Recently finished “SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome” by Mary Beard. I had a bit of a Baader-Meinhof experience with it, in that I bought it about a year ago shortly after all the women on TikTok asked their boyfriends how often they thought about the Roman Empire, and then just threw it on the pile, but only became compelled to read it after I started seeing it on endcap displays and then in YouTube thumbnails (I’m trying not to think about that chain of events too much).
I really enjoyed it as a primer for the amateur student of Rome. Dame Mary Beard really takes the reader down every alcove that’s been illuminated in the eternal city thus far. She does a fantastic job of demystifying them and getting the audience to read between the lines of what the Romans have left behind for us. For instance, she challenges the idea that Nero infamously “fiddled while Rome burned” by reminding us that succeeding emperors often had incentive to slander their predecessors. Additionally, the author takes on the more difficult task of piecing together the lives of those Romans whose lives are not reflected in statues or sonnets. Through the landfills of Pompeii and the graffito on tavern walls, we’re able to infer about their diets & sense of humor.
You won’t find too much about the Roman Levant, or the grand details of the Punic wars. But, overall, highly recommended if you want to impress people at parties or get more out of your study abroad trip to Italy.
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