Emperor of Rome
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First published in 2023, Emperor of Rome turns Mary Beard’s attention to the men who ruled the Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar to Alexander Severus. Rather than offering another procession of notorious rulers, Beard asks what it actually meant to be emperor: how power was exercised, how authority was staged, and how a ruler’s daily life was sustained by the vast household of enslaved people, freedmen, soldiers and officials around him.
Moving between political history, archaeology and the vivid details of everyday life, Beard explores imperial succession, palace intrigues, public spectacle, dining, travel and the stories Romans told about their rulers. Her account unsettles familiar portraits of tyrants and philosopher-kings, revealing an institution shaped as much by performance, rumour and uncertainty as by force. Both an engaging history of imperial Rome and a study of the nature of power, the book extends the wide-ranging perspective of SPQR into the intimate world of the emperors.
From the book
“What was it really like to rule and be ruled in the Ancient Roman world?”
— Mary Beard, Emperor of Rome
On Emperor of Rome
“An enthralling analysis of the wild stories that circulated about Rome’s ruthless rulers.”
— Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian