![]() ![]() ![]() There is a chronological table provided in the back to help one figure out the mental leaps. ![]() The book moves on to the legends of the founding of Rome and finishes in 212 AD when Caracalla granted Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire.Ī basic knowledge of the history of ancient Rome can be useful when reading SPQR, as there are times when Beard’s chronological jumping (especially when she jumps between the different Punic Wars) can be quite confusing. Instead, it starts achronologically with Cicero’s speeches against Catiline ( Quo usquo tandem abutere, Catilina, patentia nostra?) and the effect they had on shaping our historical preconceptions of ancient Rome. SPQR wasn’t entirely what I expected – when I first reached for it, I thought it would be strictly a history of the Roman Republic, ending with perhaps the assassination of Julius Caesar. It took me three non-fiction histories of ancient Rome to come to that conclusion, so there you go… Just to give you a hint of how persuasive an author Mary Beard is: while reading SPQR I finally added Plutarch and Svetonius to my to-read list. ![]() It took me two years to finally read my chunky hardback copy (signed) of Mary Beard’s SPQR, but it was definitely worth it. ![]()
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