Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Pax:
Congrats on becoming emperor. You’ll be dead soon.
Quick synopsis:
A look at the Roman Empire at the height of its power.
Fact for Non-History People:
Nero married a lookalike of his dead wife. Not strange except this person was a man who Nero forced surgery upon to remove…. well, parts.
Fact for History Nerds:
Newcastle, England is the furthest north a Roman emperor ever visited.
My Take on Pax:
I need to admit up front that I usually find Roman history nearly impenetrable. There are so many names, positions (what is a consul anyway?), and strict rules in Roman history that I often feel like you need a class on it before reading anything about it. Luckily, Tom Holland has taken pity on my feeble little brain.
Pax takes a look at Rome’s golden age when it was at the height of its powers and the various (or should I say numerous) emperors of the time period. Holland makes sure to hit the big events like Nero and the burning of Rome but will also drop into smaller events which a Wikipedia article will not touch on. However, please don’t misunderstand me. This book is still very dense and very involved. Holland does not write a high-level book with no insight. This is still a deep history and Holland’s research is clearly top notch. If you are a well-read Roman historian, I am not sure there would be anything new in this book, but I think it’s written for people who would be hopelessly lost without someone holding their hand. (Me, I’m that reader that needs the hand holding.)
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Basic Books.)
Verdict:
A great read. Buy it here!
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