NP but is anyone out there reading The English and their History or SPQR?

[Monte Davis]

It always feels odd to find yourself in one of those waves. A few months
ago I had a chance to binge the second season (2006-2007) of HBO's 'Rome,'
which I'd missed the first time around... which left a few questions in my
mind, prompting me recently to pick up Tom Holland's 2003 'Rubicon' for a
refresher on the period (admirably clear narrative, not much new
insight)... which I finished the day I heard SPQR was coming out.

As I've mentioned here before, among the pleasures of Gore Vidal's
"Narratives of Empire" novels are their occasional (but cumulative and
deliberate) linkages of US and Roman history --  parallels not so much in
the course of events or the major actors as in the pretty lies an empire
cultivates to reassure itself it's still a sturdy, modest republic at
heart. Vidal disparaged Pynchon, ostensibly on stylistic grounds but I
suspect really because he wanted to be the only one rewriting the Aeneid
for our times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narratives_of_Empire

On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 9:33 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> not me...but this is interesting tome.....SPQR is REALLY selling for
> the 'specialized' book it is.
> Yes, Ms. Beard is among the best........but neither she nor her
> publisher seemed to think there was
> a wave to catch, yet she did......
>
> On Sun, Nov 22, 2015 at 9:31 PM, gary webb <gwebb8686 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > The English and their History by Robert Toombs
> >
> > SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
> >
> > Both are excellent and well written about two former empires. I love Mary
> > Beard's bit about "Quoseque tandem..." taken from Cicero's denunciation
> of
> > the "conspirator" Catiline.
> >
> > Just started both...
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>
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