Mary Beard Boeken

Pompeii, bedolven na een explosie van de Vesuvius in 79 n.Chr., blijft de belangrijkste bron voor onze kennis van het dagelijks leven in het Romeinse rijk. In dit opzienbarende boek vol verrassende details reconstrueert Mary Beard het stedelijk leven aan de hand van archeologische resten. Wat zeggen die over het leven van toen, over seks en politiek, voedsel en religie, slavernij en geletterdheid? ‘Beard schrijft over alles even prachtig.’ Het Parool ‘De interessante feiten en verhalen weet Beard met kennis en smaak op te schrijven.’ Trouw

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN & NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER BLACKWELL'S NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 'Extraordinary ... a deliciously varied tapestry of detail drawn from across nearly three centuries' Telegraph What was it really like to rule and be ruled in the Ancient Roman world? In her international best-seller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now, she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Beard asks bigger questions: What power did emperors actually have? Was the Roman palace really so bloodstained? Emperor of Rome goes directly to the heart of Roman (and our own) fantasies about what it was to be Roman, offering an account of Roman history as it has never been presented before.

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER & BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA TELEGRAPH BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023A BLOOMBERG BEST BOOK OF 2023A PROSPECT BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2023BLACKWELL'S NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023THE TIMES TOP 50 PAPERBACKS OF THE YEAR 2024 '[Mary Beard] has always had the sharpest eyes for telling detail and colourful anecdote' Sunday Times'Britain's most famous classicist ... at the peak of her powers' The Times'Extraordinary ... a deliciously varied tapestry of detail drawn from across nearly three centuries' Telegraph'The reigning Queen of Classics' SpectatorWhat was it really like to rule and be ruled in the Ancient Roman world?In her international best-seller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now, she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE).Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Beard asks bigger questions: What power did emperors actually have? Was the Roman palace really so bloodstained?Emperor of Rome goes directly to the heart of Roman (and our own) fantasies about what it was to be Roman, offering an account of Roman history as it has never been presented before.

This book offers a radical survey of over a 1000 years of religious life, from the foundation of Rome to its rise to world empire & Xian conversion. It sets religion in its full cultural context, between the primitive hamlet of the 8th century BCE & the cosmopolitan, multicultural society of the 1st centuries of the Xian era. A companion volume, Religions of Rome, Vol 2: A Sourcebook, sets out a wide range of documents, illustrating the religious life in the Roman world.Acknowledgements Preface Conventions & abbreviations Maps 1 Early Rome 2 Imperial triumph & religious change 3 Religion in the late Republic 4 The place of religion: Rome in the early Empire 5 The boundaries of Roman religion 6 The religions of imperial Rome 7 Roman religion & Roman Empire 8 Roman religion & Christian emperors: 4th & 5th centuries Bibliography Details of maps & illustrations Index

'The reigning Queen of Classics' Spectator What are civilisations? At the heart of this big question is how people have depicted the human and divine, from prehistory to the present day. Britain's most famous classicist Mary Beard asks: how have we portrayed ourselves in some of the world's earliest art? Why have these images sometimes been so contentious? In time for the 55th anniversary airing of Kenneth Clark's Civilisation, Beard explores gigantic stone heads carved by the Olmec in Central America, the statues and pottery of the ancient Greeks, and the first emperor of China's terracotta army. And she explains how one ancient representation of the human body still influences (or distorts) how people in the West see their own culture, and that of others. From Angkor Wat to the Ravenna mosaics and exquisite calligraphy of Islamic mosques, all religions have wrestled with idolatry and iconoclasm. Throughout this story, Beard is concerned not only with the artists who made art, but with those who have used, viewed, or interpreted it - and asked how to look with The Eye of Faith.

'The book is part of a series of introductory studies intended to bring the latest developments in art history to students and general readers. But it offers something new to the specialist reader too [...] the quantity of illustrations is impressive for such a slim and inexpensive book ...Classical Art is illuminating, playful, provocative, and often (literally) iconoclastic' -Times Higher Education Supplement

The ruined silhouette of the Parthenon on its hill above Athens is one of the world's most famous images. Its 'looted' Elgin Marbles are a global cause celèbre. But what actually are they? In the first of an occasional 'series' on wonders of the world - such as the Colosseum, Stonehenge, the Pyramids, the Alhambra, Mary Beard, biographer, reviewer and leading Cambridge classicist, tells the history and explains the significance of the Parthenon, the temple of the virgin goddess Athena, the divine patroness of ancient Athens:

"Why the popular resonance of 'mansplaining' (despite the intense dislike of the term felt by many men)? It hits home for us because it points straight to what it feels like not to be taken seriously: a bit like when I get lectured on Roman history on Twitter. Britain's best known classicist Mary Beard, is also a committed and vocal feminist. With wry wit she shows how history has treated powerful women. With examples ranging from Medusa and Athena to Theresa May and Elizabeth Warren, Beard explores the cultural underpinnings of misogyny, considering the public voice of women, how we look at women who exercise power, our cultural assumptions about women's relationship with power, and how powerful women resist being packaged into a male template. With personal reflections on her own experiences of sexism online and the gendered violence she has endured as a woman in the public eye, Mary asks: if women aren't perceived to be fully within the structures of power, isn't it power that we need to redefine?"--Publisher

Mary Beard on Ancient Rome: Britain's favourite classicist lifts the lid on the Roman Empire.

This book, the 2nd of two volumes making up Religions of Rome, presents a range of documents illustrating religious life in the Roman world from the early Republic to the late Empire (visual evidence & texts in translation). More than just a sourcebook, it explores some of the major themes & problems of Roman religion such as sacrifice, the religious calendar, divination & prediction. Each document has an introduction, explanatory notes & bibliography, & is used as the starting point for discussion.Acknowledgements Preface Conventions & abbreviations 1 Earliest Rome 2 The deities of Rome 3 The calendar 4 Religious places 5 Festivals & ceremonies 6 Sacrifices 7 Divination & diviners 8 Priests & priestesses 9 Individuals & gods: life and death 10 Rome outside Rome 11 Threats to the Roman order 12 Religious groups 13 Perspectives Glossary Deities & their epithets Bibliography 1. Literary texts 2. Secondary literature Details of illustrations Index of texts cited General index