We Are the Romans: The book I wish was written by Mary Beard

 We are the Romans

Meet the people behind the history

by David Long

illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan

In 2012, Professor Mary Beard starred in a three-part TV series on the BBC called Meet the Romans.* This book is not affiliated, but I feel as though it shares the same philosophy. Instead of focusing on the generals and politicians--the "great man" approach to history--there are "profiles" of all sorts of people: a musician, a slave boy, a legionary, a doctor and a baker, among others.

* This is not the place for me to fan-girl out about how much I love and respect Mary Beard and how many times I have watched this show. Nor for me to rave about what a great book SPQR is. But what I will say is that if you would appreciate hearing an intelligent and insightful woman talk about history--and seeing her randomly riding a bicycle around Italy--you should watch Meet the Romans on YouTube.

Here's a link. You're welcome!

(portrait from the article quoted below)

Permit me a lengthy quote that sums up how I and many others feel about Ms. Beard:

    In a Guardian profile, a colleague of Beard’s recalls a crew of English schoolgirls glimpsing     the scholar, a longtime pillar of Cambridge’s faculty, as she prepared to film a documentary     about the lost city of Pompeii. “They went insane,” the colleague said. “It was like they’d        seen a boy band.”

Waldman, Katy. “Mary Beard Keeps History on the Move.” The New Yorker, May16, 2021,

     https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/mary-beard-keeps-history-

     on-the-move. Accessed 11 November 2022.

From the "I am a Priestess" profile (pp. 44-45)

We Are the Romans is recommended for ages 8-12, grades 2-7. It includes nineteen "profiles" of Romans from different classes of society, all the way from an enslaved boy named Bubo ("owl") to the emperor himself. I wish that I could take the quotation marks off of the word "profiles," but it isn't clear from the information given in the book whether the people whose lives are described are real people, composites, or completely fictional (other than the emperor Trajan; I can vouch for him!). That is pretty frustrating. I did Google a couple of the names and didn't come up with anything quickly, but that is hardly conclusive. The author could be using the names of real people from inscriptions or tombstones; the kind of folks who would not show up in even the most thorough of Googlings. The information contained in the book is interesting and seems well-researched, but it's impossible to tell what sources were used. A look at the publisher's website didn't shed any light on the situation, nor did visiting David Long's website. Since Long is a well-respected author (he won the Blue Peter Book Award for another work; the BookTrust website says that the "Blue Peter Book Awards celebrated the best authors, most creative illustrators and the greatest reads for children") and the book itself is basis for a special exhibit at the Corinium Museum in England, I'm going to assume that he has his facts straight, even if he doesn't share how he came by them.

Because the range of people presented by Long is so expansive, it gives him the opportunity to delve into many, many aspects of Roman daily life in addition to the basics of how the empire operated. For example, the pages about the teacher go beyond what you might assume would be covered, such as the typical day of a Roman school boy and what subjects were taught. Long segues into the importance that the Romans placed on learning public speaking and how it was the foundation of a successful political career and how much the Romans admired and emulated the learning and culture of the Greeks (p. 17).

In a similar fashion, the description of the Roman army officer sneaks in a short paragraph on the system of roads that Romans are so well known for (p. 29). Just like the interstate highway system in this country, the roads built by the army benefitted the general population, but their primary purpose was moving troops quickly. That was a necessity in such a far-flung empire.

Following the biographies of the various people, there are about fifteen pages with more general information about the Romans: a map of the empire, a timeline from the founding of the city to the date of the "official" fall of the empire (476 CE), an overview of Roman mythology, an ancient recipe for bread, and even a page of Latin phrases (p. 56)! As you can imagine, that last one earned David Long some serious bonus points with me. Combined with all of the detailed information which is simply and clearly presented, the colorful illustrations give readers a good of Roman dress and living and working environments.

From the "I am a Legionary" profile (pp. 24-25)

My only other gripe with this generally charming book is the somewhat (as far as I am aware) exaggerated prominence that Long gives to professional women (there is a female merchant and a female scribe) and to people of color. Rome was without a doubt an ethnically diverse city and the empire was of course even more so, but the dark-skinned legionary pictured above would have been an unusual exception. The northern Africans who were more commonly part of the Roman mix would have been Semitic people for the most part. Likewise, there were women involved in business, but to feature an unmarried women in the roles of merchant and scribe would again be putting the exceptions to the rule front and center. It's tough to criticize an authorial choice like this: I wish that we knew more about Roman women and the many jobs they held, but we simply don't have the evidence. What we do know shows that ancient Rome, like so many places, was deeply sexist and limited the opportunities of women of all classes.

To end on a more positive note: there are several TED-Ed videos that I think would tie in nicely with We Are the Romans. If you're not familiar with the TED-Ed videos, they are usually pretty short (around five minutes) and animated, rather than being the videos of speakers giving TED talks. Two TED-Ed videos in particular, A Glimpse of Teenage Life in Ancient Rome and Four Sisters in Ancient Rome, would be good extensions. There is also another about the daily life of a Roman soldier that does not pull any punches about the hardships which Roman legionaries--and indeed all soldiers--faced. These videos have the same perspective on showing the lives of typical people rather than famous figures. It can be inspiring to learn about the big fish, but Mary Beard, David Long, and the TED-Ed folks are arguing that the minnows have just as much to teach us.