SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Summary
Mary Beard

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Overview

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard outlines the history of this ancient civilization from its foundational myth to the early third century CE. Beard explores Rome's foundation stories, the regal period, the Republican period, and the first two centuries of the imperial period. She writes about the development of Roman politics, the expansion of the empire and the relationships between Romans and outsiders, Roman culture and values, and the near-constant interplay between the question of pseudo-democratic versus autocratic rule. Beard writes about the lives of notable Roman figures such as Cicero and the emperor Augustus, but also endeavors to give an accurate picture of the life of the average Roman citizen. SPQR explores themes of liberty, the multiple sides of history, historical myths, and the connections between the Roman world and ours.