SPQR by Mary Beard (non-fic)

This is the perfect book to read after Robert Harris's Cicero series.  Reading Beard's non-fiction account of the founding and early years of Roman democracy through the demise of the Empire adds another layer to the fine research Harris did for his novel of the end of Rome's democratic period.  Mary Beard, professor of classics at Cambridge, has written a readable and interesting account of what propelled a small city on the Tiber to become a world power running the largest Empire in the ancient world.  No surprise, perhaps, we find the Roman rulers grappling with the same problems as democracies in today's world: citizenship, political intrigue, class disparity, trade balance, and foreign wars and diplomacy. SPQR (Senatus Populus Que Romanus) answers the question what was the role of the Senate and citizens of Rome in the city and in the Empire.

It is debatable when Rome was actually founded; it was sometime around the 8th century, bce.  What we think of as the glory days of Rome, began in the 4th and 3rd centuries, bce. This was the time of the great men who entered the world stage, statesmen and generals. By the 2nd century bce, 80,000 new slaves a year were being bought and sold on the streets of the city. The figures seem horrifying, but it was not unusual to free slaves after a period of service, and they in turn were granted citizenship and many became successful entrepreneurs and founders of dynasties.  Gradually Rome became a mixed society, and by 212, the Emperor Caracalla granted citizenship to all conquered nations.  This solved the problem of a ready supply of soldiers, and the taxation required to rule the Roman world.  Greek became the common tongue, much as English is today.  The Empire was diverse but not tolerant.  Almost everybody came from somewhere else, but each was expected to fit in to the culture of Rome. This model eventually was the undoing of the Roman Empire.  The role of women was flexible as society evolved. They had more rights after the time of Caesar, but were not liberated in the modern sense.  The Roman model assured that the Empire should be administered rather than conquered.

Between 146 bce and the death of Caesar in 44 ce, was the high point of Roman literature, art and culture.  Rome as a democracy did not last long.  The assassination of Cicero marked the end of the Roman Republic and the once respected Senate became little more than a debating society.  After Caesar, his great-nephew, Octavian (Caesar Augustus) defeated all rivals and ruled for 50 years.  His was the most long-lived term. There were 14 Emperors until the fall of Rome and their qualities didn't much matter, the Empire survived despite their decadence and profligate life style. Most were murdered, yet the Empire survived.

Not many writings survived to enlighten us about the life of the average Roman citizen.  Cicero's prolific letters, Livy's writing and that Pliny the Younger give us some idea, but they were from the aristocracy.  Rather, the life of the common man is told in monuments and gravestones found all over Italy.  They survive to enlighten us about families and tell us what people took pride in.  Mary Beard did a wonderful series of programs called, "Meet the Romans" which can be found on UTube.  These are informative companions to this book, and give an excellent picture of life in Imperial Rome.

I highly recommend this book to all who wish to know more about life and politics in the ancient world and what has survived as a model for the world we live in today.