The Secret History Of The Roman Emperors

by Anthony Blond

Excellent Book

Genres: Nonfiction, History

234 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Monica Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, easy read on the Julio-Claudian dynasty with a wealth of little details. I particularly enjoyed the final chapter which is a "day in the life" vignette.
Now, what I didn't appreciate was the frequent French and Latin references without translations. My Latin is rusty (okay, maybe it's almost completely degraded). Also, the author's word order was odd at the best of times and difficult to follow at the worst. I found myself having to re-read some passages because there were clauses piled on top of each other, and I couldn't remember where the sentence had started.
Overall, a good reference guide that I'll be referring back to in future.

[Maisie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bizarre book - supposedly about emperors but speaks mostly of subjects. Pacing is quite erratic so parts feel skipped whilst too much attention is given to modern equivalents (intended comparison I imagine?). I can appreciate it’s supposed to be quite “entry level” but it was more confusing than anything. The first chapter was actually offensive - speaks of rape in the most genuinely baffling terms - again I understand we are talking mostly of mythology but I do wonder how this was approved by publishers ?!

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough overview...though it focuses a surprising amount on the more sordid tastes of men such as Caligula. It makes the perfect companion to a TV series like "I, Claudius".