SPQR

SPQR (2015) is a non-fiction book about the history of Ancient Rome by the prominent English author and historian Mary Beard. In just over 600 pages, the book covers roughly a thousand years of Roman history, from the myth of its founding in 753 BC by the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, until AD 212 when Emperor Caracalla made all non-slaves living in the Empire Roman citizens. The book's title refers to the phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus, which means "The Senate and people of Rome" in Latin.

According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by the twin brothers Romulus and Remus. They were said to be descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas, one of the greatest heroes of Western myth. It was also said that their mother, Rhea Silvia, was impregnated with the brothers after being raped by Mars, the Roman god of war, meaning that the twins were half-divine or demigods. Owing to their divine births, Rhea Silva's uncle Amulius feared that Romulus and Remus would grow up to steal the throne of Alba Longa, the Latin city that Amulius ruled. He attempted to drown the twins, but a she-wolf rescued them, later nursing and sheltering the boys. When the boys came of age, they sought to found a new city. Unfortunately, an argument of indeterminate nature caused Romulus to kill Remus. Rome thus took the name of Romulus and soon became a safe haven for exiles and other refugees in order to build up its population.

After roughly two hundred years of being ruled as a kingdom, Rome became a Republic around 509 BC. While the Republic was an oligarchy—a small number of wealthy families populated its administrative and elected roles—its use of a Constitution, a Senate, and elections make it one of the most influential forms of government on modern democracy, as we know it. Over time, elected officials or "magistracies" were opened up to the common people or "plebeians" as opposed to merely the rich "patricians." Until 281 BC, the Roman Republic was engaged in numerous armed conflicts with its neighbors on the Italian Peninsula, including the Gauls and the Etruscans. Eventually, however, Rome subdued all of its enemies on the peninsula, establishing colonies on the once-disputed land which would lay the groundwork for the later expansion of the Roman Empire throughout much of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.



The next major stage of Roman history began in 264 BC with the start of the Punic Wars against Carthage. Carthage was a major opponent that controlled much of the land around the Mediterranean Sea, including North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. The First Punic War lasted until 241 BC and required Rome to become as adept at maritime battles as it had become at land battles. Eventually, Rome defeated Carthage, but was perhaps too demanding in the reparations it asked of Carthage as part of the Peace Treaty. As a result, peace was short-lived, and the Second Punic War broke out in 218 BC. Beard's discussion of the Second Punic War is dominated by the dramatic battles between two brilliant generals: Hannibal of Carthage and Quintus Fabius Maximus of Rome. Hannibal is known for his bold and aggressive march across the Italian Alps into Roman territory, carrying with him a huge army along with African war elephants. Rather than face Hannibal's army head-on, Fabius employed guerilla war tactics that avoided big, decisive battles, wearing the enemy down over a period of sixteen years. The Second Punic War ended in 201 BC with the defeat of Hannibal and a very harsh peace treaty that relegated Carthage to the status of a mere client state of Rome. Carthage would revolt once more during the Third Punic War, but that conflict lasted only three years and resulted in the effective annihilation of the Carthage state.

By the middle of the First Century BC, Rome's biggest challenges were internal rather than external. To help alleviate the confusion and chaos among the ruling classes, Gaius Julius Caesar established a "Triumvirate" of leaders at the top of the Roman government, consisting of himself, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey). Political matters were calmed for a time until Crassus, who generally acted as the mediator between Caesar and Pompey, was killed after invading Parthia, located in modern-day Iran. To avoid a preemptive strike by Pompey, Caesar amassed his army, forcing Pompey into exile. This left Caesar alone as Rome's leader, which inspired bitter enmity from other members of the ruling class, some who were simply jealous while others were legitimately concerned about the Roman Republic becoming a dictatorship under Caesar. To prevent this from happening, a group of conspirators assassinated Caesar in 44 BC.

Ironically, the death of Caesar would eventually lead to the rise of the first Emperor of the Roman Empire, Octavius, ending the Roman Republic. In the wake of Caesar's death, Octavius formed the Second Triumvirate along with Marc Antony and Marcus Lepidus. Nevertheless, Octavius, eventually, came out on top after Lepidus was exiled and Antony—who had aligned himself with Cleopatra of Egypt—was defeated at the Battle of Actium and committed suicide. Cleopatra committed suicide shortly thereafter, but Beard is quick to note that the likelihood that she did so using a poisonous snake is highly unlikely. Octavius, newly christened as "Augustus," ruled over a period of relative peace, stability, and prosperity until AD 14, when he seemingly died of natural causes, though his wife, Livia, may have poisoned him. Among his descendants was the Emperor Caligula who, despite developing a reputation for incestuous orgy-dinner parties, was, in Beard's scholarly view, much tamer than many modern observers suggest.



While the history of Ancient Rome is perhaps too long and complex for any one book to tackle, Beard's SPQR does an admirable job of synthesizing the most important events and people into a highly readable format.