by Juliëtte Ronteltap -
In honour of her new book Emperor of Rome, Mary Beard, the classics scholar and professor known for, among others, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome and Women & Power, gave a public interview at the Old Lutheran Church on the Spui in Amsterdam. Fortunately, I had gone on time, as there was a long queue outside and the hall soon filled up with those interested. The evening consisted of a short introduction by Athenaeum Bookstore staff, a lecture including highlights from her book, an interview by philosopher and political commentator Tinneke Beeckman and finally a Q&A with the audience.
Imperialism as an institution
What immediately stood out was Mary Beard's genial demeanour and typical British humour. For instance, she started the evening with a joke about the meme ‘Thinking of the Roman Empire’, stating that she indeed does this often. She then made it clear right at the start of her lecture that her work is about the institution of empire and is not biographical in nature: ‘You don't have to remember all these blokes.’ Indeed, Mary Beard argues that most Romans in their time did not know all the names and the order of the emperors either. Much more important, she says, is how the emperor was perceived by the people and what stories about him emerged. Quite apart from
whether these are true or not. That is actually not so important. That an emperor was remembered well or badly often said more about his predecessor, according to Mary Beard.
One question Mary Beard received in response to this new work was: ‘Have you changed your mind, writing about posh old white men?’ Her answer to that is a stilted ‘no’. Indeed, we know most about imperialism through the eyes of their staff. In particular, much is known about the staff of Livia, wife of the first emperor Augustus. Servants, of course, did not write historical works, that was reserved for the educated elite, but we do know about them through inscriptions: in them is preserved what problems people consulted the emperor about. In addition, much graffito has been found, mostly expressing criticism. Mary Beard ends her lecture with the painting ‘The Roses of Elagabalus’ (1888), in which he kills his dinner guests by lavishing them with roses. The message: ‘Even generous emperors can always kill you!’
The role of women and slaves
Mary Beard was then interviewed by Tinneke Beeckman. This highlighted several more interesting themes, such as the ambiguity of power, the role of women and slaves and the apotheosis: elevating emperors to god when they die. On that first point, according to Mary Beard, it was important not to be too extravagant as an emperor, but you shouldn't sit on your laurels either. For instance, Tiberius was looked down upon because he served left overs at dinner once. Women's power was mainly in the fact that there were no rules for succession to the emperorship. Thus, they could choose to put forward their son or other relative. However, male writers always blamed them, similar to the wives of politicians today. Slaves had a different, paradoxical role. On the one hand, they were market commodities, but on the other, the emperor had to be able to trust them with his life. On the divine status of emperors, Mary Beard argues that the Romans themselves did not take this too seriously either. For instance, Vespasian's last words are said to have been ‘I'm becoming a god’ jokingly.
Posh old white man
Very typical, the first question of the Q&A came straight from a ‘posh old white man’, criticising Emperor of Rome. He argued that Mary Beard is a revisionist and that her comparisons with the present are incorrect. To this she replied: ‘I'm not a revisionist, just an ordinary historian. I'm skeptical about the truth. That's good as a historian.' However, if you dismiss all anecdotes as untrue, there is not much left to investigate. A more thoughtful question was about how Mary Beard would define autocratic rule. She responded that this should make it appear as if one man is pulling all the strings, but of course this is never possible in reality. ‘Authocracy is an act, in that way.’ In this sense, imperialism fitted well with the Roman Empire, as much was focused on outward display and rituals.
Mary Beard concluded with some recommendations to get children interested in Roman history at school. Among these, she mentioned the collection of jokes Filogelos, from the 4th century AD. These jokes, she said, tell more about Roman culture than the standard works. To tie in with this, Mary Beard also released anything but a standard work with her Emperor of Rome. By highlighting a much-discussed topic from a different angle, she manages to captivate readers once again. Not unimportantly, she is informed by other source material, leading us away from 'the male gaze'.
Juliëtte Ronteltap is an ancient historian - specialising in religion & culture. She studied History and Ancient History at the University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit. Juliëtte's historical interest started with ancient Egypt, but is certainly not limited to that. She is also active in politics and in her free time enjoys working on art.
Comments