Emperor of Rome

Ruling the Ancient World

By: Mary Beard

Narrated by: Mary Beard

Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

A sweeping account of the social and political world of the Roman emperors by “the world’s most famous classicist” (Guardian).

In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Beard asks bigger questions: What power did emperors actually have? Was the Roman palace really so bloodstained? She tracks down the emperor at home, at the races, on his travels, even on his way to heaven. She introduces his wives and lovers, rivals and slaves, court jesters and soldiers—and the ordinary people who pressed begging letters into his hands. Emperor of Rome goes directly to the heart of Roman (and our own) fantasies about what it was to be Roman, offering an account of Roman history as it has never been presented before.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Mary Beard (P)2023 Profile Books Ltd

Wasn't sure but won me over

I've liked Beard's other books, but was leery of author self-narration. Not at all - she brought the material to life!

Eye opening and accessible!

Mary Beard is the type of professor you actually learn from in this masterful study of Roman Emperors, well worth the time and investment.

A worthy follow up to her excellent SPQR

I am generally well-grounded in Roman history, so I give this book high marks for expanding beyond the “who, what, where, when” of history to the “how”. For example, it amazed me how descriptions of Roman dining explained so much about how Roman rulers ruled. Mary Beard does an excellent job narrating her book. Her voice added so much to my enjoyment and attention to her work. This is a worthy follow up to her excellent SPQR.

big Mary Beard fan

Very solid and accessible account of the intimacies of the Roman Imperial house during the reigns of various emperors. Mary Beard succeeds again in providing an informative narrative in a compelling package

the impresive accounts of Romans

Fantastic...Mary is just so delightful to listen...she is a great investigator of the Roman Empire

The little things we still do 2 millennia later

Wonderfully done. Listening to historical insight of early Roman Empire is quite fascinating and surprising as well. One would think after several millennia we would have changed some things other than technology. We have a long way to go.

Mary beard does accessible scholarship well

This is an easy listen, scholarly but not clunky, measured and considerate without being boring. Beard just does what she does best here.

Monotone and dull

The biggest problem is the monotone delivery. It is soporific. Yes, indeed, there really are good reasons to hire a voice actor.
I also found the thematic rather than chronological approach hard to follow, jumping around a hundred years from paragraph to paragraph. It’s an interesting idea: looking for thematic similarities, for u fyi g trends that the emperors have in common. But it really didn’t work for me. Yes, we know surprisingly little of what actually occurred, and the surviving anecdotes and histories are untrustworthy. But that point is made again and again and again.
Yes, she us a national treasure. But this is a long- very very long - monotone tome to listen to.

Excelent

A great insight and deeply detailed view of what “normal” day to day life was like during the Roman Empire.

Great fresh understanding of the history SS entails of the Roman Empire

As a Greco-Roman history major undergrad and historian of religion prof, I see Mary Beard as bringing a fresh and approachable understanding of the Roman Empire. History, especially Roman history, by a scholar from Cambridge, etc. can feel flat and pompous. Mary is never either of those as a presenter in a documentary or as an author. This was a great way for me to go back to my roots in Roman history and enjoy the humanization Mary brings; there is a real human connection to a history of the empire which can under other historians easily become trite and repetitive. I have as picturing her in her sparkly silver high tops throughout.