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Subtitle: A History of Ancient Rome - Liveright Publishing, W. W.
Norton, New York, 2015, 606 pgs., index, illustrations, maps, further reading,
timeline, paperback
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Reviewer comment -
A terrific new book on a much written about subject. But the author has great
style, and her approach is different, new, and delightful - much recommended.
Actually, it is more a History of what people thought then and think now about
Rome. I have been collecting and reading books on ancient Rome for 70 years and
almost passed this one up. But I am glad I did not. No wonder it was a 'best
seller' book. But it is not the usual full narrative of Roman history. Dr.
Beard seeks to describe ancient Rome with focus on what the Romans thought
about themselves and their society at the time as well as what later historians
have thought. She makes extensive use of personal letters, tomb inscriptions,
other archeological sources, contemporary historians, poets, play authors and
every sort of written text available. But she uses selected events rather than
a comprehensive, complete narration of everything that took place. She mentions
some of the more important wars and battles for their larger significance
without describing them in detail. And her time frame is the period from Julius
Caesar to the reign of Caracalla - that is about 44 BC to 212 AD, with only
enough of events and personalities back to 753 BC to demonstrate what the
Romans thought about their foundation and earlier history. One paradox is
clear. She devotes much description to the personal lives of the emperors,
consuls, and many other political leaders, by citations from ancient historians
and other accounts. Yet she maintains that these individuals actually did not
much influence the course of Roman history, as it proceeded along a basic path
no matter who was in charge. She chose this time period because she believes
that the Roman revolution that brought Julius Caesar to a dictatorship followed
by its completion by Octavian - Augustus Caesar created a fundamentally
different Roman society that that of the earlier Republican Rome. And then the
edict of Caracalla that made all the inhabitants of the Roman Empire into
citizens created another fundamental change in Roman society.
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Prologue: The History of Rome
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Chapter 1 - Cicero's Finest Hour
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Chapter 2 - In the Beginning
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Chapter 3 - The Kings of Rome
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Chapter 4 - Rome's Great Leap Forward
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Chapter 5 - A Wider World
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Chapter 6 - New Politics
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Chapter 7 - From Empire to Emperors
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Chapter 8 - The Home Frontg
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Chapter 9 - The Transformatons of Augustus
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Chapter 10 - Fourteen Emperors
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Chapter 11 - The Haves and have-Nots
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Chapter 12 - Rome Ouside Rome
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Epilogue: The First Roman Millennium
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