SPQR covers a thousand years of history, examining just why a modest village in central Italy grew to become a powerhouse of empire. Mary Beard's brief is the structures and institutions of Roman democracy - which did not preclude slavery – as well as the growth of its wealth, taxation and indeed enduring literature, including a wonderful teasing out of the mythic founding figure Romulus.
That sense which we all have of Rome as utterly barbaric and yet progressive at the same time is addressed. An ancient painting from Pompeii shows a diner getting sick without bothering to retreat outside, while a slave calmly removes another guests’s shoe. All perfectly normal, no doubt.
Similarly, the author reflects on the 3rd century BCE decision to install the Great Mother goddess on the Palatine, complete with her devotees, a band of self-castrated, self-flagellating, long-haired priests. `How Roman was that?’ Beard asks rhetorically, implying that Rome was a seething arena of contending forces, almost beyond our comprehension from a 21st century standpoint. Yet Roman moralists also fretted about the effects of wealth and luxury, much as some of us might have cast a cold eye on Celtic Tiger excess in more recent times.
Beard also explores how Rome learned to supply running water to the populace, and there is a wealth of fascinating social detail. Compelling history that fairly rattles along.
Paddy Kehoe
