SPQR is the captivating account of how a nameless Italian village became one of humanity’s most influential empires, the impact of which dramatically shapes our modern lives without most of us even realizing it.
The Roman Senate and People – the “Senatus Populusque Romanus” for which the book is named – rose up around 750 BC from their mythical twin founders, Romulus and Remus, and grew over a period of centuries into one of the grandest republics of the ancient world.
You might think 608 hardcover pages of ancient history would be a formula for curing insomnia… but you’d be wrong. Mary Beard mesmerizes with her well-paced retelling of ancient Roman history, deftly weaving first-hand accounts, recent archaeological discoveries, and multiple historical sources into a tale that leaves the reader with a profound appreciation for the many things wrong with our popular understanding of Roman history as well as the pervasive influence that ancient Rome continues to exert on our modern world.
Why do our days start at midnight? (The Romans started this.) Why are the liberal arts called “liberal?” (They were studies meant for the “free” people of Rome). Where do “July” and “August” come from? (Julius Caesar and Augustus). The book is filled with context-setting examples like these.
Long before it was the familiar empire of Shakespeare and numerous other popular dramatizations, Rome was a republic ruled by pairs of Consuls – the most famous of whom was the eloquent Cicero – and a Senate that voted on the most important decisions for its populace. Ancient Rome was in ways more progressive than is commonly understood. For instance, its Senators came from throughout the republic, representing the diversity and origins of even conquered peoples. Slaves could (and did) regularly earn their freedom, becoming citizens indistinguishable from any other free Roman. People often traveled vast distances in the empire, intermingling and settling in new locations. For instance, Quintus Lollius Urbicus, ruler of London in the years 139-142, was Algerian. The most eloquent words spoken against Roman rule were often ascribed to the mouths of conquered peoples by sympathetic Roman writers.
However, ancient Rome ran in other ways opposite of modern times. The poorest lived on the topmost floors of buildings while the rich lived on the bottom floors, preferring stair-free access to the street. The rich were regularly served food at home while the poor ate out because they couldn’t afford the space and equipment.
The book also contains amusing facts. For instance, Augustus made himself the most common surviving image of any person from the ancient world by putting himself on coins throughout the empire. And interestingly, there’s an inexplicable change from universally beardless visages to beards after Trajan (117 AD), which remains a sure-fire way to identify the relative age of coins you find from ancient Rome.
SPQR starts from the foundation of Rome around 750 BC and ends at 212 AD, when the Antonine Constitution was issued by Emperor Caracalla, granting universal citizenship to all free men in the Roman Empire.
Much has been said and written about the fall of the Rome, but the story of its rise is arguably even more important, especially when it comes to its relevance to the modern world. SPQR belongs on a very short list of must-read books when it comes to the rise of empires. I highly recommend it if you’re at all interested in history.
(I listened to this over a handful of hours using the Audible version, read expertly by Phyllida Nash. Also recommended.)
Veni, vidi, vici (this book). And you can too.