Customer Reviews

Scandalous History of the Roman Emperors

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book is not only shallow and vacuous, it is also abysmally poorly written and edited. Whole paragraphs appear several times in the book and seem completely disconnected from anything else. It is like a 7-year-old got into the word processor and had fun with "copy", "cut" and "paste" for an afternoon. I got the feeling that this was simply a very rough first draft that somehow ended up getting rushed to the presses.

The initial chapters are pretty decent, with many interesting anecdotes and parentheticals (which I seem to enjoy more than many other reviewers).

Unfortunately, the general untidiness of Mr Blond's prose seems to build in a wave, until by the middle of the book (the chapter on Julius Ceasar), it's degenerated almost to the point of being incomprehensible. I've struggled through one additional chapter, the one on Augustus, and it doesn't seem to be getting better. It's uncertain whether I'll be able to finish a book that no longer seems to be printed in English. Really, I blame whoever failed to edit this book.

Do yourself a favor - buy a different book.

Isn't the title of the book a dead giveaway? Whether or not the author selected it himself or it was tagged on at the publisher's request, the title should tell you that this is NOT a serious scholarly work. At the same time, it is apparent that Anthony Blond knows his subject matter well: He just wanted to have some fun. I picked up this book to read for fun and actually learned quite a bit I didn't already know from Michael Grant, Tacitus, or Suetonius.

The first chapter is about sex. That's another giveaway for the Hengist & Horsa crowd (q.v. Lewis Carroll) that tried to savage this book in their reviews. And it covers only the most interesting emperors. Oh, I suppose he could have gone on with chapters on Galba, Otho, and Vitellius -- but, after all, they didn't last long enough to make an impression, did they?

This is a good starting point for someone who wants a quick survey of the subject without getting lost in the footnotes. Blond mentions some interesting secondary sources along the way, and has even interested me in seeking out Josephus, Martial and Juvenal. His send-up of Cicero as a corrupt slumlord was a new one on me: I guess I better read some of those letters to Atticus.

You don't have to be dull to write about Roman history. Anthony Blond does a creditable job here and makes me want to read more of his work.

As a history buff, I will have to admit to having an interest in all the salacious details from the past. I was very excited, therefore, by the title of the book and the delights which it promised to offer. I was dissappointed, unfortunately. The author does state that he is not doing anything original, which is fine, but he should at least have found an original way to make this history seem fresh in its retelling. The repetition of many of the anecdotes sometimes could make it seem that one was at faculty dinner party with a professor telling you the same story he had just told in class. Also the longest chapter in the book, on Roman food, was neither scandolous nor about the Roman emperors but, even worse, was not particulary captivating. There were interesting elements to the book as the subject is so fascinating but it was not as well put together as I had antipacited based on its mouth watering title.

I am not often moved to write reviews, however after squandering a portion of my meager income on this travesty, I feel I must take action. So seldom have I read a book so poorly written and so heavily lacking both in charm and entertainment. Mr. Blond, in a single consecutive abortion of pages, has managed to condense a fascinating and thoroughly entertaining subject into a seething mass of pampas and indecipherable thoughts. The "author" of this work seldom sees fit to elaborate on any of the facts presented in the "book", much less confine himself to merely one thought per sentence, and instead skips from subject to the next, much like a hyperactive teenager after overdosing on caffeine. Perhaps Blond would be well-served by taking a community-college English course, where the teachers could scold his lack of respect for the readers of his work.

Anthony Blond tried his best to write a hilarious book about the scandalous history of a small number of Roman emperors. The title of the book misled me into buying it. Although there is some fun scattered here and there, the author is evidently not good at it. There is no shortage of scandalous emperors of the Roman Empire out of which the author could have come up with some nice amusing and entertaining stories based on historical facts so that those who do not like the dry and boring prose typically used by most authors could be encouraged to read Roman history. Alas, Anthony Blond appears to have been in a hurry to get his work published and so submitted his rough draft with no regard to whether unfortunate souls like me who buy the book get value for their hard earned money.

So, if you are looking for a well written hilarious book or a book on the scandalous life style of some Roman emperors, try other books. This book will make you frown, in addition to wasting your time and money.

This book and subject matter could have been a lot more enjoyable if it were not for the horrible writing style of the author.

This book is proof that anyone can get published if you 'know someone in the biz'.

If you can get past the bad writing, the subject is entertaining. The first chapter, on sex, is not for the easily offended! Straight from the hip talk about something the Romans apparently enjoyed very much!

I don't get the need to write an 'apology' chapter. After all, isn't anything historical going to be a rehash of what others have already written, but from a different point of view??

The map was cool. So was the glossary.

If you want info on the Roman Emperors, you'd find better luck with a different author.

As witty as "A Scandalous History of the Roman Emperors" may be, Anthony Blond's apology (that there is nothing original in this book) makes one thing clear: it is a rehash of Suetonius. In fact, only the first 6 Caesars, Julius through Nero, are presented, so Mr. Blond falls rather short of his goal to write about all the emperors let alone the "Twelve Caesars." What follows are some chapters on social history concerning what Rome looked like, Roman food, sexual practices etc. This is the most interesting part of the book but has little connection to the biographies Mr. Blond has not included.

Unlike Alan Massie's "The Caesars," this book offers no insight into the lives that it recounts. This may be an amusing book but when one delves deeper into the lives of emperors such as Tiberius, Gaius Caligula, Claudius an understanding of how much untruth and exaggeration there is in ancient history become clear. The approach that needs to be adopted when considering the accuracy of Tacitus, Suetoinius etc. is fairly complex. Questions need to be brought to bear: what is the bias of the author? What is the archaeological evidence? Is the point of view of the author supported by another ancient historian? How do accounts differ?

I think this book will appeal to someone who is not interested in studying Roman in detail and wants to complement viewing of the BBC television series "I,Claudius." Indeed, if the movie Gladiator sparks interest in ancient Roman, I hope Mr. Blond's book is a stepping stone toward books that approach the subject of the Roman emperors with a more serious attitude.

At the beginning of the book Blond apologizes for its simplicity and lack of novelty, however, what he did write he should have written well. This was one of the most poorly written books I have ever read. I did not anticipate an academic historical account and am not a stickler for sentence structure and punctuation, however, I thought that the lack of both in this book actually made it difficult to read and understand what should have been fascinating subject matter.

"A Scandalous History of the Roman Emperors" probably makes you think of a work that drools over the purported sexual, gustatory, and social perversions of the Julio-Claudians. (Not that there's anything especially wrong with that.) Well, fortunately it's much more than that. It actually is a fairly scholarly (despite the author's disclaimer) social history of Rome for the early portion of the Empire. Chapters are devoted to Sex, naturally, Food, Politics and bios of three of the Emperors. The downside is the previously mentioned three bios only. Strange, given the title. However, the space given to Roman society would be the strength of the book even with sketches of all the Julio-Claudians. The tone of the book is conversational, with some excellent parallels and contrasts with late 20th century European society. If you are looking for a book that discusses Roman society without a hefty dose of quotes from Livy, Juvenal, Suetonius et al; and one you could finish in a day or two, by all means read this book. Highly recommended.