Title: A Brief History of the Private Lives of the Roman Emperors.

Author: Anthony Blond

Genre: Non-Fiction, History

Publisher:Robinson Publishing

Format: Paperback

Pages: 234

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Anthony Blond moves away from the idea of the Roman emperors as noble rulers and instead paints a scandalous picture. The book focuses on six emperors and also devotes sections to Roman society and to the city itself.

Review:

Alright, I think I am going to break this review into two parts: the good and the not so good.

So for the good, here are the things I liked about this book:I enjoyed how this book was a nice glance at a piece of Roman history. Blond goes through the major points from the time of Julius Caesar storming on Rome, to Emperor Nero and the great fire of Rome. If you were looking for a broad history that delves into Roman ways of life, then this is definitely the book for you.

Now, for the reasons I only gave it 3 stars. I did enjoy the book, but as a history major, I was looking for much more in-depth explanations on the lives of the Roman emperors. For one, Blond only focused on the first six major emperors, so the title was already misleading. And then, he discuses the lives of the emperors for only a section of the book. He spends a good chunk of the book discussing Roman food, housing, and amusement. Like I said in the Pro section, this would be good for those looking for  a broad history of ancient Rome. But for myself, I was hoping to get more intriguing detail on the lives of the emperors themselves. Blond even notes in the introduction that he is not an expert, and apologizes for that fact. Another item that bothered me was he cited a full source in French, without the English translation. I thought I was buying a book written in English. I wish I could read French, but I can’t, so this was annoying. And finally, the sections did not flow well. He opens with talking about Roman history in general, then discusses the lives of the Roman emperors, and then talks about Roman food, housing, and gladiators. The last few chapters should have been at the beginning, in my opinion.

Like I said before, overall it was an interesting read, but I would like something more conclusive.

Let me know if you have any comments or questions!