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A review by a_spaghetti_western
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
4.0
Quite an out-of-character pick for me, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I’ve never felt particularly drawn to classical history, and I can’t say for certain how much of this work I’ve actually committed to memory— the sheer volume of information here…it’s a lot.
That said, I would recommend "SPQR" to anyone interested in the craft of historical writing. Beard’s prose is some of the most accessible I’ve ever read and the analytical transparency with which she cites her source material is really admirable. Not a single ancient historian is quoted without thorough investigation into his credibility and relationship to the subject. Leaders and ideologues are critiqued as much for their ‘heroism’ as for their failings, but Beard doesn’t stop at a both-sides-analysis of individual figures. She challenges her readers to think even harder, about how we know what we know: From whom have we learned of X’s legacy? Why would it benefit Y to publish this particular account of X? Whose perspectives does Y ignore or contradict? What can Y’s writing about X teach us about Z who lived 100 years prior?
Beyond the facts themselves, Beard encourages us to consider: What can rhetorical patterns from Ancient Rome teach us about the ways people interpret the world around them?
That said, I would recommend "SPQR" to anyone interested in the craft of historical writing. Beard’s prose is some of the most accessible I’ve ever read and the analytical transparency with which she cites her source material is really admirable. Not a single ancient historian is quoted without thorough investigation into his credibility and relationship to the subject. Leaders and ideologues are critiqued as much for their ‘heroism’ as for their failings, but Beard doesn’t stop at a both-sides-analysis of individual figures. She challenges her readers to think even harder, about how we know what we know: From whom have we learned of X’s legacy? Why would it benefit Y to publish this particular account of X? Whose perspectives does Y ignore or contradict? What can Y’s writing about X teach us about Z who lived 100 years prior?
Beyond the facts themselves, Beard encourages us to consider: What can rhetorical patterns from Ancient Rome teach us about the ways people interpret the world around them?