Rome: The Biography of a City

by Christopher Hibbert

This beautifully written, informative study is a portrait, a history and a superb guide book, capturing fully the seductive beauty and the many layered past of the Eternal City. It covers 3,000 years of history from the city’s quasi-mythical origins, through the Etruscan kings, the opulent glory of classical Rome, the decadence and decay of the Middle Ages and the beauty and corruption of the Renaissance, to its time at the heart of Mussolini’s fascist Italy. Exploring the city’s streets and buildings, peopled with popes, gladiators, emperors, noblemen and peasants, this volume details the turbulent and dramatic history of Rome in all its depravity and grandeur.

Genres: History, Italy, Nonfiction, Travel, Cities, Biography, Historical

400 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1985

About the author

Christopher Hibbert, MC, FRSL, FRGS (5 March 1924 - 21 December 2008) was an English writer, historian and biographer. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the author of many books, including Disraeli, Edward VII, George IV, The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici, and Cavaliers and Roundheads.

Described by Professor Sir John Plumb as "a writer of the highest ability and in the New Statesman as "a pearl of biographers," he established himself as a leading popular historian/biographer whose works reflected meticulous scholarship.

Reviews

[Italo Italophiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book attempts to cover 3000 years of history in 400 pages, so you can't blame this writer for suffering a sort-of history-whiplash. Hundreds of years are compressed into a single page, over and over again. Tidbits and trivia are sprinkled throughout to try to keep the reader's interest, and to differentiate the book from a Wikipedia entry on The History of Rome, Italy. I'm not sure the trivia actually works.

The author works hard to focus his story on the city of Rome, but that is difficult since the city was once the capital of an empire, and is now the capital of a country, and it is the capital of a religious faith. Take any name, date or event mentioned in this compressed history book, and you will find dozens of books in print about it. The history of Rome and her citizens and invaders is so rich that this books sometimes feels more like an Index than a book.

The book boasts a detailed Notes and Index section. In fact, the Notes section feels like a book in its own right. Perhaps the book that the author should have written? I don't know, but in the Preface the author states that the book is intended for those who may tour Rome. The book hopes to offer some historical background to what visitors to modern Rome may see. The Notes section points out just what bits and pieces are still to be seen, and includes some teasing information about them.

Sadly, modern Rome is like ancient and medieval Rome after they have been put through a blender and mashed with a potato masher and then buried in your back garden. There is not much left where it originally stood, or in its original condition. Tourists to Rome have to deal with traffic, pollution, filth and graffiti, lines and crowding, to see collections and buildings that are like jigsaw-puzzles made up of bits and pieces, or missing bits and pieces.

I cringed right at the beginning of this book when I read the author thank his wife solely for her Index-making skills. Ouch. Cold. The male-of-a-certain age feeling remained throughout the reading of the book, especially when mentions of women resorting to prostitution in order to survive were treated as moments of amusement or curiosity.

Wouldn't the readers find it so amusing to hear Samuel Johnson's Boswell's precise words about how he abused Roman women resulting in his infamous venereal disease? No, this reader did not find it amusing, as I suspect no female readers found it amusing, and perhaps many men did not find it very nice either. The diary quotes were not uninteresting per se, but they seemed too many and too much of another era to be entertaining. Actually, some things about that other era provoked my envy: Rome was open, inexpensive and often free for well-educated tourists.

The author has a fluid prose style and a command of his subject matter, although he his fond of historical gossip and probable invented innuendo. He also has an academic's studied disdain for religion, which will annoy if not offend those of faith. That was an odd thing to indulge when writing a book that would surely interest religious pilgrims to the home of Catholicism and the Christian faiths, and to the sites of so many religious martyrs, including two apostles of Jesus.

The author keeps the 3000 years moving along at a quick pace. We retrace Rome's long history of bloodshed and sadism, ruinous ambition, rampant misogyny, aristocratic destructive narcissism, invasion by thugs, looting by everyone and anyone. It does become tiresome after a while.

The overall feeling from reading the book, for me, was this is too much history in too short a book. 3000 years in 400 pages; do the math and that is an average of 7.5 years per page. That would be the history of Fascist Italy on one page. You see what I mean? Actually, the author allows a chapter to cover Royals and Fascists, but that means some pages cover hundreds of years of history. All of post WWII Rome is summed up in the Epilogue.

Please read my full and illustrated review at Italophile Book Reviews.
http://italophilebookreviews.blogspot...

[Marc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost complete overview of the history of the city. New to me was the information on the enormous expansion in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is a nice read, but a bit shallow, I'm afraid. (2.5 stars)

[Phillip Bozarth-dreher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book is very engaging and historically informative, but it moves too quickly to be a really good source of information about different periods of the city's history. Because the history of Rome spans so many centuries, entire emperors or popes pass in a few pages, so I started to have trouble keeping track of who was who. I felt like I needed a big timeline posted on the wall while I read.

But, this is not much of a criticism I suppose, because the book is still a long one. The problem is simply that you would need many volumes to properly write a biography of Rome.

[Paul Dijstelberge · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit dated and superficial, but still eminently readable

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well researched and readable account of the history of Rome from antiquity to the fall of Fascism. As the title suggests, it does concentrate on the development of the city - the buildings, statues and fountains - with a smaller amount of quite superficial historical context. Some Popes and Kings feature strongly, others are brushed over, but there are plenty of other books which could fill the gaps for readers who want more social and political background.

The book gives a good impression of the changing face of the city, and its reception by both visitors and Romans, and there are extensive notes in the index about the buildings that feature in the text. The illustrations are also excellent and support the text. This is definitely worth reading for anyone with an interest in Italian art, architecture or history.

[Lisa Craane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, interesting but very focused on the leaders of the church and state rather than ordinary life in the city (as I had hoped) also mentioned too many names making it impossible to remember them all and making it difficult to follow at some points. This was especially the case in the section on the middle ages. I did enjoy the accounts of famous artists/writers/etc who visited rome throughout history.

[Martin Ridgway · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is fairly unsatisfying as a history book - too many physical descriptions of protagonists (and where are these coming from?) and bitty details rather overwhelm any 'big picture' stuff.
Still, well illustrated and the building guide at the back is nice and detailed - but a map would have helped!

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This overview of Roman history, from its founding through the end of WWII is well written. It's full of interesting characters and follows the developments and upheavals in Rome's political, cultural and social history. The book is also meant to be a guide for travelers with an extensive section on topography, buildings and art.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to look at European history through just one particular city. That city being Rome means there’s a lot of familiar territory being covered with unusual or rarely-explored details. The modern history (from 1900 on) is too sparse, and there is a somewhat heavy and disinteresting (to me) focus on architecture and buildings. I did like exploring a specific place over centuries.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers 2700 years of Roman history in 300 pages with pictures. It's a good book to get the timeline and major movements in Rome from Repubilc, Empire, Medieval times, Renaissance. It's not dry but not super exciting read. Good intro to Rome over all.

[Liam J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and readable, but necessarily brief while covering 3000 years of history.
Good overview, could dip into different chapters.

[Al Adducci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thorough, researched, especially liked the part on Unification and Garibaldi, my grandmother had talked about him, however I did not have the context until I read it.

[Juan Alarcon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enamorarse de una ciudad.
Enamorarse de una historia.

[Steve Barrera]

This book covers 3000 years of Rome's history, really giving you the impression of the city's lasting significance.

[John Kaufmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history - particularly of the post-Empire era. Sordid history of the popes.

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that I ought to read a general history of Rome, as my knowledge of the City is fairly deficient outside of the Classical (mostly Late Republic and Early Imperial) and Renaissance periods. The book is fairly readable but does tend to skip around a bit - which is understandable (considering the vast period of time it covers), unless you want a multi-volume set. It also pretty much leaves off at the end of World War II, dealing only briefly with the transition back to post-war democracy. It seemed like a good general read, but if you're interested in detailed information on a specific period, I'd recommend looking elsewhere.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek van Christopher Hibbert is een bewonderenswaardige prestatie. De auteur is erin geslaagd een geschiedenis van de stad Rome te vertellen in een vrij beknopt werk. Hij geeft veel informatie en citeert daarnaast ook regelmatig primaire bronnen, die hij op een plezierige manier verwerkt in zijn verhaal. Hij vertelt de geschiedenis van de bestuurders van de stad en de belangrijkste gebeurtenissen die plaats vonden toen zij de macht bezaten/veel invloed hadden, maar geeft daarnaast informatie over het leven van alledag in de stad.

[Tim]

Interesting, highly readable and beautifully illustrated, but suffers at time from a lack of a wider perspective. For example, the discussion of the 11th century Church is entertaining on the intrigues, corruption and backstabbing, but makes no mention of the 1st Crusade, which was successfully preached at the end of that century, and leaves you wondering how such an apparently weak and dysfunctional institution could organize this undertaking.

[Jason Minick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very detailed history. I didn't complete the book as I am more interested in the ancient history rather than modern history (basically up to the fall of the empire) at this time, but bought this book in advance of a trip to Rome that we have planned.

Would have preferred more of a synopsis for my purposes, hence the rating; but if you are after a very detailed account then this is probably a good choice.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book before going to Rome the first time. You won't put it down. It was a required text at UCD in the history course in European Cities that Gaetano taught in. No chapter sags... every topic is thrilling. I think of it often. Don't worry about an endless saga of Caesars. This is far more complex and enticing.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this one week before I left Rome, and really glad I did. Was a great a great book to read to give me a perspective on the history of the city, especially since I for whatever reason ignored most of ancient history taught in high-school.
Long, but worth it, and with lots of crazy, fascinating, and sometimes upsetting detail.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow I always enjoy books about Italy, whether they are tourist guide books, history or architecture or music or design and fashion. This was no exception and was well written and interesting, even the long history of the
papacy. It just made me want to return, so next year's big trip will probably have to be Italy...

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

General history of Rome from the earliest periods through to Mussolini, with a bias towards the political. Well written and accessible, it was a useful read before a visit to the city. Also a reminder that after the fall of imperial Rome the city has been invaded on countless occasions, and how political the Papacy has been. Covers a lot of ground in c400 pages.

[Jaclyn]

Some interesting stuff here. Abandoned because it had to go back to the library. I started to get bored with all the popes after awhile, but there were some nice tidbits about everyday life in the city.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this before I moved to Rome; an excellent companion to the city.

[Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know yet, I'm only at page two, leave me alone with your questions and your rating boxes, only just got here!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting things, but large passages of architecture that do not particularly interest me.

[Johanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a great book but pretty substantial and it just never made it to the top of the to-read heap. Will revisit though before my next visit to Rome.

[Lukas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice reading with essential information. I've read it during my visit in Rome.