{"product_id":"emperor-of-rome-ruling-the-ancient-world-by-mary-beard-paperback","title":"Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient World by Mary Beard (Paperback)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eINSTANT \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003eBest Books of 2023: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSmithsonian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMost Anticipated Books of Fall: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eTODAY\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eLiterary Hub\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eand\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A vivid way to re-examine what we know, and don’t, about life at the top.... \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eEmperor of Rome\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e is a masterly group portrait, an invitation to think skeptically but not contemptuously of a familiar civilization.\" ―Kyle Harper, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA sweeping account of the social and political world of the Roman emperors by “the world’s most famous classicist” (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eGuardian\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn her international bestseller \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eSPQR\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome, from its slightly shabby Iron Age origins to its reign as the undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean. Now, drawing on more than thirty years of teaching and writing about Roman history, Beard turns to the emperors who ruled the Roman Empire, beginning with Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) and taking us through the nearly three centuries―and some thirty emperors―that separate him from the boy-king Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eYet \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eEmperor of Rome\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is not your typical chronological account of Roman rulers, one emperor after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Instead, Beard asks different, often larger and more probing questions: What power did emperors actually have? Was the Roman palace really so bloodstained? What kind of jokes did Augustus tell? And for that matter, what really happened, for example, between the emperor Hadrian and his beloved Antinous? Effortlessly combining the epic with the quotidian, Beard tracks the emperor down at home, at the races, on his travels, even on his way to heaven.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlong the way, Beard explores Roman fictions of imperial power, overturning many of the assumptions that we hold as gospel, not the least of them the perception that emperors one and all were orchestrators of extreme brutality and cruelty. Here Beard introduces us to the emperor’s wives and lovers, rivals and slaves, court jesters and soldiers, and the ordinary people who pressed begging letters into his hand―whose chamber pot disputes were adjudicated by Augustus, and whose budgets were approved by Vespasian, himself the son of a tax collector.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith its finely nuanced portrayal of sex, class, and politics, Emperor of Rome goes directly to the heart of Roman fantasies (and our own) about what it was to be Roman at its richest, most luxurious, most extreme, most powerful, and most deadly, offering an account of Roman history as it has never been presented before.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e160 images, 16 page color insert\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woolly Bear Books and Gifts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45999040659622,"sku":"9781324095606","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/4637\/7638\/files\/91_W4sVuTiL._SL1500.jpg?v=1733516989","url":"https:\/\/woollybearbooks.com\/products\/emperor-of-rome-ruling-the-ancient-world-by-mary-beard-paperback","provider":"Woolly Bear Books and Gifts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}