Emperor of Rome

Ruling the Ancient World

De: Mary Beard

Narrado por: Mary Beard

Duración: 14 h y 43 m

Resumen del Editor

A sweeping account of the social and political world of the Roman emperors by “the world’s most famous classicist” (Guardian).

In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Beard asks bigger questions: What power did emperors actually have? Was the Roman palace really so bloodstained? She tracks down the emperor at home, at the races, on his travels, even on his way to heaven. She introduces his wives and lovers, rivals and slaves, court jesters and soldiers—and the ordinary people who pressed begging letters into his hands. Emperor of Rome goes directly to the heart of Roman (and our own) fantasies about what it was to be Roman, offering an account of Roman history as it has never been presented before.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Mary Beard (P)2023 Profile Books Ltd

An excellent microscopic view of the Roman Emperors

The author has assembled an excellent and well organized summary of what we know about the smaller detailed life of the Roman Emperors.

A recommendation for the reader: before reading chapter 5, review how different Roman marriages were. The author makes statements that might confuse someone that is not familiar with those ancient traditions and how the Roman marriage functioned.

Some key players that related directly to imperial failures are left out, and the story of Brutus is somehow told without a single mention of how everything started with Cato the younger, this painted a very bias picture by the author.

There are several times that the author takes a position that is clearly opinion but not always stated as such, be wary of these.

Understanding the Emperors of Rome also means understanding the oppositions they faced, many in the senate or on the battlefield. There are many books that detail decisions made in battle that tell more about the emperor than inferences made based on everyday life and letters written. I urge the importance of that psychological view of the emperors.

Overall the book is well written and the time taken to detail art, architecture, and economic/political society of The Roman Empire is wondrous and I applaud the author for the facts compiled in this book.

Through fault of my own or not, I was unable to find the accompanying .pdf, which was quite disappointing.

Superb

As an amateur historian or Ancient Greece and Rome I loved this book narration was great

Easy to Listen and Informative

Very approachable writing style. Engaging subject. Hard to turn off. Makes me think about Rome daily.

Mary Beard's Never Fails

I listened to the audiobook on and off with my reading of the actual book. Mary Beard's actual narration makes the experience a lot more engaging. I'd say SPQR is a superior option for fans of history who are interested in beginning their study of ancient Rome. This book provides niche passages on famous emperors the student of Rome should be familiar with, and it offers interesting points on how history can be distorted over time pertaining to the emperors. There were a couple sections that dragged on or felt trivial. I suppose that was kind of the point of the book though? I came for interesting stories about Roman emperors and stayed for Mary Beard.

Great fresh understanding of the history SS entails of the Roman Empire

As a Greco-Roman history major undergrad and historian of religion prof, I see Mary Beard as bringing a fresh and approachable understanding of the Roman Empire. History, especially Roman history, by a scholar from Cambridge, etc. can feel flat and pompous. Mary is never either of those as a presenter in a documentary or as an author. This was a great way for me to go back to my roots in Roman history and enjoy the humanization Mary brings; there is a real human connection to a history of the empire which can under other historians easily become trite and repetitive. I have as picturing her in her sparkly silver high tops throughout.

New approach to understanding a Roman emperor

Great delivery by the author, however I’m not sure if this approach is the best way to view the history, this requires the reader to be quite familiar with the history of Rome in general. Also the PDF is missing

Excellent tale.

Mary Beard is a treasure. New prospective on old themes told in her very own voice. Loved it.

A worthy follow up to her excellent SPQR

I am generally well-grounded in Roman history, so I give this book high marks for expanding beyond the “who, what, where, when” of history to the “how”. For example, it amazed me how descriptions of Roman dining explained so much about how Roman rulers ruled. Mary Beard does an excellent job narrating her book. Her voice added so much to my enjoyment and attention to her work. This is a worthy follow up to her excellent SPQR.

big Mary Beard fan

Very solid and accessible account of the intimacies of the Roman Imperial house during the reigns of various emperors. Mary Beard succeeds again in providing an informative narrative in a compelling package

the impresive accounts of Romans

Fantastic...Mary is just so delightful to listen...she is a great investigator of the Roman Empire