Free Download SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, by Mary Beard
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SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, by Mary Beard
Free Download SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, by Mary Beard
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Review
“Beard tells this story precisely and clearly, with passion and without technical jargon…SPQR is a grim success story, but one told with wonderful flair.†- Greg Woolf, Wall Street Journal“Though she here claims that 50 years of training and study have led up to SPQR, Beard wears her learning lightly. As she takes us through the brothels, bars, and back alleys where the populus Romanus left their imprint, one senses, above all, that she is having fun.†- James Romm, New Republic“By the time Beard has finished, she has explored not only archaic, republican, and imperial Rome, but the eastern and western provinces over which it eventually won control…She moves with ease and mastery though archaeology, numismatics, and philology, as well as a mass of written documents on stone and papyrus.†- G. W. Bowersock, New York Review of Books“In SPQR, her wonderful concise history, Mary Beard unpacks the secrets of the city's success with a crisp and merciless clarity that I have not seen equaled anywhere else.†- Ferdinand Mount, New York Times Book Review“Beard does precisely what few popularizers dare to try and plenty of dons can’t pull off: She conveys the thrill of puzzling over texts and events that are bound to be ambiguous, and she complicates received wisdom in the process. Her magisterial new history of Rome, SPQR…is no exception…. The ancient Romans, Beard shows, are relevant to people many centuries later who struggle with questions of power, citizenship, empire, and identity.†- Emily Wilson, The Atlantic“A masterful new chronicle…. Beard is a sure-footed guide through arcane material that, in other hands, would grow tedious. Sifting myth from fact in dealing with the early history of the city, she enlivens―and deepens―scholarly debates by demonstrating how the Romans themselves shaped their legendary beginnings to short-term political ends…. Exemplary popular history, engaging but never dumbed down, providing both the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life.†- The Economist
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About the Author
A professor of classics at Cambridge University, Mary Beard is the author of the best-selling SPQR and Women & Power and the National Book Critics Circle Award–nominated Confronting the Classics. A popular blogger and television personality, Beard is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books.
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Product details
Paperback: 608 pages
Publisher: Liveright; 1 edition (September 6, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1631492225
ISBN-13: 978-1631492228
Product Dimensions:
5.5 x 1.2 x 8.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.1 out of 5 stars
824 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#4,062 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Prof Beard's SPQR is an excellent social history but not a good introduction to Roman History. She assumes that you have a reasonable grasp of the over arching political course of the empire, especially during the some 200 years of the imperial phase "covered" by this book. I say "covered" as so little is described regarding the political development of the empire. She chose to end her treatise during reign of Caracalla, but this is somewhat arbitrary as any details of his tyranny are given only in passing. She could have chosen to end her work during the reign of Alexander Severus, Commodus, or even Marcus Aurelius with no significant additions or omissions, though she does explain and justify her choice.That being said, it's clear that Prof. Beard did not set out to write a political history of Rome, but to focus on the lives of the average people that lived in the era and to tell, as best as she is able, their stories. Part of her intention in so blithely glossing over the doings of the emperors is to highlight how little effect the political realm had on the lives of ordinary people. This she does very well, despite limited written records as compared to the lives of the wealthy. Beard brings to life how ordinary people sustained themselves, what careers they may have pursued, what they may have hoped for and how they lived. I found all this to be very well told and an aspect of Rome too often glossed over in favor of the more flashy tales of intrigue that pervaded imperial roman politics.However, it needs to be said that Prof. Beard's work is a bit inconsistent in its intent and presentation. The first half dealing with the Republican era delves deeply into the political realm. She tries to highlight social aspects as best as she is able, but the poverty of primary records from that era limits what we can reasonably expect to know. Her lens focuses intently on Julius Caesar (as one would expect), the civil wars that followed, and the reign of Augustus. Tiberius and Caligula get passing mention but the remainder of the period "covered" is dominated by the social history, which again is fascinating and well presented, but the shift in focus is a bit jarring.If you are new to the study of Roman History, I would not recommend this book as its approach to the chronology is too haphazard to do anything other than confuse the neophyte. If, on the other-hand, you have a general sense of the historical narrative and are looking to flesh out your understanding and understand how Romans outside the imperial bubble lived, then you will be very well served by Prof. Beard's work.
I will admit that this wasn't an easy read for me. Although I have a deep interest in learning about the Romans, I found myself lost for the first half of the book. I started it over again after reading the first 100 pages, and this helped me some. Still, I felt that a dearth of knowledge hindered me from getting all that I could out of the book. So here's what I did get from it. First, archaeological finds don't automatically tell the whole story. There's actually quite a bit of thought that goes into telling a story the way it is thought to have happened. I do mean "thought to have happened" because there really isn't any way to know for sure, especially when looking back at something that took place over 2,000 years ago. Even when the evidence is strong, questions always remain. Secondly, the ancient world was full of brutality, uncertainty, and hardship. I'm not just talking about the murder of Julius Caesar, which was so brutal that it is still jolting to this modern reader. I'm also referring to other deaths that occurred by decapitation, crucifixion, poisoning, and one specific tale about a suicidal fellow who cut open his own stomach and pulled out his internal organs. After Rome was claimed by the emperors, there was always an uneasy alliance between the emperor and the senators. Although much of the blueprint for how emperors would rule was established by Augustus, this is one area that was still a question mark, and would remain so. While the author spends a great deal of time on the rich, she also tries to go beyond and give readers a look at the daily lives of the Roman masses. There are sections of the book that describe the jobs they performed, the housing they occupied, and how they spent their leisure hours. Unfortunately, the examples are few, simply because there isn't much recorded information available about the average Roman citizen. Thirdly, I learned that the same things that drive the world today are the things that drove the men of antiquity. The lust for power and the desire for riches hasn't changed over the millennia. Roman vices are our vices, but their virtues are ours as well. On a final note, even though this book is highly rated by critics, as a potential reader I wouldn't start with it until I had a solid background on the history of Rome, or essentially until I knew some facts. Armed with facts, this book becomes a much more enjoyable read, and readers will certainly get more out of it.
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