New Releases by MARY BEARD

New York Times Bestseller A New York Times Notable Book Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Foreign Affairs, and Kirkus Reviews Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction) Shortlisted for the Cundill Prize in Historical Literature Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (History) A San Francisco Chronicle Holiday Gift Guide Selection A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection A sweeping, "magisterial" history of the Roman Empire from one of our foremost classicists shows why Rome remains "relevant to people many centuries later" (Atlantic). In SPQR, an instant classic, Mary Beard narrates the history of Rome "with passion and without technical jargon" and demonstrates how "a slightly shabby Iron Age village" rose to become the "undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean" (Wall Street Journal). Hailed by critics as animating "the grand sweep and the intimate details that bring the distant past vividly to life" (Economist) in a way that makes "your hair stand on end" (Christian Science Monitor) and spanning nearly a thousand years of history, this "highly informative, highly readable" (Dallas Morning News) work examines not just how we think of ancient Rome but challenges the comfortable historical perspectives that have existed for centuries. With its nuanced attention to class, democratic struggles, and the lives of entire groups of people omitted from the historical narrative for centuries, SPQR will to shape our view of Roman history for decades to come.

Die Autoren dieses Bandes berichten sehr unterhaltsam, unterstützt durch Abbildungen und Cartoons, von dem Entdeckerspaß der Altertumswissenschaftler, aber auch von den Problemen, vor die sie sich bei ihrer Forschung gestellt sehen. Dabei geht es um Kunstraub genauso wie um große Theorien, um moderne Techniken wie um das Beherrschen der alten Sprachen, um das Puzzlespiel der Rekonstruktion wie um das Bild des Altertums im Wandel der Jahrhunderte. Ausgangspunkt sind vereinzelte Stücke eines antiken griechischen Tempels - des Tempels von Bassai -, ausgestellt im Britischen Museum, im Herzen des modernen London.

Draws on a wide range of period writings, from essays on rhetoric to a surviving joke book, to explore the culture of humor in ancient Rome, offering insight into what was considered funny at the time and how everyday Romans expressed their humor. By the author of The Fires of Vesuvius.

Mary Beard, autora de El triunfo romano y una de las mayores autoridades en el estudio de la antigua Roma, nos cuenta una nueva y distinta historia de Pompeya, la ciudad destruida en el año 79 de nuestra era por una erupción del Vesubio. Su libro tiene una doble finalidad. En primer lugar, la de reconstruir lo que fue la vida en Pompeya: los trabajos cotidianos de sus habitantes, el gobierno de la ciudad, los placeres del cuerpo (comida, vino, sexo y baños), las diversiones y los juegos, la religión... Pero también, en segundo lugar, la de combatir los mitos que se han acumulado sobre su historia, comenzando por la dudosa higiene de los baños o el legendario número de burdeles y acabando por la realidad de la catástrofe, de la que nos ofrece una visión muy distinta a la de la leyenda. Mary Beard consigue todo esto en un texto fascinante, que da vida a los más inesperados hallazgos y a lo poco que sabemos de sus habitantes: la sacerdotisa Eumachia; Publio Casca, uno de los asesinos de César; los gladiadores, ídolos de las jovencitas pompeyanas...

"Este libro –nos dice Mary Beard, la más grande figura actual de los estudios clásicos- es un viaje guiado por el mundo clásico, desde el palacio prehistórico de Knossos, en Creta, hasta el imaginario poblado de Astérix, en las Galias". En él nos habla de personajes famosos, como Alejandro el Magno o Nerón, pero también de la gente común, de los esclavos, los soldados o los millones de ciudadanos del Imperio que vivían bajo un régimen de ocupación militar. Este libro recupera sus vidas y costumbres; pero su objeto principal es el de enseñarnos a disfrutar de la riqueza que representa la herencia de los clásicos, donde hay mucho que sigue siendo vivo y palpitante. Un campo del saber que no es sólo tradición, sino también aventura e innovación, donde queda mucho por descubrir y debatir acerca de los más diversos temas: de cuán importante fue realmente Cleopatra, de si Calígula no fue más que un chalado o de cómo se las arreglaron los romanos para adquirir tantos esclavos. "Si los romanos hubieran podido contar en su tiempo con Mary Beard –ha dicho un crítico- conservarían todavía el Imperio".

Mary Beard is one of the world''s best-known classicists - a brilliant academic, with a rare gift for communicating with a wide audience both though her TV presenting and her books. In a series of sparkling essays, she explores our rich classical heritage - from Greek drama to Roman jokes, introducing some larger-than-life characters of classical history, such as Alexander the Great, Nero and Boudicca. She invites you into the places where Greeks and Romans lived and died, from the palace at Knossos to Cleopatra''s Alexandria - and reveals the often hidden world of slaves. She takes a fresh look at both scholarly controversies and popular interpretations of the ancient world, from The Golden Bough to Asterix. The fruit of over thirty years in the world of classical scholarship, Confronting the Classics captures the world of antiquity and its modern significance with wit, verve and scholarly expertise.

Beautiful and wealthy, Anabelle Brice has it all. That is until she meets two men that divide her. Will she choose practical or excitement?

Una brillante dimostrazione che l''erudizione può essere un''avventura emozionante. Un libro colto e appassionante.Tom Holland, "The Guardian"Per Mary Beard la cultura è un abito da indossare con leggerezza. In questo libro ha superato se stessa.Andrew Holgate, "The Sunday Times"La storia di Pompei è più complicata e intrigante di quella che crediamo di sapere. Pompei non è una città romana semplicemente congelata dalla colata lavica.A raccontarci quei giorni e la storia di una città piena di vita è Mary Beard, tra le più originali e note studiose dell''antichità classica.Che città fu Pompei? Che cosa ci dice oggi riguardo alla sua vita, dal sesso alla politica, dal cibo alla religione, dalla schiavitù alla sua cultura? Un gran numero di miti sono crollati: la vera data dell''eruzione, avvenuta probabilmente alcuni mesi dopo quella generalmente considerata; o il leggendario numero di postriboli, che probabilmente era uno solo; come l''alto numero dei morti, forse meno del 10 per cento della popolazione. In ogni angolo troviamo prove illuminanti di quanto Pompei fosse una città multiculturale, vivacissima e ben organizzata: il sistema stradale a senso unico svelato dai solchi del selciato, i vasi di colore abbandonati dai decoratori, le 153 tavolette di cera che testimoniano le registrazioni finanziarie di un banchiere e banditore di aste locale; una statuetta d''avorio di una divinità indiana; un tavolo che appartenne a uno degli assassini di Cesare.Distrutta e messa sottosopra, evacuata e depredata, Pompei serba i segni (e le cicatrici) di storie d''ogni genere, che sono alla base di quello che potremmo chiamare ''il paradosso di Pompei'': ovvero che della vita antica che vi si svolgeva sappiamo contemporaneamente molto più e molto meno di ciò che crediamo. È questa la materia dello straordinario racconto di Mary Beard.Prima del fuoco è la brillante dimostrazione che l''erudizione può essere un''avventura emozionante, da leggere tutta d''un fiato.

Byron and Hitler were equally entranced by Rome’s most famous monument, the Colosseum. Mid-Victorians admired the hundreds of varieties of flowers in its crannies and occasionally shuddered at its reputation for contagion, danger, and sexual temptation. Today it is the highlight of a tour of Italy for more than three million visitors a year, a concert arena for the likes of Paul McCartney, and a national symbol of opposition to the death penalty. Its ancient history is chock full of romantic but erroneous myths. There is no evidence that any gladiator ever said “Hail Caesar, those about to die...” and we know of not one single Christian martyr who met his finish here. Yet the reality is much stranger than the legend as the authors, two prominent classical historians, explain in this absorbing account. We learn the details of how the arena was built and at what cost; we are introduced to the emperors who sometimes fought in gladiatorial games staged at the Colosseum; and we take measure of the audience who reveled in, or opposed, these games. The authors also trace the strange afterlife of the monument—as fortress, shrine of martyrs, church, and glue factory. Why are we so fascinated with this arena of death?

Her central themes are the classics, universities and teaching - and much else besides. In this second collection following on from the success of It''s a Don''s Life, Beard ponders whether Gaddafi''s home is Roman or not, we share her ''terror of humiliation'' as she enters ''hairdresser country'' and follow her dilemma as she wanders through the quandary of illegible handwriting on examination papers and ''longing for the next dyslexic'' - on whose paper the answers are typed, not handwritten. Praise for It''s a Don''s Life ''Delightful... it has the virtues of brevity, eclecticism and learning worn lightly... if they''d had Mary Beard on their side back then, the Romans would still have their empire'' Daily Mail

Le 25 août 79, l’éruption du Vésuve détruisit la cité romaine de Pompéi, ensevelissant sous une pluie de cendres les fugitifs dont les corps, saisis sur le vif à l’instant de leur mort, ont été conservés jusqu’à nous. Qui étaient ces hommes et ces femmes ? Comment vivaient-ils ? Que peuvent-ils nous apprendre de la vie quotidienne des Romains au Ier siècle de notre ère ? Loin des idées reçues, s’appuyant sur les enseignements les plus récents de l’archéologie et sur les textes des historiens, philosophes, romanciers et poètes latins, Mary Beard redonne vie à la cité antique. Richement illustré, le livre explique l’usage et la signification de différents objets trouvés sous les cendres, décrit l’aménagement des maisons modestes comme des propriétés luxueuses, les commerces, les activités quotidiennes et les jeux, le fonctionnement politique de la cité, ses liens avec Rome. Nous y croisons Scaurus, le vendeur de garum, Eumachia, la prêtresse qui apporta son soutien à la construction d’un des plus grands bâtiments de la ville, Celadus, le gladiateur vedette et bourreau des cœurs, le banquier Jucundus dont les tablettes de cire contiennent les archives de plusieurs décennies de transactions financières, des peintres d’affiches électorales, des tenanciers, des édiles... La célèbre cité antique renaît alors sous nos yeux dans un livre qui parvient à allier grande rigueur scientifique et plaisir de lecture. Mary Beard est professeur d’Histoire antique à l’université de Cambridge. Elle collabore régulièrement au Times Literary Supplement. Traduit de l’anglais par Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat.

Charles Austin Beard was one of the most influential American historians of the first half of the 20th century. Mary Ritter Beard was an American historian and archivist, who played an important role in the women''s suffrage movement and was a life-long advocate of social justice through educational and activist roles in both the labor and woman''s rights movements.Contents:IntroductionThe Colonial PeriodThe Great Migration To AmericaColonial Agriculture, Industry, And CommerceSocial And Political ProgressThe Development Of Colonial NationalismConflict And IndependenceThe New Course In British Imperial PolicyThe American RevolutionThe Union And National PoliticsThe Formation Of The ConstitutionThe Men Of The New GovernmentRepublican Principles And PoliciesThe West And Jacksonian DemocracyThe Farmers Beyond The AppalachiansJacksonian DemocracyThe Middle Border And The Great WestSectional Conflict And ReconstructionThe Rise Of The Industrial SystemThe Planting System And National PoliticsNational Growth And World PoliticsPolitical and Economic Changes Of The SouthBusiness Enterprise And The Republican PartyThe Development Of The Great WestDomestic Issues Before The Country America A World Power Progressive Democracy And World WarThe Evolution Of Republican Policies The Spirit Of Reform In AmericaThe New Political DemocracyIndustrial DemocracyPresident Wilson And The World War

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 celebre. But what actually are they? In a revised and updated edition, Mary Beard, award winning writer, 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.

Mary Beard''s by now famous blog A Don''s Life has been running on the TLS website for nearly three years. In it she has made her name as a wickedly subversive commentator on the world in which we live. Her central themes are the classics, universities and teaching -- and much else besides. What are academics for? Who was the first African Roman emperor? Looting -- ancient and modern. Are modern exams easier? Keep lesbos for the lesbians. Did St Valentine exist? What made the Romans laugh? That is just a small taste of this selection (and some of the choicer responses) which will inform, occasionally provoke and cannot fail to entertain.

Pompeii is the most famous archaeological site in the world, visited by more than two million people each year. Here, acclaimed historian Beard explores what kind of town it was, and what it can reveal about "ordinary" life there.

WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2008''The world''s most controversial classicist debunks our movie-style myths about the Roman town with meticulous scholarship and propulsive energy'' Laura Silverman, Daily MailThe ruins of Pompeii, buried by an explosion of Vesuvius in 79 CE, offer the best evidence we have of everyday life in the Roman empire. This remarkable book rises to the challenge of making sense of those remains, as well as exploding many myths: the very date of the eruption, probably a few months later than usually thought; or the hygiene of the baths which must have been hotbeds of germs; or the legendary number of brothels, most likely only one; or the massive death count, maybe less than ten per cent of the population.An extraordinary and involving portrait of an ancient town, its life and its continuing re-discovery, by Britain''s favourite classicist.

It followed every major military victory in ancient Rome: the successful general drove through the streets to the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill; behind him streamed his raucous soldiers; in front were his most glamorous prisoners, as well as the booty he’d captured, from enemy ships and precious statues to plants and animals from the conquered territory. Occasionally there was so much on display that the show lasted two or three days. A radical reexamination of this most extraordinary of ancient ceremonies, this book explores the magnificence of the Roman triumph, but also its darker side. What did it mean when the axle broke under Julius Caesar’s chariot? Or when Pompey’s elephants got stuck trying to squeeze through an arch? Or when exotic or pathetic prisoners stole the general’s show? And what are the implications of the Roman triumph, as a celebration of imperialism and military might, for questions about military power and “victory” in our own day? The triumph, Mary Beard contends, prompted the Romans to question as well as celebrate military glory. Her richly illustrated work is a testament to the profound importance of the triumph in Roman culture—and for monarchs, dynasts and generals ever since. But how can we re-create the ceremony as it was celebrated in Rome? How can we piece together its elusive traces in art and literature? Beard addresses these questions, opening a window on the intriguing process of sifting through and making sense of what constitutes “history.”

Jane Ellen Harrison (1850-1928) is the most famous female Classicist in history, the author of books that revolutionized our understanding of Greek culture and religion. This lively and innovative portrayal of a fascinating woman raises the question of who wins (and how) in the competition for academic fame.

We are all Classicists - we come into touch with the Classics daily: in our culture, politics, medicine, architecture, language, and literature. What are the true roots of these influences, however, and how do our interpretations of these aspects of the Classics differ from their original reception? Starting with a visit to the British Museum, John Henderson and Mary Beard prompt us to consider the significance of Classics as a means of discovery and enquiry, its value in terms of literature, philosophy, and culture, and its importance as a source of imagery.

This textbook outlines the factors that every student must assess for a proper understanding of the period, from the attitudes of the aristocracy and the role of state religion to the function of political institutions.

This book offers a radical new survey of more than a thousand years of religious life at Rome. It sets religion in its full cultural context, between the primitive hamlet of the eighth century BC and the cosmopolitan, multicultural society of the first centuries of the Christian era. The narrative account is structured around a series of broad themes: how to interpret the Romans'' own theories of their religious system and its origins; the relationship of religion and the changing politics of Rome; the religious importance of the layout and monuments of the city itself; changing ideas of religious identity and community; religious innovation - and, ultimately, revolution. The companion volume, Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook, sets out a wide range of documents richly illustrating the religious life in the Roman world.

Volume two reveals the extraordinary diversity of ancient Roman religion. A comprehensive sourcebook, it presents a wide range of documents illustrating religious life in the Roman world - from the foundations of the city in the eighth century BC to the Christian capital more than a thousand years later. Each document is given a full introduction, explanatory notes and bibliography, and acts as a starting point for further discussion. Through paintings, sculptures, coins and inscriptions, as well as literary texts in translation, the book explores the major themes and problems of Roman religion, such as sacrifice, the religious calendar, divination, ritual, and priesthood. Starting from the archaeological traces of the earliest cults of the city, it finishes with a series of texts in which Roman authors themselves reflect on the nature of their own religion, its history, even its funny side. Judaism and Christianity are given full coverage, as important elements in the religious world of the Roman empire.

"This booklet is a record of our exhibition on the History of Women in Classics at Cambridge 1871-1948, staged in the Museum of Classical Archaeology in the Classics Facultly buildinng on the Sidgwcsk Site. The Exhibition was arranged specially 1o coincide with the 50th anniversary commemoration of women being admitted to degrees in 1948; but was also part of a broader project to chart the history of the Faculty from the late nineteeenth century to the twenty-first"--Introduction to the booklet.