The World of Rome

by Michael Grant

Grant is "justly recognised as an expert and civilized guide to the ancient world."-- The Economist . The Romans changed the Western world and theirs became the first golden age. This is their empire of magnificence and corruption; the republic, the dictators and the slaves; the civilization and the Pax Romana, the brutality and the collapse.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Roman History, Ancient History, Classical Studies

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Michael Grant was an English classisist, numismatist, and author of numerous popular books on ancient history. His 1956 translation of Tacitus’s Annals of Imperial Rome remains a standard of the work. He once described himself as "one of the very few freelances in the field of ancient history: a rare phenomenon". As a popularizer, his hallmarks were his prolific output and his unwillingness to oversimplify or talk down to his readership.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Monty Milne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid but somewhat old fashioned study. (The blurb here on GR is a bit misleading when it talks about its freshness and originality - that may have been true when it was first published, but that was in 1960...) It is not a history – although the two chapters which give historical overviews are masterpieces of concision. And although the world of Rome is indeed brought to life in all its atmospheric colour, there is a certain coyness about some aspects. True, the vile slaughter of the games and the cruelty of slavery are both given their due, but there is an avoidance of another repulsive aspect of Rome – the deliberate use of sexual violence as a political weapon. And the only reference to same sex relations is a slighting reference to the “invert” Elagabulus. This surely tells us more about the author than about the Romans...

[Donald Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding reference work. Grant has a real grasp of Roman history and culture. Parts of the book were challenging, perhaps due to my lack of interest! The next to last chapter, for example, was on Sculpture and Painting. Took a long time to get through that one. The last chapter, on Architecture, was much more to my liking. I found this gem there, a quote from Suetonius about Nero's palace:

"A huge statue of Nero himself, one hundred and twenty feet high, stood in the entrance hall; and the pillared arcade ran for a whole mile. An enormous pool, more like a sea than a pool, was surrounded by buildings made to resemble cities, and by a landscape garden consisting of ploughed fields, vineyards, pastures and woodlands, where every variety of domestic and wild animal roamed about. Parts of the house were overlaid with gold and studded with precious stones and nacre. All the dining rooms had ceilings of fretted ivory, the panels of which could slide back and let a rain of flowers, or of perfume from hidden sprinklers, shower upon his guests. The main dining-room was circular, and its roof revolved slowly, day and night, in time with the sky. Sea water, or sulphur water, was always on tap in the baths. When the palace had been decorated thoroughly in this lavish style, Nero dedicated it, and condescended to remark: 'Good, now I can at last begin to live like a human being'."

To which Grant commented: "But not for long, for the Golden House was still unfinished at his death and was mostly destroyed by the Flavian emperors."

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All in all, I found this book very helpful on the culture of Rome. Several insightful pages on Roman religion (and on Christianity). I believe our understanding of the New Testament is enhanced the more we understand the Roman culture in which it emerged.

[Mole Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Roman government always realized, in the words of Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, that "when you command great numbers of men... you find the emotional forced bottled up in them are very strong."
A good introduction to Rome, though possibly outdated (as other reviewers have pointed out). I do wish that it gave a better summary of the character of the average Roman citizen, but I suppose this is not the book for that. Recommended for entry-level Roman studies.

[Linus Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly a comprehensive overview, though I wish he focused a bit more on commerce/daily life rather than art and architecture. The section on engineering near the end of the book is particularly good, but it seems out of place with the previous discussion on sculpture and relief painting.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a good book on Roman times and culture.

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most scholarly works I've ever read on Ancient Rome or any historical work for that matter. Michael Grant (not to be confused with the YA author) is one of the preeminent scholars on Roman History.

The World of Rome is broken up into four sections:

1) The Roman Empire, starting with a brief overview, showing how the Ancient Roman world evolved into the Holy Roman Empire followed by 2)Roman Rulers, the Citizens and the Slaves.

The third section is about Roman Beliefs concerning Fate and the Stars, Religion and Philosophy. This was my favorite part. Grant gives an objective rendered of this delicate topic and treats all beliefs, including contemporary religions such as Judeasm and Christianity with respect and fairness.

The final part concerns the Arts and Architecture. Any visitor of Rome who has seen the Pantheon and Colosseum will appreciate the science and history behind them and other buildings, aqueducts etc..

To repeat, I found this book to be the most thorough and informative history on this subject and I plan to buy as many Michael Grant books as possible.

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays by Michael Grant on the history and culture of the Romans from 133 B.C. to 217 A. D. It is divided into four sections covering The Roman Empire, State and Society, Beliefs, and Literature and the Arts. Within these sections are essays on the history, rulers, public, religion, philosophy, and arts during this period. Michael Grant's discussion of this civilization is readable and extensive; an excellent introduction to what is one of the foundations of current Western Civilization.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

As another reviewer has said, it is a dry book. The first section, the "Historical Sketch" is a race through history which left me dizzy and confused. The strongest section was the second, "State and Society" which has a chapter each on the rulers, the citizens and the "subjects and slaves." The Third Section, "Beliefs" was less interesting--though I found the first chapter on astrology interesting. The Fourth section, I'm afraid I skimmed, since I know enough about literature and the arts that I felt it unnecessary to read a summary by a non-specialist.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Normally I read books verbatim. I struggled with this one. I have no in governmental stuff. I do not understand politics or war. The book is extremely detailed. It was my mother's book in high school. Since I recently read other stories that mentioned Roman rulers, I was curious. I focused on quenching that curiosity. I think I am satisfied. There are definitely much more Roman rulers than I was taught in school. The order was not quite all together as I thought or assumed. That was interesting. Again, I did not read the entire book.

[Ed Shapard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good collection of information about the Roman Empire during its heyday, but it's not for the neophyte. You are pretty much expected to know who the major players were already. So read this one after you've read in introduction to Roman history.

[Jay D · Rating 4 out of 5]

great overview.

[JPL · Rating 3 out of 5]

rather dry - didn't finish.