SPQR

A History of Ancient Rome

By: Mary Beard

Narrated by: Phyllida Nash

Length: 18 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

A sweeping, revisionist history of the Roman Empire from one of our foremost classicists.

Ancient Rome was an imposing city even by modern standards, a sprawling imperial metropolis of more than a million inhabitants, a "mixture of luxury and filth, liberty and exploitation, civic pride and murderous civil war" that served as the seat of power for an empire that spanned from Spain to Syria. Yet how did all this emerge from what was once an insignificant village in central Italy?

In SPQR, world-renowned classicist Mary Beard narrates the unprecedented rise of a civilization that even 2,000 years later still shapes many of our most fundamental assumptions about power, citizenship, responsibility, political violence, empire, luxury, and beauty. From the foundational myth of Romulus and Remus to 212 CE, nearly a thousand years later, when the emperor Caracalla gave Roman citizenship to every free inhabitant of the empire, SPQR (the abbreviation of "The Senate and People of Rome") not just examines how we think of ancient Rome but challenges the comfortable historical perspectives that have existed for centuries by exploring how the Romans thought of themselves: how they challenged the idea of imperial rule, how they responded to terrorism and revolution, and how they invented a new idea of citizenship and nation.

Opening the audiobook in 63 BCE with the famous clash between the populist aristocrat Catiline and Cicero, the renowned politician and orator, Beard animates this "terrorist conspiracy", which was aimed at the very heart of the republic, demonstrating how this singular event would presage the struggle between democracy and autocracy that would come to define much of Rome's subsequent history. Illustrating how a classical democracy yielded to a self-confident and self-critical empire, SPQR reintroduces us, though in a wholly different way, to famous and familiar characters.

©2015 Mary Beard (P)2015 Recorded Books

Superb History

Where does SPQR rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Within the top five

What did you like best about this story?

This is not the average history of Rome arranged chronologically 756 to 476 instead Professor Mary Beard in SPQR concentrates on characteristics of Roman society that made the republic and later the empire a reality. Beard is a distinguished scholar who has written books on the Roman Triumph, Roman Humor ( yes they had one!) and with the late Keith Hopkins, the Roman Coliseum. In all these works she displays a unique ability to communicate complex ideas clearly with wit and humor. She also writes the blog "A Don's Life" and has done work for the BBC " The Romans" .In SPQR Beard begins in the late republic with Marcus Tullius Cicero 's oration against Cataline. for a supposed conspiracy against the Roman State. Beard used this pivotal event to show the structure and nature of Roman Society in the republic and how this fragile edifice fell eventually to Julius Caesar. When she moves to the empire Beard concentrates on the wider world of SPQR, and explains what it meant to be a Roman citizen in Judea, e.g.St.Paul Britannia or Gaul as well as Rome.. For all the real injustices, the wide disparity of wealth, slavery, the subordination of women, the world of Rome, gave a certain stability order and predictability to more people, than any society until the 19th century. Rome improved living conditions for many. Beard explains the status of women, though patriarchal Rome allowed women considerably more freedom than the much acclaimed classical Greece. She discusses the relatively high rate of literacy as reflected in inscriptions, graffiti at Pompeii and papyri in Egypt also the famous birthday invitation from a women whose spouse was a garrison commander near Hadrian's Wall. Slavery in Rome, while awful was never fixed, as in Greece nor was it based on race as in the USA. While many slaves lived under appalling conditions on the great estates many others achieved freedom and enjoyed modest prosperity, wile a few especially under the Emperor Claudius rose to great heights

Which character – as performed by Phyllida Nash – was your favorite?

Ms. Nash is a clear and competent narrator with a pleasing voice..

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I enjoyed Beard's comments re the ancient sources, this is her effort to inform her readers how ancient historians work or how do we really know what we often read in various text's re Caligula, Tiberius etc.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed her comments on health and hygiene in ancient Rome. Beard discusses, modern forensic studies which suggest that the Roman's in large numbers were infected with parasites from improper disposal of human waste and that their baths in an era before chlorine were breeding grounds for disease.

SPQR: Disorganized

I love the content and the stories contained within. I struggled to follow the authors narrative though. SPQR is a jumbled collection of quotes.

Rome made understandable

I typically love most narrative history. For some reason though, I have always struggled with following the narrative of histories of the ancient world. Not for any reason of interest or anything, but it has always seemed that histories of the ancient world lose me with lists of dynastic succession and rivalries. Even great stylists, here I am thinking of Edward Gibbon in particular, with their long lists of names are hard for me to follow. But here, thinking of Gibbon again, there are nuggets of style and wisdom which reward the labor. All of this is a long way of saying that I pick up books about the ancient world and usually struggle to finish them. That is not, I am happy to say, true of this book.

I read a review of this book shortly after it came out and it sounded promising enough that I thought I might get it one day in audiobook form. Recently, this book was one of many I purchased because it was on sale. What a find! This book was astonishingly easy to follow and I especially enjoyed the pre-republic foundation the author laid. The author is a learned guide through the maze of Roman politics and the narrator has a pleasant, well-modulated voice. I found myself looking forward to my trips to work and errands because it gave me more time in the company of someone who made the Roman world comprehensible.

This is a surprising book for me. The author, Mary Beard, is a Cambridge professor of Classics. That in itself is daunting. This book is not an academic's book--it is a book for the intelligent layman and all that is needed is the will to make it through almost 20 hours of narrative (not an overly long stretch in my opinion and one I gladly would have listened to for many more). If you are appreciative of good historical craftsmanship, you will be well-rewarded in this book. I highly recommend it!

Not for new readers

This book was not intended for people with little to no knowledge of ancient Rome. In order to drive that point home, the author frequently skips from one era of ancient Rome to another that is set several years in apart. Nor does the author follow the chronological history. Therefore, anyone new to ancient Rome will be lost.

Having said that, the primary focus of this book is SPQR, which I took symbolise, the people and cultures of Rome. For which, I believe the author captured relatively well. It focuses much of it's effort in establishing how the people of the empire thought about themselves and their place in their world.

Not the ideal introduction to the subject

Not bad, but the book includes too many sections that are repetitive, superficial, or slangy--and that use twee, specifically British slang.

For history buff only. Otherwise it can be tedious.

For history buff only. Otherwise it can be tedious. Glad our government and society is no longer like the Roman’s. Thanks so much to our founding Fathers.

History at its best.

Loved this. Interesting and informative. Easy and enjoyable, commute-worthy listen. Mary Beard breathes life into The Roman Empire’s first millennium.

drags at times but wonderful overall

the best history of rome i have ever read/listened to. i especially love the vivid potraits of the common people.

Highly Recommended, Great Read!

This is a great audiobook. Very vivid and clear in its explanation of Roman political evolution and power dynamics.

Enjoyable overview, but maybe not the best intro

I think I would have gotten more out of this book if I had been more familiar with Roman history to start with. But even if you don't know much about Rome, you can still get a lot out of SPQR by spending a little while on wikipedia between chapters.