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Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World
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About This Book
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, such as 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. 160 images; 16-page color insert
Reviews
"For all its detail and diverse interests, the book's unifying argument might be that it is very hard to grasp the truth of what the emperors were actually like ..."
"Sometimes-delightful."
"Emperor of Rome offers a series of interesting vignettes presented by a masterful storyteller with a perfect sense of dramatic and comic timing."
"By the end of this thrilling book we are no nearer to looking the emperor in the eye."
"As is her wont, Beard reads the ancient sources ever so slightly against the grain and gets them to answer questions they were only obliquely addressing ..."
"...an extraordinary investigation into the gulf between the experience and the narrative of Roman autocracy."
"An erudite and entertaining new book by the redoubtable classics scholar and feminist Mary Beard ..."
"For readers who want to see for themselves where these emperors held sway, Beard offers an itinerary of locations to visit as well as a comprehensive list of additional readings."
"Beard treads this ground carefully, drawing on a rich plethora of literary and material evidence from both the center and the edges of the Roman world ..."
"Those familiar with her TV series can hear her voice in the way she writes, her passion for the subject oozing off the page."
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