SPQR

Interesting and erudite

What made the experience of listening to SPQR the most enjoyable?

Mary Beard is one of our leading Classical scholars and yet this is a very entertaining and readable (or listenable) book. Rather than being a flighty survey of the period, Beard provides an accessible, clear and interesting broad account of Rome without watering it down.

What was one of the most memorable moments of SPQR?

Beard's use of recent scholarship within a solid survey of the period.

Have you listened to any of Phyllida Nash’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Pompeii by Mary Beard. Another fine performance.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Probably not - you would want to dip into this and reflect before moving onto the next chapter in order not to be overwhelmed by the depth of the text.

21 of 23 people found this review helpful

Brilliant!

Where does SPQR rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very very highly. Mary Beard has provided me with a much needed overview of Roman history. It's a cleverly crafted book, moving steadily forward through the historical dimension but pausing from time to time to explore the big themes in depth or to meet the big characters. And it's not just the big names it introduces us to; some of the most moving episodes concern ordinary people whose lives we can only glimpse through the archaeology, perhaps an inscription on a gravestone.The author always tells us what evidence lies behind the historical consensus, sometimes questioning it and sometimes admitting to lack of conviction. It was often funny and irreverant and never dull or self important.

What other book might you compare SPQR to, and why?

Other good histories such as Robert Goodwin's Spain.

What does Phyllida Nash bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

A model narrator. She animates Mary Beard's prose (which hardly needs animating) and, importantly, stays in the background.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Very satisfying.

25 of 28 people found this review helpful

The tale of Rome on a grand scale. Fascinating.

A massive undertaking packed with not just historical facts, but the human side of the story too. Rationally looking at some of the stories of Rome and putting them into context. Absolutely fascinating.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Passion and Majesty

"Who could be so indifferent or so idle that they did not want to find out how, and under what kind of political organisation, almost the whole of the inhabited world was conquered and fell under the sole power of the Romans in less than fifty-three years, something previously unparalleled?" – Polybius (c. 200 – 118 BCE)

Mary Beard is everything one could ask from an academical mind writing for anyone else rather than one’s most immediate peers. A gifted scholar, she’s also a great writer and storyteller; a great teacher, that is, she knows that knowing isn't enough without the ability to share that knowledge. That to teach is to always remain a learner oneself.

Ms Beard knows how to unfold her story. The most thrilling audiobook I’ve listened to this autumn hasn’t been the new Galbraith thriller nor the David Mitchell ghost story, it has been Ms Beard’s version of Rome. The book is masterly chiseled out of marble. One of its strengths is that it doesn’t sell its vision as the definite word, but rather as one version, as reflected in the subtitle for the book, where instead of the pompous definite article it reads ”A History of Rome” instead. I also had to get the book so that whenever I was unable to listen, I could at least steal an occasional glance or two at it. It’s that good.

I’ve had a soft spot for Roman history not only for the interesting and larger-than-life stories the era presents, but also because of its centrality in the spreading of the early Christian Church, as well as the evolution of the Latin language and its influence on two that I happen to a be a teacher of. Beard’s new book is a welcome breath of fresh air to this interest of mine, and in history in general.

Where does one start with the history of Ancient Rome? From the ”beginning”? From the ”end?” Ms Beard starts from 63 BCE, the year of Cicero’s consulate and the Catiline conspiracy. From there she reaches all the way back to the mythical beginning, proceeds to the age of kings before the Republic, and advancesuntil the 2nd century CE, well into the golden age of the Empire. Her constant focus is the Senatus Populusque Romanus, the senate and the people of Rome, so she ends her book at 212 CE, when the emperor Caracalla made every free inhabitant of the Empire a full Roman citizen. This structure works well. She’s able to look at the big picture, plunge in and discuss details, move back and forth in time, and emphasize connections between ideas and events.

Ms Beard also proves her experise and academic maturity with her historical skepticism, and the book is full of he fine humour as well as an obvious passion for knowledge. All of this presented with great majesty of style.

Phyllida Nash’s narration is exquisite and really gets the conversational tone of Beard’s writing. This audiobook successfully transcends a mere ”reading”. It’s like Nash and Beard are telling all this just for me as we’re walking through Villa Borghese and marvelling at the cityscape, full of new and old.

”Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town” is also available, also read by Nash. It’s a must. This year we’ve also been treated to Peter Fankopan’s ”The Silk Roads: A New History of the World” so there’s a lot to be excited about if you love gazing at the horizon.

41 of 50 people found this review helpful

I'm struggling

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I love watching Mary on TV as she brings the subject to life with her passion and huge knowledge. In this audio book the knowledge is there but I am missing her unique story telling. The narrator does her best but obviously doesn't really know what she is talking about and although I love this topic, I've had three goes at this and it just sends me to sleep. Disappointed.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

History as it should be taught.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a 'good read'. Mary Beard tells the gripping story of Rome with great verve and a feeling for the subject that marks her out as one of our finest classicists.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cicero, without doubt, and I guess that this politician and political fixer is one of Mary Beard's too!

What about Phyllida Nash’s performance did you like?

Beautifully delivered in an English that I thought was lost in a mire of Americanisms. Phyllida Nash's reading was an additional pleasure.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There was nothing that moved me beyond awe at the way in which Mary Beard presented her subject.

Any additional comments?

My only further comment would be to anyone who loves History, not just ancient history, to get Audible's rendition , sit back and be transported!

12 of 16 people found this review helpful

Its probably a me thing

What would have made SPQR better?

I have always enjoyed history but I am very much the amateur historian and this book made me feel even more so. The author is without doubt very knowledgeable and if you studied classics this could be right up your street. I got half way through and realised I was only listening as I felt I should so I gave up as there are enough unenjoyable things I have to do in life with out adding to them. If you have a much stronger understanding of Roman History than I do this could be very much for you but I found it very hard going and it wasn't for me

Would you ever listen to anything by Mary Beard again?

no

22 of 31 people found this review helpful

Excellent if you already know Roman History

Any additional comments?

This is a really good listen with lots of interesting stuff in it. The only caveat is that you really have to know roman history well to appreciate it. I don't mean it's for experts only, but it's the kind of book that goes over things from a different angle from the "and then this happened" approach. I was a little bit disappointed at her choice of end date for the book. I don't mind not picking 476ad but this didn't even get to Constantine, which I think is a pity

10 of 14 people found this review helpful

Narration needs re-editing in parts

Thus was a brilliantly researched book and at times very very easy to listen to but there are a number of sections where you can hear that the narrator has recorded and then re recorded parts where she's unsure of the pronunciation of certain words.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A fantastic ancient history lesson. Loved it!

Any additional comments?

Professor Mary Beard has written other interesting books on the Romans and their way of life, but in SPQR she has outdone herself! From the first chapter it held my attention and left me wanting to know more. She writes in a very accessible, entertaining style, never talking down to readers who may be 'ignorant' of the time period and widening the knowledge of those readers who may be well- or partially-versed in it. SPQR is more than 'ancient history for dummies' but not quite a text for scholars.

I would summarise its appeal by calling it a 'BBC-standard non-fiction book' for history lovers - it informs, educates and entertains. I can't praise it highly enough and I really hope Prof. Beard writes a sequel, to cover some more of the subject. My son, who is a Classics graduate, tore through it then waxed lyrical about its appeal to the non-classicist/non-historian. He was right. There is something in it for everyone - facts, politics, humour, tragedy, a vast array of characters, law, references to 'what the Romans did for us,' violence, poetry, literature, customs, military history etc etc.

Phyllida Nash's narration was excellent; well-paced and nuanced with the right amount of gravitas and excellent diction.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful