In her latest tome, historian Mary Beard takes readers on a colourful tour of 30 emperors spanning 250 years.
The lives of the rulers of ancient Rome are still vivid in modern heads. According to a conversation that has gone viral on TikTok, some men say they, the gaudy and rough images roll past: the tables groaning with grapes and roast flamingos; the marble halls; colossal self-portraits, plundered treasure and fawning senators; while, behind a curtain, wives and mothers scheme, and servants marinate the poisoned mushrooms.
Emperors, too, should be pictured with a stylus in their hand. Few were writers in the usual sense, save Marcus Aurelius with his. Instead, they had to read and reply to mountains of paperwork from every corner of the empire: daily reports from governors and generals, petitions from towns, controversies over estates. More than 12 letters a day probably landed on the gold-and-marble imperial desk. No local problem was too small to send to the top man.
Dazzle came from sheer display: visitors to Nero’s Golden House found so many sumptuous rooms stuffed with treasure that they were disoriented even before dinner. Dread came from imperial caprice in matters of life and death: Caligula’s dinner-table quip, for example, that he could cut the consuls’ necks any time he chose. Emperors were seldom physically handsome , but they carried the allure of being “Caesar”, the exhaustion of solo triumph-parades and the potential glory of being gods.
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