Emperor of Rome

Ruling the Ancient World

By: Mary Beard

Narrated by: Mary Beard

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

missing the PDF

This review is specific to the Audible version. It seems like there should be an accompanying PDF, but it isn't provided.

The actual book is excellent, and Prof. Beard is a wonderful narrator.

Informative

Well written and detailed book. Learned several things I didn’t know previously. My only complaint is that it is so slowly read I had to speed it up to help from falling asleep.

Must be the narration....

I know much of this information and when I can track with the author's thread I enjoy the content but the narration is so hard to work with. I find it so difficult to follow what is being communicated and keep drifting off the track despite my strong desire to get with it. Every five minutes I have to refocus because I've completely lost track - and after thinking about this phenomenon I have decided it must be the sing-song narration since I've almost never had this difficulty with any of my other thousand titles. I am interested in SPQR but will need to sample fully I think...

Very Engaging Read

I really enjoyed this book, my first from Professor Beard. She kept me very entertained and explained the role of the Roman emperors and society in an engaging manner.

Interesting, well researched, and well written!

I love the fact that Mary Beard makes all of this so interesting and that she reads her work.

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.

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.

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

Informative and Entertaining

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

Well narrated peculiarities

I appreciate the author’s choice to narrate her own work. She does this well and it adds a creator’s charm. This is a fantastic work. I have listened to so much Roman History, and much of what I heard was not greatly surprising, but I enjoyed myself. I appreciate the small details about minor interactions and peculiarities of the lives of the emperors, those surrounding them, including a chapter about freed men and slaves. It adds color to the faded fresco of Roman history. This is not in chronological order, and anyone expecting a clear story will be disappointed; however, if you generally know the history, you may enjoy this.