Atlantic Books (2025) h/b 254pp £14.99 (ISBN: 9781805465102)
In this delightfully informative book, J. takes the reader on a whirlwind journey through Roman history in 9 chapters from the story of the Kings of Rome in 753 BC up to the establishment of the Empire under Augustus in 27 BC. There follow 2 further chapters, ‘The Augustan Revolution: An Overview’ and ‘Pompeii: AD 79’ which focus on life in Pompeii to assess the place of the plebs under the Empire.
Using the historian Livy (c. 59 BC-AD 17) as his main, but by no means his only, source, J. looks at the history of the Plebs Romana, their relationship with the Roman nobility (the patricians) and the constant struggle between the ‘orders’ over the 700 years of the Roman Republic. He is, arguably, the first to do so in such great detail and it is a learned, but deftly executed, account.
By concentrating on the rise of the plebs, J. argues that Rome would never have been able to expand and become the Mediterranean power it did without their involvement in the state as farmers, soldiers and craftsmen. But this is not a dry or drab description of the seemingly constant physical and political battles between the plebeian majority and the ‘rich half a percent’ of the rest of the population. It is an absorbing account, full of wonderful little stories of events or of individuals that made their mark in the tussles which led the plebs to gain real power and influence in Roman politics.
It is such an easy and informative read. Each chapter consists of fairly short paragraphs illustrating the latest phase of the rise of the plebs e.g. ‘486-484 BC: The Battle for Land’, ‘390 BC: A Pleb to the Rescue’, or ‘356 BC: a Plebeian Dictator’. All this is interspersed with text boxes giving either general or more specific information about Roman life and customs—how to make purple dye, how Italy got its name, or the story of the drunken pipers, all these little gems just enhancing the reader’s knowledge and understanding of what it was to be a Roman.
That is the beauty of this book. It may sound technical, but it isn’t! It is aimed at anyone who has an interest in the history of ancient Rome and the tone is that of a gentle stroll through an important period of history with a wealth of material to engross and absorb the reader, written with a masterful touch. Just what one would expect from J.
One slight error came to this reviewer’s notice: Aeneas founded Lavinium, not Alba Longa. That aside, Plebs Romana is well worth the money.
Mike Smith