
Following the success of SPQR, her history of the Roman Empire, matriarch of modern classical education Mary Beard returns with a book that focuses specifically on the emperors themselves. In keeping with her very human take on history, Beard is swift to dispense with some of the more spurious, albeit lurid, myths that surround many of these legendary (and less legendary – Elagabalus, anyone?) figures.
Which is not to suggest that Emperor Of Rome lacks colour – the 300 years or so covered in this work provide anecdote, humour and gore galore. But this is not a glorification of those more intensely recollected stories, rather it is a paring back of fable, to get at the detail of what being a Roman emperor was actually like on a day-to-day basis: what they ate, how they relaxed, how they wielded power and what that meant for their subjects.
Typical of her work, Beard manages to successfully balance academic rigour and critical analysis of the available sources of our information on these men, with an engaging tone and a light touch, which helps add flesh tones to the alabaster images many of her readers will carry in their minds when they think of Imperial Rome.
Emperor Of Rome, Mary Beard (Profile)
Price: £30. Info: here
words HUGH RUSSELL