of New York has been the issue of rent. continues...