A review by berenikeasteria
The Reach of Rome: A Journey Through the Lands of the Ancient Empire, Following a Coin by Alberto Angela, Gregory Conti

4.0

Full disclosure: I requested an Advance Uncorrected Proof (ebook format) of this book from the publisher and was approved. The edition I have is an English translation from the original Italian.

Once, as a graduate student assigned to review a book of my own choice, I suggested a certain recently released book about ancient Egypt which the lecturer sniffily dismissed, because it was “popular history” and not strictly speaking an academic text. Popular histories tend to be side-lined or overlooked in academic circles, thought of as the less rigorously researched, unreferenced, demagogue cousins of serious history. But in many ways I love popular histories. The trained historian in me would note that the scenes and imagery that Alberto Angela creates in The Reach of Rome are fictional, and though based on the archaeological evidence and the works of several historians, the text is not peppered with references, nor does it contain an extensive bibliography that is usually the hallmark of academic publications. But that is precisely the point.

The delightful thing about a good popular history is that the writing seems to flow more easily and the author has more freedom to play with language. The technical focus of academic publications can be intense and can render the work inscrutable to outsiders – The Reach of Rome strips all that away, and simply delivers the history, playing with fictional narrative and all the scope it offers to connect directly to readers and make the history accessible.

Unconventional, it definitely is. Alberto Angela takes the reader on a journey throughout the Roman empire at its greatest extent, exploring the many different aspects of life through the narrative device of following a sestertius coin as it changes hands across the empire. It’s an effective and novel way of exploring such diverse topics and places whilst maintaining a common thread throughout, and the snapshot vignettes into the lives of the coin’s various owners create a connection to the human story that resonates even in the modern day.

Undoubtedly my favourite scene was the day at the races of the Circus Maximus, as our coin returns to Rome, and Alberto Angela, and his translator Gregory Conti, succeed in bringing to life the excited frisson of the brutal chariot races. Other highlights for me included Leptis Magna, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Britain; the far-flung and exotic outposts of the empire – but then I may have been swayed by the fact that I’m British with a historical interest in the ancient Near East!

p. ix: “A journey where you will breathe the atmosphere of exotic places, the smells of the alleyways in Alexandria, Egypt, the fragrances used by noblewomen strolling on the streets of Milan; where you will hear the sound of hammers and chisels at work in a stonecutter’s shop in Athens; and where you will see the painted shields of legionnaires on the march in Germany and the painted bodies of the barbarians on the empire’s northern border in Scotland.”

The above quote is from the book’s introduction, and already it had succeeded in drawing me in. For me it encapsulates everything that’s great about The Reach of Rome. By that stage I already wanted to read more about the places and scenes described. As a historian interested in history for public consumption, I feel that popular histories are important. They should always come with the caveat that they are not the final word on the topic, but they do such a service, creating clear, accessible, interesting history for everyone to read. The Reach of Rome presses all the right buttons. It’s descriptive, it’s imaginative, and it’s evocative, engaging the senses to immediately and effectively weave a vision in the mind’s eye of ancient times and people both familiar and strange.

8 out of 10