![]() ![]() He'd come back to Rome wanting to go straight into political office again, that was going to be a problem. MARY BEARD: Well, Julius Caesar, perhaps the most famous Roman of them all, had just conquered Gaul, you know, actually a brutal series of campaigns that even some Romans liken to genocide. First, remind us of the circumstances of the assassination of Julius Caesar. I'd like to start with an interesting contrast you draw between two murders, one probably the most memorable event in Roman history - the assassination of Julius Caesar - and then another some decades later of the Emperor Gaius because it tells us something about the transition of Rome from a republic, when there was a senate and elected consuls who had some authority, to this era where there were truly strongman emperors. Mary Beard spoke with FRESH AIR contributor Dave Davies about her new book "SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome."ĭAVE DAVIES, BYLINE: Well, Mary Beard, welcome to FRESH AIR. Stay tuned for her take on bar culture in ancient Rome. She offers insights into the reasons for Rome's prosperity and military expansion and provides fresh interpretations of turning points in Roman history. Beard's new book covers about a thousand years of Roman history, but it isn't just kings and emperors. She also does TV and radio documentaries, writes a well-read blog and has become somewhat famous for taking on Internet trolls. It wasn't et tu, Brute? Mary Beard is a professor of classics at Cambridge University, and she spent her career studying Rome. And in a bit, she'll share what she thinks Julius Caesar really said as he was being stabbed by Roman senators. GROSS: Our guest, historian Mary Beard, can give you the real story of the Spartacus uprising. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #9: (As character) I'm Spartacus. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #8: (As character) I'm Spartacus. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #7: (As character) I'm Spartacus. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #6: (As character)I'm Spartacus. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As character)I'm Spartacus. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character)I'm Spartacus. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) I'm Spartacus. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) I'm Spartacus. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) I'm Spartacus. Your lives are to be spared on the single condition that you identify the body or the living person of the slave called Spartacus. And of course, there's this classic scene from "Spartacus," about the slave revolt led by Spartacus in ancient Rome.ĬARLETON YOUNG: (As Herald) I bring a message from your master, Marcus Licinius Crossus. GROSS: What many of us think we know about ancient Rome comes from theater, movies and TV, like that scene from the movie adaptation of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," with Charlton Heston as Mark Antony, delivering Caesar's eulogy. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. CHARLTON HESTON: (As Mark Antony) Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. ![]()
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