This took me a lot longer to get through than Tom Holland's Rubicon, and the differences are salutary. The latter was a driving narrative dealing with tumultuous events and larger-than-life characters who actually bestrode the historical stage. SQPR is a far more thoughtful, analytical survey of Roman history from its dim and distant origins to the final flourish of the Augustan emperors. Mary Beard digs into the material, highlighting not only the gaps in the record, but the necessity of reading what is there with a skeptical eye. The relationship between the emperor, the senate and the people is central to her approach, how the idea of citizenship developed, how the idea of Rome was created and backdated. In the latter chapters in particular she makes an effort to appraise some sense of everyday life in various levels of Roman society and as usual in these things one is left with sense of how little is known. Still, for all that a great deal is known - through writings and tombs and graffiti and records and archaeological remains, and though not exhaustive, Beard introduces us to a great deal of it.

Well written, discursive, erudite and witty.