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erebus53's review against another edition
3.25
The book does really start to drag at about the 65% mark, and ridiculous things like being "adopted" by a person who has been dead for a decode so as to cement authority is one of the dafter things I have heard of in a while.
One of the most saddening quotes that resonated with me was :
What all would have agreed, both rich and poor, was that to be rich was a desirable state, that poverty was to be avoided if you possibly could. Just as the ambition of Roman slaves was usually to gain freedom for themselves, not to abolish slavery as an institution, so the ambitions of the poor were not radically to reconfigure the social order but to find a place for themselves nearer the top of the hierarchy of wealth.
If you ever think that looking back at history is not exactly relevant to modern day then you aren't looking hard enough.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lexcellent's review
5.0
Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Murder
cg1256's review against another edition
4.25
Moderate: Slavery and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and War
dumaurier's review
3.5
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and War
Moderate: Rape
joreadsbooks's review
4.0
Content warnings: Discussions of violence and rape
The depth of my knowledge of ancient Rome starts with a loose understanding of Romulus and Remus, and ends with Shakespeare's plays.
Beard's account of Rome's first millennia is full of colorful characters, dissections of different accounts, and touches on the myriad relics that continue to be found to this day. This book is so easy to listen to. The stories flow into each other and each chapter builds on what came before it. SPQR manages to hold the story of early Rome, while managing to go into depth on certain stories. The fact that this is not a Cliffs notes account of all the politics, intrigue, and conflict is really something to behold.
What really endeared me was how funny it was in places. Perhaps it was my own ignorance, but the dead pan way Beard presents the tales really worked to tickle me. My personal favorites include the truth about the assassination of Julius Caesar and several attempted murders on collapsible boats.
In terms of minor gripes, if you enjoy a plethora of rhetorical questions, this is the nonfiction work for you. Some of them do eventually get answered, if only tangentially. But there is enough material proposed to fill another 500+ page book. In addition, my favorite chapter was the one about the haves and the have-nots. It covers unseen aspects of culture that get overshadowed by the nigh-legendary political stories. This discussion, however, can also cover another 500+ page book.
A fantastic, easy-to-read primer on early Rome with enough material to encompass further exploration and learning.
Moderate: Rape and Violence