Welcome to Litsy!

Roman history told through a focus on the wives of the emperors from Livia to Gallia Placida (and I will never tire of saying somebody needs to make a biopic or series about Gallia Placida). Interesting and enjoyable, but it's 14 years old and already some of the “contemporary“ resonances and parallels are starting to age and I have to think for a bit to remember what they are about.

A brilliant history of Ancient Rome. Mary Beard has a mastery of her subject and an engaging writing style that makes this a pleasure to read. I came to this knowing very little so it‘s a lot to absorb and probably more comprehensive that I need (as a casual lay reader). But it‘s accessible as an introduction & would be super rewarding for those who have a particular interest. New material is still coming to light. Essential if you like history.

A surprisingly engaging read! A little dry for me in description of the military operations, but personal as to the individuals involved. It was also just one d—— thing after another for Caesar and the Romans. But for the most part, you knew Caesar would prevail, just how would he make it happen.

Side note - Ariovistus was a proper villain - his arguments back to Caesar were “oh snap”. 🤣 (I believe he appears in issue 4 of serial reader)

I wanted to like this book, but it didn‘t provide much history. I think it was more of a commentary on Roman history, with an expectation that the reader was familiar with Roman historical events but not with modern History theory and approaches. I haven‘t studied History academically in years, but I remember the basics, so I was disappointed that so much of the book was about Historical theory and not Roman history.
2/5 I didn‘t learn much

#BookSpinBingo

August roundup
Another good month, with 2 lines, #bookspin and #doublespin in the bag, 5 arcs for #NetgalleyGroup

This is such an enjoyable way of flying through these tbr lists. Thank you so much for hosting Sarah 😊 @TheAromaofBooks

@dabbe @desha @rachel52 @rubyslippersreads @chaoticmissadventures @barkingmadread
@megnews @sblbooks @thebookgeekfrau @bookwormjillk @deblovestoread @jenniferw88
@mollyanna @jess861 @kspenmoll @ncsufoxes @Bluebird @julieclair @majkia @karisimo
@tdrosebud @rwmg @pathfindernicole @willaful @debinhawaii @alldebooks @covertocover
@itchyfeetreader @thegreensofa @caitlin_sheridan @ann_reads @rookpools @lizpixie

Thank you for your thoughtful responses for the July prompts and chats. Here is my short list for August #BookedInTime Roman Civilization. I promised @Caitlin_Sheridan I would start with The Wolf Den. Thank you all for being such amazing participants. Also thanks to @dabbe for composing a spreadsheet. (checkout previous posts & add your book) & @jenniferw88 for her expertise on the 1600‘s. You are all amazing. 🤩

repost for @Cuilin:

#BookedInTime
August prompt is Ancient Roman civilization. This is a broad prompt, spanning centuries. Pick your own location from the map and have fun. Looking forward to your posts @Cuilin

All are Welcome

original post:
https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2607465

Getting ready for the August #BookedInTime #AncientRomanCivilization 😁

I'm most likely going to do a re-read of When We Were Gods by Colin Falconer. I read it over 20 years ago and *Loved* it! (that was also when I bought the tagged book bc I got slightly obsessed with Ancient Rome)