Friends. Romans, Countrymen
Jul. 9th, 2019 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qatsiBook Review: SPQR - A History of Ancient Rome, by Mary Beard
Interestingly, after reading this, I discovered on Goodreads that two friends had already rated this with five stars, and I agreed with them. The book is perhaps not comprehensive, coming to a conclusion in 212 CE, with Caracalla's extension of Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Roman empire; therefore it omits the later decline, fall, division, etc. But within its scope, the book feels definitive.
Beard chooses to begin with Cicero's revelation of the Cataline conspiracy, before returning to chronology. The mythical foundation of Rome by Romulus and Remus clashes immediately with the story of Aeneas, and the evidence for the ancient Kings of Rome is thin, too. Beard does her best to make sense of the legends, but the archaeology only dates back to the Republic, where there's a reasonable foundation for ancient lists of consuls. The wars and skirmishes with Rome's neighbours, and later further afield, lead to the increasing power of Roman armies; these are essentially private militias, and promised post-service settlement for increasing numbers of retired soldiers strains the later Republic. The discussion of reforms and reaction from the period of the Gracchi through to Julius Caesar is particularly well done, and makes this history much clearer to me. From this there follows the Civil War and the rise of Octavian / Augustus, and a new form of government and politics in which the army is explicitly state-sponsored. Beard highlights that the transfer of power from one Emperor to another was often peaceful, with relatively few interventions.
But it's not just war and politics; Beard covers domestic life and death, social structures and practices, slavery, and the extent of the Roman world. Inevitably, she reminds us, evidence favours the well-off who had possessions that might be preserved; and it's very obviously a male-dominated society too, though gravestones in particular provide some eulogies to wives and mothers. The level of the writing is pitched right, avoiding assumptions about the reader's knowledge but never patronising.
Interestingly, after reading this, I discovered on Goodreads that two friends had already rated this with five stars, and I agreed with them. The book is perhaps not comprehensive, coming to a conclusion in 212 CE, with Caracalla's extension of Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Roman empire; therefore it omits the later decline, fall, division, etc. But within its scope, the book feels definitive.
Beard chooses to begin with Cicero's revelation of the Cataline conspiracy, before returning to chronology. The mythical foundation of Rome by Romulus and Remus clashes immediately with the story of Aeneas, and the evidence for the ancient Kings of Rome is thin, too. Beard does her best to make sense of the legends, but the archaeology only dates back to the Republic, where there's a reasonable foundation for ancient lists of consuls. The wars and skirmishes with Rome's neighbours, and later further afield, lead to the increasing power of Roman armies; these are essentially private militias, and promised post-service settlement for increasing numbers of retired soldiers strains the later Republic. The discussion of reforms and reaction from the period of the Gracchi through to Julius Caesar is particularly well done, and makes this history much clearer to me. From this there follows the Civil War and the rise of Octavian / Augustus, and a new form of government and politics in which the army is explicitly state-sponsored. Beard highlights that the transfer of power from one Emperor to another was often peaceful, with relatively few interventions.
But it's not just war and politics; Beard covers domestic life and death, social structures and practices, slavery, and the extent of the Roman world. Inevitably, she reminds us, evidence favours the well-off who had possessions that might be preserved; and it's very obviously a male-dominated society too, though gravestones in particular provide some eulogies to wives and mothers. The level of the writing is pitched right, avoiding assumptions about the reader's knowledge but never patronising.