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SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard

by
March 2016, no. 379

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard

Profile (Allen & Unwin), $49.99 hb, 544 pp, 9781846683800

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard

by
March 2016, no. 379

At the very bottom of Hell, Dante represents Satan with three mouths, each of which endlessly devours a figure personifying treachery and rebellion against God. One of these, predictably enough, is Judas. What may be surprising to the modern reader is that the other two are Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Julius Caesar. In the medieval vision of the universe and of human history, however, there was a direct equivalence between these individuals: one betrayed the Son of God, the other two attempted to frustrate His plan for the institution destined to govern the temporal life of humanity, namely the Roman Empire.

Christopher Allen reviews 'SPQR' by Mary Beard

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome

by Mary Beard

Profile (Allen & Unwin), $49.99 hb, 544 pp, 9781846683800

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