Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient World

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 767 ratings

Price: 18.8

Last update: 06-27-2024


Top reviews from the United States

doc peterson
5.0 out of 5 stars "The emperor in flesh and blood"
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2023
Contrary to what one might expect given the title, Dr. Beard's _Emperor of Rome_ is neither a biography nor a summary of the rule of Roman emperors; rather, it is a brilliant examination of the conventions of imperial rule: the expectations (what made one a "good" emperor"? what was the criteria for a "bad" emperor"), the idea of "emperorship" writ large (how it was understood by not just the Roman elite, but by workaday citizens as well) in addition to an insightful exploration of the difficulties wading through contemporary Roman accounts given the tendency to either suck-up to the current emperor or run-down predecessors.

Beard has a difficult task seeking to understand the persons at the center of the empire: what was administration like, what was expected of these people, how were decisions made and communicated and executed - and of particular interest to me, what was the perception and role of the women behind the throne? Beard writes that Roman emperors "present an extreme case of the historian's dilemma. How do we understand the Roman emperor on his own terms, and yet not lose sight of our own moral compass, and our obligation to evaluate, as well as to describe, the past?" I think she has hit the sweet spot in addressing this problem.

Writing with humor, expertise and incisive analysis _Emperor of Rome_ is a marvelous history showing the complex and complicated nature of governance as well as providing unique insights into its political culture. Highly recommended, as is her _SPQR_ on the Roman republic.
GeoffDantes09
4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2024
Beard is always enjoyable. I find other books to be a bit more informative, but Beard does a great job of bringing humor and wit to her exploration of the Romans. Worth a read.
Michael Dobey
5.0 out of 5 stars A great writer delves into emporers lives
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2024
This a great overview of the empirers of rome. This is about their lives and duties and her writing is as clear as ever.
R. Weiss
5.0 out of 5 stars a scholarly study, eminently readable
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2024
The author’s deep study of this era is evident throughout. She combines scholarship with wit to create a very readable narrative. Like all scholars she is quite ready to include areas and subjects which remain uncertain or controversial. A pleasure for this non-scholar. Having read two other books by this author were an equal pleasure.
Rotselaer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2024
If you like ancient history, this is a humorous and well written book. It gives a human image to the celebrated or hated Roman emperors. I'm not a historian, and often am not sure I believe all of what is told in this book. Sometimes I think that the old myths about ancient Rome are even more humorous, but that is my privilege.
beseeingyou
4.0 out of 5 stars Ms.Beard states "Emperor of Rome" is not hard fact based
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2024
And that was a problem for me. I wanted to "know" but left the book with hundreds of suppositions and guesses. That frustration wore me down as I read it. An unsatisfying read.
Jon Shemitz
3.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps not the best introduction to Mary Beard
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2023
I bought this book because I've liked a couple of Mary Beard's short pieces and because she is such a Big Name. The thing is, Beard didn't seem to like this subject - I really wonder whether she only wrote it because the publisher wanted it. We get a wide-ranging look at Roman life that's marred, imho, by some rather juvenile Attitude.

Augustus' _Res Gestae_ - which Google translates as "Accomplishments" - is repeatedly (and I mean like Very Very Often) rendered as _What I Did_ which, to an American, has connotations of dutiful homework assignments. Aurelius' _Meditations_ are inexplicably - and equally often - rendered as _Jottings To Myself_ despite Beard's telling us that they were very much meant to be shared. (These translations feel sort of like chiseling Hadrian Was Here on Egyptian statues, even if the damage is only visible to Beard's readers.) The _Younger Pliny_ becomes just Pliny, even though his Elder uncle is mentioned once.

I might have liked _SPQR_ better, but after this book I'm not very likely to try the experiment. It's great to read history that doesn't exalt those who were born to power, but this doesn't feel like the model of the books that should replace that old hagiography. It seems to spend too much energy showing that it's not buying into any Great Man theories without really offering any alternative framework. We get some of the juiciest stories about 'bad' emperors but with the cautions that 1) much of what we know comes from books written by aristocratic writers 2) they define 'good' and 'bad' emperors as good or bad *for the Roman upper classes* and so 3) we can't really know whether the stories are true, so Beard skips the 'good' stories.
fcoas
5.0 out of 5 stars A Superb Historical Novel
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2024
I am a great fan of history, especially American and European history. Moreover, in addition to reading history books, I also read what I call historical novels. The truly great authors who write them wed hard history to entertaining novels. Mary Beard did so in "Emperor of Rome" just as Gore Vidal did in a number of his great historical novels such as Burr.

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