Emperor of Rome

Ruling the Ancient World

By: Mary Beard

Narrated by: Mary Beard

Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Wasn't sure but won me over

I've liked Beard's other books, but was leery of author self-narration. Not at all - she brought the material to life!

Eye opening and accessible!

Mary Beard is the type of professor you actually learn from in this masterful study of Roman Emperors, well worth the time and investment.

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.

To dine with a Roman Emperor

Fascinating topic and presentation, though the jumping back and forth theoughout Roman history with no chronological sequence may prove challenging for those not well versed in Roman history.

A historiographic telling of the Roman empir

Delightful narrative history of about 400 years of Rome using “key players”. A bit absurdist feminist perspective which is highly fun to be read to or vice versa

Narration ruins the book

The narrator (author) inserts so many pauses in so many inappropriate places in almost every sentence that it's very hard to follow. Pm the basis of the professional reviews in the press, this sounds like a very very good book, but the audiobook was completely ruined for me by the awful narration. I would've given it one star, but it's clear that the narrator, because she's the author, at least understands what she's reading, which is more than I can say for many nonfiction audiobooks, so I gave it three stars.

Informative and Entertaining

No one write better about Roman History than Mary Beard. Her books are always informative, enlightening and very detailed.